The Walking Dead Escape New York City takes over Pier 86 on Octobr 12th from 6:45pm - Midnight. Experience a zombie apocalypse as a Survivor or a Walker and navigate an intense obstacle course.
Tickets are currently available for purchase. Prices start at $65 for Survivors and $85 for Walkers. Ticket prices will continue to increase as the event date gets closer.
The Old Jail Museum Ghost Tour
128 West Broadway
Jim Thorpe, PA
Carbon County Prison in Jim Thorpe, PA was modeled after Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary and was operational from 1871 until 1995. It may look like a miniature version of Eastern State, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in capital punishment. (There were never any executions held at Eastern State Penitentiary.) Not only were inmates executed at Carbon County Prison, but the gallows were located in the middle of the cell block for all to see. The site holds a place in history for the 1877 hangings of the 'Molly Maguires,' a group of Irish coal miners sentenced to death after a sensational and corrupt trial. After the prison closed its doors in 1995, it was reopened as the the Old Jail Museum.
We arrived in the adorable/creepy Victorian town of Jim Thorpe on a chilly Saturday evening to attend one of the Old Jail Museum's seasonal ghost tours held on select Saturdays in October. Tours begin every 20 min and the line is entirely outdoors, so don't forget your mittens. The guided ghost tour is an opportunity to experience the building at night with dim lighting. Various ghost sightings and other unexplained events are recounted along the tour. The most famous is a ghostly hand print left behind by one of the Molly Maguires as proof of his innocence. The wall has been scrubbed, painted, and partially replaced and the eerie hand print remains.
According to the Official Facebook Page: "Hear Tales of Strange Happenings & Hunt Ghosts!"
The Raven & Black Cat says: No one is going to jump out and scare you, but the history and energy of the building is truly chilling.
The story of the mysterious hand print is very creepy, but the most horrifying parts of the tour are the gallows at the end of the cell block and the dark basement dungeon used for solitary confinement. It's terrifying to think about the fact that it was still being used as a prison as recently as 1995.
The ghost tours are only held on select Saturdays in October and most likely staffed with local volunteers. The guides sharing the mysterious happenings ranged from high school students reading awkwardly from note cards to spirited amateur actors. Overall, we felt that the ghost tours would benefit from a less is more approach. The building is so incredibly scary that it can get into the Halloween spirit just by dimming the lights. Adding store bought Halloween decor to an actual prison dungeon comes off looking silly. A few flameless candles would be simple, elegant, and downright scary.
Real life horror leaves something behind. You can feel it as soon as you set foot in the Old Jail Museum. If you find yourself in the Jim Thorpe area, the Old Jail Museum is a must see.
October 13, 20, 27
General Admission: $10.00 | Students: $7.00
No children under 12 permitted.
The Old Jail Museum [/caption] 
The Old Jail Museum [/caption] 
The Old Jail Museum [/caption]
Pottery Barn consistently offers the most elegant Halloween decor. I love their creepy Victorian-inspired style. Every year, I add a new piece to my collection. Here are a few of my favorites from Pottery Barn's 2013 Halloween Shop.
Polished Nickel Candle Tray ($129.00)[/caption] 
Faux Burgundy Pumpkins ($19.50 - $39.50)[/caption] 
Faux Bugs on Stand ($12.50 - $14.50)[/caption] 
Witches Brew Salad Plates ($38.00)[/caption] 
Flameless Raven Pillar Candles ($59.00 - $79.00)[/caption] 
Bird Cage ($129)[/caption] 
Taper Candelabra ($39.50)[/caption] 
Skeleton Hand Serving Set ($19.50)[/caption] 
Faux Crows ( $24.50)[/caption] 
Floating Candle String Lights ($49.00)[/caption]
Fright Kingdom
12 Simon Street
Nashua, NH
For 2012, Tim and Angela Dunn have teamed up with haunt veteran Steve Kopelman (The Nest and Killers: A Nightmare Haunted House) to create 70,000 scream inducing square feet of haunted house goodness. Fright Kingdom admission includes 5 different walk-through attractions:
Apocalypse Z is a terrifying journey through a government quarantined, zombie infestation. Try to avoid contamination as you encounter infected prisoners and militants. Bloodmare Manor introduces you to the Victorian haunts of the Bloodmare family. This more traditional haunt features fun startle scares and creepy décor. Carnival Of Corpses is the circus themed 3D attraction starring a cast of demonic clowns and sideshow freaks. Grim features a twisting, turning maze of absolute darkness. As you feel your way through the dark, you encounter shocking pyrotechnics, shifting floors and hidden ghouls. The last haunt leads you through Vampire Castle where a throng of blood thirsty immortals invite you to be their guest of honor...for dinner.
Fright Kingdom
proclaims: “We're not Spooky, We're Scary!”
The Raven and Black Cat says: Everyone's definition of spooky or scary is different, but with five varying themes Fright Kingdom provides an opportunity for everyone to be scared. Whether it's zombies, vampires, clowns or complete darkness,
Fright Kingdom will expose and embody your deepest fears.
Long lines are practically impossible to avoid when it comes to haunted attractions, but Fright Kingdom does their best to entertain you while you wait. You're free to roam the 'Monster Midway' - play gore inspired games, have your fortune read, and peruse autographed slasher movie posters while you wait for your party's turn to enter the haunt. Between attractions, themed queues are packed with animatronics, creepy artifacts and detailed sets. Our favorite was a delightfully disorienting circus tent maze filled with maniacal clowns.
We love how the infirmary section of Apocalypse Z smells of sickness and decomposing flesh. The startle scares in Bloodmare Manor are really fun, especially the haunted staircase.
Thank you for using plastic 3D glasses in Carnival of Corpses! We can't tell you how many times we've had those stupid paper glasses blown off our face by an air cannon.
Many haunted houses have a "pitch black" attraction or section that is meant to deprive you of your eyesight, but most fail to deliver a heart-stopping sensory deprivation experience that will leave you disoriented and blindly grasping the air. By virtually avoiding all spillover lighting, Grim successfully utilizes the universal fear of the unknown and forces participants to reach out and discover who and what is lurking within the labyrinth
The problem with traditional walk-through haunted houses is that sometimes traffic gets backed up, and groups get stuck in a room. Once the startle scare has been achieved, it can become awkward if the actor doesn't know what to say or how to react when their victims linger rather than run. Creating a specific character for each actor, with an action and potential dialogue will help solve this problem. Building upon that, create a story for the entire haunt and think of the event having an arc. Vary the type of scares...loud, soft, slow, fast to keep guests on their toes.
Animatronics have many uses in a haunt, but when they're outdated they can be silly and take you out of the moment. Hide older models in a mask of heavy fog or strobe and use them as a distraction for an actor to sneak in for a startle scare.
In a region where Halloween often brings sleet or snow, it's nice to have a haunted option that's entirely indoors. An indoor location also means the haunt owners can rework during the winter and maybe even offer off-season events – pretty, pretty, please? Fright Kingdom is more than a fun, traditional haunted house – it's a whole nights worth of Halloween entertainment, and with it's 'Spooky' competition offering lower quality haunts, outside for twice the price, it's a fun affordable way to celebrate the Halloween spirit.
September 28 - October 31
General Admission: $17.00 - $24.00
VIP Fast Pass: $22.00 - $29.00
"New England FearFest recommends parental discretion for children under the age of 12. Although we will not refuse the entry of children, we ask each parent to make the judgment call, as you know your child best. If you think that you, or your children, just aren't up for all the thrills and chills of New England FearFest, you should consider our "Hardly Haunted" Matinee Performance."
Fright Kingdom 2012[/caption] 
Fright Kingdom 2012[/caption] 
Fright Kingdom 2012[/caption]
Las Vegas Haunts:
Hotel Fear & Asylum
Las Vegas, NV
Hotel Fear and The Asylum have been spooking Las Vegas residents and visitors alike for more than 15 years! In that time, R&J Productions has been leading the way in developing trailer haunts: entirely mobile haunts that are self-contained within groups of customized trailers. We had never been to a trailer haunt and were excited to check out what the genre had to offer. It’s amazing what’s accomplished in such a small space. Both attractions explore the life of Mortimer Feoray, a troubled child that goes mad (Hotel Fear) and is eventually institutionalized (The Asylum). Even with a limited budget, Hotel Fear and The Asylum create a fun and innovative story-driven haunt that’s likely to make you scream for more.
R&J Productions says: This is the REAL DEAL…the Real Fear you NEED to experience!
The Raven and Black Cat says: The Asylum and Hotel fear provide the perfect midrange haunt: it’s not too gory and it’s not so scary that you won’t make it through. You’ll be delightfully horrified by the carefully designed story and the actors will actually scare you out the door.
We love story-driven haunts! Hotel Fear starts out perfectly, picture this: You walk into an old Hollywood style hotel lobby. A sign says ‘ring bell for service’. The moment you ring the bell the lights go out and chaos ensues. It’s fantastic. You’re sent on a quest to find Mortimer in Room 13, but that’s no easy task. The hotel is specifically designed to trap and confuse you. Many rooms have hidden doors and it creates an awesome feeling of distress that you’ll never make it out alive! The key to this scare tactic is the small size and ample spacing between groups. There is plenty of time to get lost in the maze of the hotel without creating a backup, and if you’re the least bit claustrophobic you’ll be terrified. The fact that both haunts stay true to the theme adds to the realistic nature of the scares. Every scene supports the story and every scare is designed around the theme- you get lost in the story and experience some fun scares along the way.
There were a few actors that really stood out, particularly the woman in the spa and the man in the white out room – they encouraged you to interact with them and were very successful at creating the perfect atmosphere and set up for the scares to follow. Unfortunately, many of the other actors utilize the scream-in-your-face tactic, which is much less effective. Not every actor is a star and not every actor is able to improvise, but vary the tone and tempo of the startle scares. A whisper is often creepier than a scream and discovering a silent actor in a pitch black hallway would be truly disturbing. Use the actors as living set pieces and get rid of some of the tired animatronics. We love the sections of complete darkness - our first reaction is to reach out for the walls, so make them feel sticky or wet, and maybe add some elements of unsure footing to add to the disorientation.
It's always a good idea to keep an eye on younger actors. Unfortunately, we spotted one high school age asylum patient listening to her ipod.
If you’re tired of haunts that jump from theme to theme just for the sake of a scare, then Hotel Fear and The Asylum are your new haven of horror.
October 3 - October 31
Hotel Fear: General Admission: $15.00 | VIP: $20.00
Asylum: General Admission: $15.00 | VIP: $20.00
Combo Pass: $25.00 | VIP Combo Pass: $35.00
For our September Giveaway, we will be awarding 2 tickets to the 'Spirited Stroll Through Green-Wood' Cemetery Walking Tour on either October 26th or 27th from 1pm-3pm in Brooklyn.
"Celebrate the fall season with tales of murder, mayhem, spirits and ghosts on our annual autumn tours led by Green-Wood Historian Jeff Richman.
Visit the graves of The Wizard of Oz, George Washington’s favorite dentist, the founders of Spiritualism, and many more. The tour includes a visit to the Catacombs, usually closed to the public.
Get into the autumnal mood and enjoy a cool, crisp day exploring our 478 acres of beautiful fall foliage."
The deadline to enter is 12:00 AM on September 30, 2013.
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