7 Cheap Destinations to Celebrate Halloween This Year

Next to Mardi Gras, Halloween is New Orleans's biggest celebration with parades, street parties, and more. Voodoo tradition permeates The Big Easy, from the French Quarter to its cemeteries, also known as "cities of the dead." Be sure to stop in at the Voodoo Museum on Dumaine Street first for some protective potions. The French Quarter offers many walking ghost tours, and the Voodoo Music Festival runs Oct. 30 to Nov. 1, with headliners like Ozzy Osbourne, Girl Talk, and Deadmau5.

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The Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, CA, is full of staircases that lead nowhere, doors that open to large drop-offs, and secret passageways. While mourning the death of her husband and child, Sarah Winchester is said to have built the odd home in order to confuse the ghosts that trailed in her wake. On select evenings this October and November, visitors can attend a very special "open house" for the mansion and its "residents," touring the myriad of rooms and passageways with only the moonlight and a flashlight to guide them.

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Salem might win the title of Halloween Town, USA. After all, it is home to the infamous witch hysteria and subsequent hanging of 19 women on Gallows Hill. Visitors can enter the Witch Dungeon to see a reenactment of a witch trial. In the evening, check out the guided candlelight Witch Trial Trail, or take the Salem Witch Walk. Tour the House of Seven Gables, the subject of Nathaniel Hawthorne's book, and don't miss the several balls that Salem throws around the special holiday — just be sure to reserve tickets early.

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Savannah has a rich ghost and pirate history. At the Sorrel-Weed House, visitors can rent paranormal-activity measuring gear and participate in a Halloween night ghost hunt in the mansion, or take the Savannah Ghosts and Ghouls walking tour. Have dinner at The Pirates House, where legend says unwary visitors were smuggled through a secret passageway to waiting ships, where they became unwilling seamen.

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The real-life Sleepy Hollow, near the Tappan Zee Bridge, is a must see for more literary Halloween and Washington Irving fans. Philipsburg Manor transforms its grounds into Horseman’s Hollow, filled with vampires, witches, and the Headless Horseman himself. Take a lantern tour of Sleepy Hollow Cemetery to see Irving's grave and enter the crypt of notorious vampire Barnabas Collins. For tamer fare, listen to the reading of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow at the Old Dutch Church.

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This is the site of one of the bloodiest battles in the American Civil War, and paranormal experts claim that long-dead soldiers and civilians still walk the fields and local houses. Book a candlelit ghost walk on the battlefield. At the historic Farnsworth House, visitors can participate in a seance and conjure up spirits. Locals say Gettysburg is the most haunted patch of ground in America, so there's no shortage of options for amateur paranormal investigators looking for a ghost sighting.

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Hollywood's top animators, makeup artists, and scare specialists have created a live collection of haunted houses, special "scare zones," and shows featuring characters from The Walking Dead, Freddy vs. Jason, Insidious, and more. For those with multiple Halloween activities to attend, Horror Nights is open on select dates from Sept. 18 to Nov. 1.

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