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Halloween attractions from pumpkins to zombies

 

By BETH J. HARPAZ

Associated Press

• Bates Motel, Philadelphia

• Dent Schoolhouse, Cincinnati

• The Asylum, Denver

• 13th Floor, Phoenix

• Headless Horseman, Ulster Park, N.Y.

• Erebus, Pontiac, Mich.

• Nightmare on the Bayou, Houston

Many other cities have haunted attractions as well, from Blood Manor in Lower Manhattan to Apocalyptia 3D in Jacksonville, Fla.

Historic hotels pride themselves on their pasts, and sometimes that includes a spooky story or two. The Hotel Galvez in Galveston, Texas, which has been featured on Ghost Lab on the Discovery Channel and Ghost Stories on the Travel Channel, offers a ghost tour, room for two and dinner at $229 a night Wednesdays and Thursdays through October. Ghost tour packages at other Historic Hotels of America properties: www.historichotels.org/hotel-deals/featured-packages.php.

AMUSEMENT PARKS

Halloween brings crowds to amusement parks that rival those on peak summer days, so be prepared for sold-out tickets and long lines, especially on weekend nights.

Cedar Point has Hallo-Weekends in Sandusky, Ohio; Busch Gardens has Howl-O-Scream in Tampa and Williamsburg, Va.; Six Flags has Fright Fests in 13 parks, Hersheypark in the Dark takes place in Hershey, Pa., and Coney Island in Brooklyn, N.Y., is featuring Nights of Horror at Luna Park.

Universal theme parks in Florida and California go all out with their Halloween Horror Nights, www.halloweenhorrornights.com. This year park guests on both coasts will encounter flesh-eating zombies inspired by the AMC show The Walking Dead, about a band of humans surviving the zombie apocalypse, with guests at Universal Hollywood Studios dropped off by the park’s Terror Tram to wander the ghoul-filled studio backlot. Both parks will also feature demonic beings from the video game and movie Silent Hill, along with shock-and-horror attractions inspired by heavy metal rocker Alice Cooper.

Also awaiting scare-seekers at Universal Orlando: a Las Vegas wasteland covered with nuclear ooze, designed by the entertainers Penn & Teller; an abandoned house, Dead End; an ancient European cathedral, Gothic, where stone gargoyles come to life; and a House of Horrors featuring classic monsters from Universal films like the Mummy, Frankenstein and Wolfman.

At Universal Studios Hollywood’s Horror Night, park-goers can get additional thrills and chills in mazes themed on the Texas Chainsaw Massacre and on La Llorona, a Latin American legend about a woman weeping for her dead children.

For younger children, consider Disney World’s Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party at the Magic Kingdom in Florida and Disneyland’s Mickey’s Halloween Party in Anaheim, Calif. The events offer trick-or-treating, characters in costume, kids’ dance parties, parades and fireworks in orange and green; http://disneyland.disney.go.com/special-offers/mickeys-halloween-party/ or www.disneyworld.com/halloween .

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