Chapman’s Spooktacular Guide to Halloween in New Jersey

Spooktacular Halloween Events

Below is a spooktacular guide to some of our favorite Halloween events in Northern New Jersey.  You will find many more fun events from food festivals to art exhibits on our events calendar.

Scared in Jersey

October Thursdays-Saturdays

Daily, 7 pm; Sat, 6 pm.

PNC Bank Arts Center, Holmdel, NJ 

$25.00

Discover the legend of the Jersey Devil by finding your way through the Pine Barren Maze, visiting Mother Leeds’ Haunted Cottage and meeting the ghosts of the monster’s victims. The Blood Drums will perform each night, and spooky food and merchandise will be available for purchase.
Website: https://www.scaredinjersey.com

 Scare Rating: Intense Haunt

Haunted Scarehouse

Open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 29 – October 31

Fri-Sat, 7:30-11 pm; Sun, 7:30-10 pm

105 West Dewey Ave., Wharton, NJ 07885

$28.00

Two floors of frights and fear with special effects, movie props and actors provide heart-stopping entertainment. New Jersey’s largest and scariest haunted house returns for the 2017 Halloween season! Haunted Scarehouse is Morris County’s ONLY haunted house attraction and the only all-indoor haunted attraction in the area, so they are always open, rain or shine. Haunted Scarehouse offers terror at every turn and a haunted experience like no other. Their interactive special effects, movie-like props, and fearfully realistic scenes have won them many awards in the industry! Visitors can win back the price of admission by finding a hidden key before exiting the Scarehouse. This is an intense haunt and is not recommended for children under 8.
Website: www.hauntedscarehouse.com
Scare Rating: Intense haunt

Fright Fest at Six Flags

Select Dates thru Oct 31

Fri, 5:30 pm-midnight; Sat, 11 am-midnight; Sun, 11 am-10 pm. 

1 Six Flags Boulevard, Jackson, NJ
$56.99-$66.99

It’s a spooky time of year as zombies and ghouls take over the park. Enjoy thrills and activities for the whole family throughout the day and come back for a truly frightening evening of fun after the sun goes down. Fright Fest offers a wide variety of places to get your scare on including seven haunted mazes and five scare zones located throughout the park. The stuff of nightmares lurks around every corner as the dark of night washes over the park. The ghouls are set free for their daily hunting rituals.

Only the bravest of souls dare to enter our haunted mazes. You’ll be blindsided by darkness as you find your way through the labyrinth all while being hunted — never knowing what is around the next corner. Are you ready to face your worst fears?

New attractions for Fright Fest 2017 include the Lady of the Lake Cemetery scare zone, a maze haunted by demons, and “Unleashed,” a steampunk circus show. Coasters—including Nitro and El Toro—will be retrofitted for even scarier thrills.

BEWARE! There is no place to hide!

Website: https://www.sixflags.com/frightfest
Scare Rating: Moderately Scary and Intense Haunt can be found throughout

Fright Factor

October Weekends

Ultimate Pathway to Terror: Fri-Sat, 7-11 pm. 

Halloween festival: Sat, 3-5 pm; Sun, 1-4 pm.

186 Ridgedale Avenue, Florham Park, NJ 07932

Located between the Chase Bank and Florham Park Roller Rink

$10.00

Are YOU brave enough to enter Fright Factor? Can YOU make it through?

A benefit for Halos for Angels Fright Factor features the opportunity for Family-Friendly Fun and an Intense Haunt!  The Ultimate Pathway to Terror on Friday and Saturday evenings and Kid Friendly Fright Factor is held on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

The Family Friendly Halloween Festival includes — Facepainting, Child-Friendly Tours, Treat Hunts, Music, Games, Pumpkin Patch and more!

Website: https://www.halosforangels.org/events
Scare Rating: Family Friendly Fun and Intense Haunt

Bane Haunted House

Sept. 22-Oct.15 open Thursday – Sunday 

Oct.18-Oct 29 open Wednesday – Sunday

Open Oct. 30 – Oct 31 

630 W Mount Pleasant Ave , Livingston, NJ 

$28.00-$48.00

This fully interactive creep show features 100 live actors and 40 rooms of horror. Visitors climb, push and spin their way through the 40,000-square-foot attraction.

The Bane’s are a family of four when one morning Mr. Bane decides to check in on his animals in the family barn and he notices that all of their cages have been opened and some of the animals have been torn to shreds. He thinks to himself that either a bear or wolves from the woods must have entered the barn at night and killed the animals until he notices his beautiful daughter Jennifer hiding under one of his lab tables. Mr. Bane reaches out to her only to notice that half of her face is missing and she’s sitting in a pool of blood. To his surprise, Jennifer has been feeding on his test animals. As Mr. Bane tries to coax Jennifer out of her hiding place, she lunges at him and begins to feed on his body.

Website: https://banehauntedhouse.com/

Scare Rating: Family-Friendly Halloween fun

Fairfield Farms

177 Big Piece Rd., Fairfield, NJ 07004
Every Day – September 19th through November 1st

Weekend hayrides for the public start at 10:00 am. Weekday hayrides for the public begin the first week of October and run from 1:00 pm – 5:30 pm.

General Admin $6 adult $9 for kids Ages 3 and under FREE

Price includes hayride, corn maze & more
Fairfield Farms provides a fun fall family experience right in Essex County, just minutes from Paterson, Newark, and New York City. Activities include kid-friendly hayrides, pumpkin picking, a family-friendly corn maze, a hay-play area for younger children and a hay mountain and giant slide for older kids. Their refreshment stand offers hot dogs and various snacks, including apple cider doughnuts, fresh fruit pies, local honey and homemade jams. Drinks include apple cider, soda, coffee and the farm’s specialty, hot mulled cider!
During the week the farm conducts field trips for pre-school through second-grade children. They also host birthday parties and corporate outings during the week and on weekends. Jersey fresh produce including corn, tomatoes, and peaches are available from mid-September to mid-October and fresh Jersey apples throughout the fall season.
Website: www.fairfieldfarms.net
Scare Rating: Family-Friendly Halloween fun

All Hallows’ Evenings at the Stickley Museum 
Friday, October 27 and Saturday, October 28, 2017, @ 5:30 p.m.
The Stickley Museum at Craftsman Farms
2352 Route 10 West, Morris Plains, NJ 07950

$5 Members; $12 Non-Members
This Halloween, celebrate like it’€™s 1913 with an after-hours tour of Gustav Stickley’€™s Log House, and learn about Victorian-era Halloween customs.
By 1913, Halloween was being celebrated by people across America as a night for amusement and superstition, mischief and fortune telling. Revelers spent Halloween night fluttering between fits of laughter and screams of pretend fright as games of divination predicted their fortunes in life and love.
Our tour begins as night falls. But thereق€™s no need to be frightened! By the 1910s, Halloween, not yet a holiday for children, was a night for amusement and superstition, mischief and fortune telling. Victorian-era sensibilities had transformed traditional macabre customs associated with the night into playful parlor games and tricks, which provided a clever guise for match-making and romance at society parties. Light refreshments will follow to keep your spirits up!

Website: https://all-hallows-evenings-the-halloween Scare Rating: Moderately scary

Chiller Theatre Expo
Hilton Parsippany, 199 Smith Road., Parsippany, NJ 07054
October 27th – October 29^th

Friday 6:00pm – 11:00pm, Saturday 10:00am – 7:00pm

Sunday 11:00am – 4:00pm

General Admission $30.00 per day; Pre-Show Tickets $40.00 each

Children 12 and under are FREE per ticketed adult.
Come out to Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ for the 2016 Halloween season! This cool attraction features numerous fun activities, including a toy, model and train expo, Dr. Dreary’s Museum of Rare Alice Cooper Memorabilia and even Halloween costume contests. Those who attend this event are sure to get a few scares and leave with some awesome seasonal knick-knacks.
Website: www.chillertheatre.com
Scare Rating: Moderately scary

Wightman’s Farms

1111 Mt. Kemble Avenue, Morristown, NJ 07960

Apple Picking: $7.00- Includes- Orchard entry, tote bag, YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU PICK. 
*We include a membership card for 3 or more people for future visits- meaning the next time you only pay for what you pick*
The Farm Sampler: $16.00 Includes- Hayride, Pick Your Own Pumpkin (from our hayride field), Giant Corn Maze, Mazeland Mazes, Picnic & Play Area (corn pit & pedal tractors) and a Doughnut
*Apple Picking, tote bag, orchard entry not included)
Ultimate Farm Experience: $20.00 (BEST VALUE) Includes- Hayride, Pick Your Own Pumpkin (from our hayride field), Giant Corn Maze, Mazeland Mazes, Apple Picking, Tote Bag, Picnic Play Area (corn pit & pedal tractors) and a Doughnuts 
Pumpkin Slingshot- test your skills and try to hit the targets with a sugar pumpkin- 3 shots for only $2.00

Saturday’s and Sunday’s 9:00am-5:00pm

During the Fall Season Wightman’s Farms market is decorated with corn stalks, Indian corn, squaw corn, gourds, all types of winter squash, hardy mums and many painted pumpkins. This is a fun season for families and children of all ages, with fabulous photo opportunities everywhere.
Corn Mazes:
We have created a puzzle maze through a living corn field. Open only on the weekends, adults and children will enjoy this addition to their farm visit. Our crawl maze and Giant Hay Maze are sure to challenge the youngest adventurers. Also available is our “Kiddie Corn Pit Play Area.” A giant corn filled sand box for ages 1-6.
Hayrides/Farm Tours:
Weekend family hayrides beginning the weekend after labor day through October are available without reservations and feature a free pick-your-own pumpkin.
Pumpkin Sling Shot:
Another fun activity at Wightman’s Farm. The targets are plentiful, but you have to be good! See if you hit the target and win a large pumpkin.

Website: http://wightmanfarms.com

Scare Rating: Family-Friendly Halloween fun

Trick or Treating on Halloween 

Safe Howl-O-Ween
October 31st, 2017; 4:00pm – 8:00pm
Turtle Back Zoo, 560 Northfield Avenue, West Orange, NJ 07052

Cost: $3 Zoological Society members. $5 non-members
Come trick-or-treating at the Zoo. With candy stations throughout the grounds, everyone is sure to have a “sweet” time. Also, swing by their train for it’s famous “Not-So-Scary” Train Ride!

Website: http://turtlebackzoo.com

Scare Rating: Family-Friendly Halloween fun

Halloween Scare Rating Scale

Family-Friendly Halloween Fun:  Suitable for everyone

Moderately Scary: Suitable for adults and teens

Intense haunt: Not recommended for the faint of heart

Visit our Monthly Events Calendar if you are looking for October Fun!

Spooktacular Halloween Events 2017