5 Best Places to Celebrate Halloween (book-inspired haunts)
Do you love the Halloween season, and everything creepy and frightful? October is a fantastic month to search out the best Halloween travel destinations, and the best of these creepy places are inspired by books.
In this post, I’ve rounded up five places to celebrate Halloween around the world that are inspired by books. These destinations are epic, iconic, bucket list experiences, each and every one of them.
They are the real-life locations of some of the most iconic spooky stories, like Frankenstein, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, The Crucible, and the entire Edgar Allan Poe literary canon.
If you can’t visit these spooky Halloween sites this year, consider this your spooky Halloween bucket list, because I’m telling you, these places need to be experienced.
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As always, this post may contain affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, shopping from them may generate small commissions to support the operations of this blog.
Whenever possible, I recommend buying books at local bookshops or through Bookshop.org, because shopping there puts the profits right into the hands of indie bookstores all over the country.
Halloween at Frankenstein’s Castle
Darmstadt, Germany
Are you scared? You should be
The original Frankenstein Castle that may have inspired Mary Shelley in writing the famous horror story is all but a ruin these days. But every October for 43 years, you could attend a horrible Halloween Party at Frankenstein’s Castle. This spooky Halloween place is an event that has been running for 43 years in Western Germany.
The Halloween Party at Frankenstein’s Castle in Germany is one of the best Halloween travel destinations. It’s advertised as 3,000 square meters of “pure terror.” It’s a terrifying haunted house full of scare zones that are said to “strain your nerves,” with scary creatures awaiting you at every turn. And unlike other haunted houses, this one is “full contact.”
Playing on its reputation tied to the first science fiction novel, Frankenstein, Halloween at Frankenstein Castle guarantees a spooky experience, as you wander among the castle ruins, battlements, and crypts.
This is an open-air event, so make sure you dress appropriately, with good footwear and rainproof clothing (they say in Germany there’s no bad weather, only bad clothes).
If you’re looking for a less spooky Halloween experience, there are kid-friendly versions of the Halloween Party at Frankenstein Castle offered on Sundays throughout October.
Recommended reading: Not surprisingly, I recommend preparing for this spooky Halloween place by reading Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, one of my top book recommendations from 2022.
2024 Update
2023 was the last year of Halloween at Frankenstein’s castle. The castle is now closed for extensive renovations, but the party goes on at a new location — Königstein Castle. This new location promises to be “even bigger, more frightful and with more dark corners than before.” No, it might not be in the original Frankenstein castle (which you can still visit year-round despite the construction), but it’s still true to the original theme and is sure to be a memorable Halloween experience.
Find somewhere nearby to stay:
Tip: You can also spend Halloween at the House of Frankenstein in Bath, which hosts an annual haunted house in October.
Related: Looking to read some spooky ghost stories this Halloween? Check out my recommendations.
Ghost Tours at the Mount Lenox, Edith Wharton’s Home
Lenox, Massachussetts
One of the best spooky Halloween places you can visit in New England is the Mount in Lenox, Massachussetts. At any point in the year, you can take a normal guided tour of Edith Wharton’s home, but in the spooky season, opt for one of the Mount’s ghost tours.
I virtually attended a ghost tour at the Mount Lenox in 2020, and I can say it is everything you hope for in a ghost tour. From the very start, when tour guide Robert makes a creeky double door entrance, to the very end, “sitting” together in Edith Wharton’s attic and hearing inexplicable shuffling footsteps and the cameraperson’s resulting exclamations, this tour was a positively eery delight.
My favorite bits of the Mount Lenox ghost tour were, unsurprisingly, the literary ones, like getting to see Edith Wharton’s library and hear the story of a resident who once walked in to see what seemed to be the ghosts of Edith and lifelong pal Henry Miller having a chat by the fire.
I can only imagine that the in-person ghost tour is even more atmospheric, and a perfect choice among the many spooky Halloween places to visit this October. Whatever your thoughts on the paranormal, this tour is just brilliant, spooky fun, and an experience I can’t recommend highly enough.
In-person ghost tours at the Mount Lenox are for ages 12 and up and cost $30 per adult. Tours last about 2 hours and require some walking. Advanced reservations are required. In 2024, they are offering ghost tours for kids ages 6-12 on Friday evenings in September and October. These are only $10 per ticket.
Recommended reading: The Ghost Stories of Edith Wharton
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Related: If you love Edith Wharton, make sure you check out our Edith Wharton literary tour of New York, finding all the existing locations from The Age of Innocence.
The Edgar Allan Poe House Death Day Festival
Baltimore, Maryland
When you think of writers who embraced the macabre, no one stands out like Edgar Allan Poe. After all, what screams “Halloween” more than stories about being buried alive or hearing body parts under your floorboards?
The Poe House & Museum in Baltimore, Maryland hosts its international Edgar Allan Poe Festival the first weekend of every October, commemorating Poe’s death date. It’s a free, three-day, outdoor festival with street vendors, book sellers, performances, and related events.
Though it’s free to attend the festival, you’ll need to pay and reserve to take part in the complementary events of the weekend. One crowd favorite event is the “Poe Death in Baltimore Bus Tour.” On this spooky bus tour, you’ll visit the site where Poe’s body was found in a gutter as well as the hospital where he died. You’ll also visit two Edgar Allan Poe graves and tour the Poe house. This is a really popular event, so try to book your place early.
Other Edgar Allan Poe Festival events you can intend include the annual Black Cat Ball and other special exhibits and events that vary year to year. In 2024, there will also be a Red Masque Movie Night.
However, you don’t have to wait until the annual Poe Festival to tour the Poe house. The Poe house in Baltimore is open for tours every Thursday through Sunday from 11 am – 4 pm (Wednesdays starting in April). Advanced reservations are required.
The Poe house in Baltimore is the home in which Poe’s literary career began. He lived here with his aunt and cousins, and it was in this house that he fell in love with one of them, Virginia, whom he later married (when she was at the ripe old age of 13).
If you’re in the Maryland area, the Poe house in Baltimore is one of the best spooky Halloween places to visit, with a literary twist.
Note that the Poe house is not ADA accessible, and visitors need to be able to climb steep staircases. There are also no public restrooms onsite.
Recommended reading: “Shadow — a Fable” (one of the stories Poe wrote while living in this house, at the very beginning of his writing career)
Find Poe’s entire collected works from Bookshop, supporting indie bookstores, or from Amazon.
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Related: If you’re visiting Baltimore, make sure you check out one of the most beautiful libraries I’ve ever visited (and it’s free!).
Salem Haunted Happenings
Salem, Massachussetts
The Crucible might be required reading for just about every high schooler in the United States, and the Salem Witch Trials one of the most well-known parts of US history. So it’s no surprise that Salem Haunted Happenings is one of the best Halloween travel destinations to put on your bucket list.
Salem goes all-out spooky in the Halloween season. There are tons of events and exhibits you can attend. Some of the popular events during Salem Haunted Happenings include:
- Grand Parade
- Costume balls
- Bewitched walking tours
- Black Cat Tours
- Salem Ghost Tours
- Multiple haunted houses
- Themed Jack-o-lantern festival
- Haunted magic shows
- Tarot readings, hypnotists, and séances
- Ghost hunts
- Spooky plays and live performances
- Themed craft events (like DIY potion bar and witch hat decorating)
At Salem Haunted Happenings, events run all October long, so it’s among the best spooky Halloween places to visit throughout the month of October.
Also, make sure you stop in to another literary sight in Salem: The House of the Seven Gables, the home that inspired the book of the same name by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It’s supposedly the most haunted house in Salem. After all, it was Hawthorne’s own great-grandfather, John Hawthorne, who was the infamous judge at the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.
Recommended reading: The Crucible by Arthur Miller and The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne
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Related: While you’re in Massachusetts this October, make sure you stop by the Omni Parker Hotel in Boston, which is supposedly haunted by several ghosts, including a famous English writer.
Halloween in Sleepy Hollow Country
Tarrytown, New York
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is one of the most famous scary ghost stories ever written, complete with a headless ghost riding a horse through a cemetery. Even if you’ve never read the ghost story, you doubtless know of this imagery.
What you may or may not realize is that Sleepy Hollow is an actual place in New York state, in Tarrytown, and it’s one of the best places to celebrate Halloween.
You can attend an extensive Sleepy Hollow Halloween festival, themed after Washington Irving’s famous novella, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and it’s one to top your Halloween bucket list.
Events at the Sleepy Hollow Halloween festival include:
- Halloween parade
- Haunted hayrides
- The Great Jack-0-Lantern Blaze
- Sleepy Hollow cemetery tours
- Haunted houses
- The Headless Horseman Ball
- Costumed Halloween 10k
- Dramatic performances of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow
- Appearances from the famous headless horseman
Plus, look out for sightings of the Headless Horseman, who might pop up at any point at the many festival sights around Sleepy Hollow.
Recommended reading: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Find somewhere nearby to stay:
Finding Accommodations at these Spooky Halloween Places
As you look for somewhere to stay, I recommend checking for lodging on Hotels.com. I almost always book my accommodations through Hotels.com, because you can earn rewards for every night you stay without having to choose only one hotel chain to be loyal to. You can even book locally owned apart hotels and bed and breakfasts.
If you’re looking for privately owned vacation rentals, I recommend checking VRBO. I’ve personally had much better experiences with their owners and rentals than I have with their primary competitor.
Travel Resources At-A-Glance
All of the following are links to sites and services I actually use to book and plan my travel or to purchase books or travel gear.
For flights: Skyscanner is my number one go-to resource for booking flights. I love using the “explore” function to find the cheapest places I can fly during a given time or using the fare calendar to identify the cheapest days to fly.
For hotels and lodgings: For hotels, hotels.com, and for vacation rentals, VRBO.com. I’ve had much better experiences with private rentals through this website than through other popular private vacation rental websites.
For car rentals: Kayak allows comparisons across a wide range of booking agencies and lists reviews of companies as well. I’ve found this to be the most user-friendly and efficient way to compare car rental prices.
For tours & excursions: Viator and Get Your Guide are my top choices for booking excursions and tour experiences in a new destination.
For travel gear: Amazon.com and REI for more outdoorsy items. Check out my travel gear recs here.
For booking trains & buses: I find the Omio app and website to be the most easily navigable for comparing options for public transportation, especially in Europe,
Best travel credit card: My favorite travel rewards credit card for European travel has been the Chase Sapphire Rewards card. Visa is accepted just about everywhere in Europe, and there are no foreign transaction fees on the card. Some of the travel benefits I love on the Chase Sapphire include free TSA pre-check or Global Entry (worth it every time), an annual $200 travel credit, an annual $200 hotel benefit, built-in rental car, and trip insurance, and points are worth 50% more when used to book travel. I travel around Europe a LOT, and I end up with many free flights and hotel stays from using my points on my Chase Sapphire.
For books: Bookshop.org often has prices as good as Amazon or sometimes better, but profits go to indie bookstores all over the country. Whenever possible, consider buying your books from this online indie bookshop resource.
Well, that rounds out this year’s list of 5 spooky Halloween places to visit this year, with a literary twist. All of the spooky locations on this list are related to a famous spooky story, which you can read alongside your visit to really have an immersive Halloween experience this year.
Tell me in the comments, what are your favorites? What should we all check out next year?
Happy hauntings!
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