Giant spiders stud the decorative cobwebs, the Halloween candy tempts you from the cabinet, and the scary movies are topping your Netflix feed. But after sitting alone on your couch last year, aren’t you ready to say “boo” to being a homebody? Fortunately, there are tons of ways to leave your house and have fun with real, live (or at least undead) people. Read on for details about historical ghost tours, horrifying haunted houses, and tricky (and family-friendly) corn mazes. Don’t forget to swing by your favorite Beerwerks brewery for some liquid courage before or after your adventure.
Ghost Tours
Make reservations to take the 90-minute Haunting Tales Ghost Tour through historic Lexington. Devised by local legend Mark Cline whose Dinosaur Kingdom II was named Virginia’s Best Roadside Attraction by USA Today, the tour combines entertainment with an exploration of Lexington’s dark streets and interesting history. Professional guides will lead participants through the city’s spookiest locations, winding up at Oak Grove Cemetery.
Black Raven Paranormal’s Ghosts of Staunton Tours leads the brave and curious to the most haunted spots in Staunton. The candlelight tours give participants a healthy dose of history. 90-minute experiences include Staunton’s Haunted History, Dark Tales and Haunts, Haunted American Hotel, and Haunted Depot Spirit Tours.
Are spirits on the loose in Staunton’s Thornrose Cemetery? A 22-foot marble Confederate infantryman marks the mass grave of 1,700 fallen Civil War soldiers killed on area battlefields. Cemetery architecture includes mausoleums, monuments, an arching footbridge, and a tower. Check back next year for the Augusta County Historical Society’s Conversations from the Grave tour.
Haunted Harrisonburg Ghost Tours won’t be happening this year because of Covid, but check back next year to learn about the Friendly City’s spookiest residents.
Haunted Houses
People with weak bladders are warned against entering Madame Redrum’s Nine Gates of Doom. This Waynesboro haunted house experience promises one of the “most frightening haunted attractions in Virginia” with all new scares. Visitors will be “bombarded with sights, sounds, and smells.”
Fear Forest – Harrisonburg, VA
Get spooked in the forest, run from zombies in the corn, and tour a factory haunted by demonic clowns. The three all-new haunted spaces include interactive features, animatronics, and super scary sights and sounds.
Mazes and More
Rockingham County’s Back Home on the Farm features a 5-acre corn maze, ziplines, slides, wagon rides, games, a spooky enchanted garden, a carousel, a petting zoo, pig races, and much more.
Skeeter’s Maze Adventure in Crimora will thrill the family with its 6-acre corn maze and Candyland-themed scavenger hunt.
Troyer’s Fruit and Produce Farm has a pumpkin patch, a big corn maze, and a fall-themed Virginia LOVEworks sign.
Besides great deals on pumpkins, Mount Crawford’s Mulberry Hills Pumpkin Patch offers hayrides, photo ops, and a menagerie of friendly farm animals.
The Blackburn Inn, a boutique hotel in Staunton, was once part of Western State Hospital, an 1820s institution that once specialized in the emotional wellbeing of psychiatric patients. Could it be haunted by former residents? Book a room or enjoy drinks or dinner at the Second Draft Bistro and imagine history coming to life.
