10 Best Towns to Visit for Halloween

The post lists several cities across the U.S known for their distinctive Halloween celebrations that include unique events and traditions. These cities are Salem, Massachusetts, famous for its Festival of the Dead; Sleepy Hollow, New York, known for haunted houses and street fairs; St. Helens, Oregon, home to Disney’s “Halloweentown”; Anoka, Minnesota, the self-proclaimed “Halloween…

There’s an icy chill in the air, the moon is full, and all things that go bump in the night are out and about – it’s definitely Halloween time! Take a look below at some of the best and spookiest cities where you can celebrate this most creepy holiday.

Salem, Massachusetts – Start your witchy Halloween celebration this year by planning a trip to Salem, Massachusetts and check out their Festival of the Dead event, making it #1 on our list. The festival features month- or week-long events and activities like the Salem Psychic Fair & Witches Market, Messages from the Spirit World: Authentic Salem Seance, Official Salem Witches Halloween Ball, and The Mourning Tea: Remembering the Dead.

Sleepy Hollow, New York – Noted for being the home of noted American author () – writer of the classic Sleepy Hollow series and creator of the terrifying Headless Horseman – this charming New England town celebrates Halloween with month-long, spooky street fairs, haunted houses, and more.

St. Helens, Oregon – Home of the hit Disney movie “Halloweentown”, St. Helens, Oregon is a spooky mecca for anyone who loves cute Disney movies and the spooky season of Halloween. Their “Spirit of Halloweentown” event took place September 16th through October 31st, 2023, featuring day-long attractions like Old Town Ghost Walk by D.B.K. Investigations, Scarecrow Adventure, Queen of Halloween costume contests (a winner was announced each Saturday and Sunday), and an opening night “Cauldron Sisters Witch’s Dance”. Visit their website for upcoming events, upcoming dates, and more.

Anoka, Minnesota – Self-proclaimed to be the “Halloween Capital of the World”, Anoka, Minnesota’s long Halloween event happens every weekend (the 2nd Friday and Saturday) for the entire month of October, from 10am-4pm. Established in 1920, the festival includes lots of spooky activities, from ghost tours around the town of Anoka to pumpkin weigh-off contests. To get the creepy season into high gear, take a Walking Ghost Tour of Anoka (hosted by the Anoka County Historical Society) beginning September 4th through October 31st. Almost 2 full months of celebrating the creepiest time of year.

Estes Park, Colorado – One of Estes Park, Colorado’s claims to fame is being the location of the Stanley Hotel, the notorious luxury hotel and ski lodge nestled in the majestic Rocky Mountains with a murderous reputation. Noted horror author Stephen King once stayed in the hotel while on vacation and was inspired to write his classic horror novel “The Shining” in 1977 after his stay in Room 217. The former sleepy little town now offers several different Halloween events and activities leading up to the big day, including its Fall Fest (October 22nd) and the Halloween Spectacular on October 29th. For the kids, don’t miss the family-friendly Haunted House on October 29th; this annual event is held at the American Legion for their fundraising efforts and features kid-friendly boo’s and fun.

New Orleans, Louisiana – The voodoo and vampire capital of the world – New Orleans, Louisiana – plays hosts to a plethora of Halloween events, activities, festivals, live music, parades, and much more! Just a few of the haunted happenings from past years include the Official Halloween Bar Crawl, live candlelight concerts, the Carnival of Horrors Halloween Party (presented by the SDC, to be held Saturday October 28th, 2023 from 9am on Saturday until 4am on Sunday October 29th ), the “Krewe of Boo Parade” (plus numerous viewing parties before the parade begins), and the ever-popular annual “Endless Night – New Orleans Vampire Ball 2023” on Saturday, October 28th at 10pm until Sunday, October 29th at 5am. A few other activities are the Dark Garden NOLA Halloween Soiree (7pm on Wednesday, October 25th), the Krewe of Boo’s Monster Mash (Official Parade After-Party, to be held Saturday, October 21st at 8pm), and the uber-popular “Haunted Halloween Cruise”, located on the paddle-wheeler Creole Queen, this ghost cruise begins at 7pm on Tuesday, October 31st.

Savannah, Georgia – This sweet-as-a-peach Georgia city is widely known to be American’s most haunted city, with some of the most haunted houses in the state, investigations by paranormal investigators, wicked spooky ghost tours, Halloween “frightseeing” journeys around the city, “A Nightmare on Congress Street IX – Halloween Themed Bar Crawl” with costume contest along Congress Street, and the reason why Savannah is on this list – the Savannah “Scare on the Square” event (to held on Friday, October 27th, 2023, beginning at 5pm lasting 3-days long) which features lots of activities to do like parades, special events, live entertainment, and food trucks. For all you animal lovers, check out “Wag-o-Ween” (Oct. 21-22, 2023, 12pm-5pm), a downtown Savannah pet-friendly event that has seen over 1,000 visitors in past years and all funds raised will benefit local animal shelters and other organizations and non-profits.

Independence, Kansas – Kansas’s best fall festival (and early Halloween celebration) is held annually in the town of Independence, usually happening the last week of October and lasting around 10 days and was started way back in 1919. The Halloween Festival of Neewollah (which is just Halloween spelled backward), as it’s known, offers a spooktacular array of events and celebrations for locals and tourists to enjoy. Swelling to over 7x its normal population, tiny Independence is filled to the brim with food vendors, a “Great Pumpkin” contest, the “Fun Run” event, a craft show, Chili Cookoff, and lots more. Their most important event for the community is the “Queen Neelah” pageant, for girls aged 17-18 with awards given out for several categories before a winner is crowned the Halloween festival’s “Queen Neelah”.

Austin, Texas – Home to the “Spooktacular” Halloween special event, the Texas town of Austin offers a nice, scary variety of Halloween events, activities, parades, and more to kick off the season in style. A few of the annual events they host include the Lavender Legends Costume Ball (held at Wax Myrtle’s on Sunday, October 1st from 7pm-10pm), the Pink Pumpkins for the Cure cocktail mixer and silent auction events with all proceeds benefiting the Breast Cancer Resource Center of Austin, the Return of Night of the Living Grunge event at Hanovers Draught Haus on Friday, October 13th at 8pm, and the fun Halloween at the Hive, a three-weekend-long festival with family-friendly activities like spooky arts and crafts, trick-or-treating, and more (it’s a fundraising event organized and hosted by Austin’s Bee Cave Arts Foundation).

Telluride, Colorado – The mountainous state of Colorado makes the list again, this time in Telluride, where its scary reputation led to it being named Country Living magazine’s “10 Best Small Towns to Visit for Halloween” (along with such towns like Sleepy Hollow, NY and Salem, MA). Putting Telluride on the proverbial map is the town’s annual Telluride Horror Show, a 3-day-long horror, sci-fi, and fantasy film festival held usually around the middle of October (see website for upcoming event dates). Other special Halloween events that made Telluride famous are the epic KOTO Halloween Bash, the kid-friendly Halloween Parade, and ghost tours or paranormal investigations at the Beaumont Hotel, one of the city’s most haunted homes.