Best Halloween Attractions in New England

New England loves all things fall–especially football and Halloween. While I can suggest nothing but your local schools and a Pats game for the former, you get lots of options when it comes to the latter. Since this blog isn't about friendly farmers, I'm going to skip the pumpkin picking and go straight for the scary attractions. The following are my favorite picks for Halloween in New England.

Spooky World

454 Charles Bancroft Hwy

Litchfield, New Hampshire

Admission: Between $35 for general admission and $80 for "Super VIP"

Spooky World is an 80-acre Halloween theme park with a range of attractions. It has all of your Halloween thrills in one place. Visitors also get a carnival experience with a spooky twist, so be ready to play games, have your fortune told and eat fair food.

The Haunted Hayride is one of five major parts of Spooky World. It's a one-mile journey through woods filled with spiders, experiments gone wrong and plenty else to send chills up your spine. It's the newest addition to the park. Brigham Manor is a haunted house with a backstory of murder and evil. The 3D Festival of Fear is a menagerie of misfit carnies. Carnage is a junkyard from hell. Finally, The Colony is a maze filled with the devil's minions.

Salem, Massachusetts

The rest of the year, Salem is a quaint North Shore village in Massachusetts. When Halloween rolls around, Salem's witch-hunt roots attract visitors from all over. While a visit to the town itself is not very scary, there are plenty of ghost tours, shops and haunted houses. Here, you can find horror and history.

Fright at the Fort

Fort Knox

740 Ft Knox Rd.

Prospect, Maine

Admission: Between $5 for kids-$13 for adults

Fright at the Fort lets you walk around historic Fort Knox and get spooked by monsters and ghouls. The atmosphere is the big draw at this attraction. Historic forts aren't exactly known for being bright and cheery.

Nightmare Vermont

105 Pearl St.

Essex Junction, Vermont

Admission: $12 online and $15 at the door

Nightmare Vermont has some pretty cool tricks up its sleeve for a haunted attraction. It's a sort of theatrical experience with stage shows and a theme. For example, 2016 will be a haunted carnival. What's interesting is that guests can purchase a "Monster Ward" at the door for $1. This helps the actors know who doesn't like to be bothered. On the other hand, every group gets to bid on who gets to be the "Monster Teaser." This person will be bothered much more than the average guest. In fact, the actors may even tie them up!

Amusement Parks Open For Halloween:

Fright Fest at Six Flags New England

Screemfest at Canobie Lake Park

Haunted Graveyard at Lake Compounce

Amos J. Blake House: A Haunted Museum

The older a place is, the more ghosts seem to like it, and the Amos J. Blake House is nearly 200 years old. Located in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire, the house was originally a combined store and home built in 1837. Nearly 30 years after its construction, Amos J. Blake purchased the property for his home and law office. In 1966, it was given over to the care of the Fitzwilliam Historical Society. It is a museum, so visitors are welcome, but ghost hunters should be respectful and coordinate with the caretakers.

According to caretaker Terri Harlow, the Amos J. Blake House is host to 11 ghosts–12 if you include the cat she claims she saw vanish before her eyes. She tells of antique toys in the museum moving around when her back is turned. The popular show Ghost Hunters came by for a visit and got a chain moving of its own accord on film, though skeptics claim someone walked through the room and caused the movement. Whatever the case may be, there are creepy stories surrounding this interesting home.

Most people today know the torment of hoarding. They've seen hoarders on television or know someone who suffers from the condition personally. We tend to associate this problem with modern consumerism, but it turns out Amos Blake's own son was a hoarder. His room was filled to the brim during his lifetime. There doesn't seem to be any connection between this and the reported hauntings, but if anyone has an unhealthy attachment to a place and things, it's a hoarder.

Paranormal investigator Joni Mayhan claims she recorded EVP, a voice phenomenon, while in the Amos J. Blake House. A ghostly voice, then unheard by her, said "Behind you!" as she entered the hall. She doesn't say much about who the voice could belong to, whether anyone died in the home, if there were any tragedies, etc., but it's easy to see why people are a bit freaked out by the place.

Each room of the Amos J. Blake House is dedicated to telling the history of the home and area. There is the room filled with old toys, a military antique room, a costume room and even an antique medical equipment room, an obvious favorite for lovers of the macabre. Stop by and tell us which is your favorite place to get a chill up your spine.