Fall is coming, and I cannot contain my excitement. As the countdown to October (aka Halloween month aka spooky month) begins, the most wonderful time of the year, IMO, is quickly approaching. It's a time that comes and goes before you can even take a step back to really appreciate the togetherness and fun that these 31 days can bring you and the people around you. Not to mention, with cuffing season right around the corner, it's time to start planning the coolest spooky dates to go on in October. From hayrides through a creepy forest to ghost tours in America's oldest cities and theme parks dedicated to all the scaries, you'll have every opportunity to snuggle up to your ~booo~ when things get a little too intense.
Whether you just started dating someone new or you've been together for ages, October is prime time for unique dates. For those who like to keep the spookiness of Halloween month alive, there are countless horror movies coming out, haunted houses to enter, and Halloween carnivals and festivals to attend. So, if you decide against staying in and avoiding the spooks this year, here are some thrilling dates to consider this October.
In the months leading up to Halloween, most small towns and big cities will have some sort of fall carnival, probably including haunted hayrides and houses designed to make you scream. If you want to take it up a notch, there are also several Halloween theme parks, like Screams in Waxahachie, Texas (just 30 minutes south of Dallas) and Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando, Florida, and Universal City, California. For all you Stranger Things lovers out there, Horror Nights is your spot for spooky this October, considering that's the theme park's main attraction this season. For a less mainstream spook, Screams' five haunted houses will include witches, pirates, zombies, a carnival of freaks and clowns, and a haunted hotel. Yikes.
Most big cities across the country are home to some incredible ghost tours. As for the best ghost tour in the country, Time Out ranked Savannah's Blue Orb Ghost Tour number one. Savannah's Blue Orb was followed by Boroughs of the Dead in NYC, Haunted SF in San Francisco, French Quarter Phantoms in New Orleans, and The Original Ghosts of Williamsburg in Virginia. These are just some of the bigger ones if you and bae want to spook it up, but if you live in a smaller town, look up your nearest ghost tour, and go! Be warned, however, they are not for the faint of heart.
Another thing October is great for is horror movies. The weeks leading up to the spookiest day of the year are usually packed with new horror releases. Some movies to keep an eye out for this year include: The House With A Clock In Its Walls, which follows an orphan who assists his uncle in locating a clock that can end the world; Hell Fest, which follows a group of friends that head to a traveling horror carnival that a serial killer decides to take over (see? Haunted houses are way spooky); and the newest installment of the Halloween series, in which Jamie Lee Curtis has to face Michael Myers for the final time.
Salem, Massachusetts, home to the Salem Witch Trials, also happens to be home to one of the biggest Halloween festivals: Festival of the Dead. Every night in October, Salem's very own psychics claim they can connect you to your loved ones on the other side. Toward the end of October, you can take lessons that'll teach you how to hear and understand the dead on your own, learn to conjure animal spirits, and much more. For a less spiritual, and much scarier celebration, hit up Sleepy Hollow, New York. Every weekend in October, Phillipsburg Manor in Sleepy Hollow is turned into the Horseman's Hollow — a haven for vampires, witches, undead soldiers, and ghosts serving their master, the Headless Horseman, all trying to make sure you don't make it out alive. Muahahahaha.
Picnicking at a cemetery is the perfect way to take your average cute date to the next level. Your wicker basket, your favorite wine, your favorite meal, your favorite person, and a few hundred dead people. Sounds riveting.
This October, don't be afraid to switch it up! Do something different and new with your partner, and you'll have stories to tell for the rest of the year. Plus, it's only for a month — dinner and a movie will still be waiting for you post-Halloween. Promise!
Check out the “Best of Elite Daily” stream in the Bustle App for more stories just like this!
