This Month’s Featured Article

From ghosts and ghouls galore to carved rows of corn to displays that put your porch pumpkin to shame, there are a host of places nearby to get you into Halloween mode. Several of those combine spooky seasonal traditions and the work of artists and artisans to make their places uniquely part of the season’s fun and fear. 

Artists make haunted houses places to scream with fright and delight

While some haunted houses rely on animatronics for their effects, we found two using artists’ work and ghoul-playing volunteers to create ‘oohs’ and ‘eeks’.

Peter Wing’s Haunted Fortress

This haunted house, in Stanfordville, NY, may be the only one designed, built, and run for years by a noted artist. In 1996, Wing approached the town about a spot to put on a haunted event. They settled on the former highway department property along the banks of Wappingers Creek, and he went to work. 

Just as for his castle, now a B&B run by his wife, Wing recycled found objects to create structures such as a church made from highway project rubble. According to Head Ghoul committee chairman Greg Arent, “He was building it as the artist he was, using a lot of things, including materials he found dumpster diving at the transfer station.” He admitted that the experience, “may leave people a little unsettled,” but, he says, “it lets the mind do the scaring.”

A half-mile trail starts at a junkyard and winds to a mansion, opera house, train yard, witch’s tree, scarecrow path, graveyard, and village. New this year, Ye Olde Schoolhouse comes next, then the bottomless pit, cave, and finally the scientist’s laboratory. 

An unguided walk, for over age 18 only, goes along a swamp beside Wappinger’s Creek, where, “You don’t know if there’s anything in the brush, and if there is you don’t know where.” 

“It’s not like the Headless Horseman,” Arent explained, and it’s not recommended for those under 13. “It’s more of a spooky, creepy atmosphere.” 

Volunteers of all ages include a lot of repeat performers. “One has a Boris Karloff voice, very creepy!” Arent gleefully said, “Kids in scenes … nothing like a bunch of kids walking around looking at your elbows. Freaks people out!” 

“Jump scares” are not done, because they do not want anyone falling. Many people find the Bottomless Pit especially disturbing, as it appears to be, “way off the ground”. We promised not to disclose its secret.

Two days are set aside for sensory friendly shows, with no scary sounds, creepy actors, or strobe lights. Arent said his favorite experience with this was a group of persons with Down syndrome. He described having to hold one person’s hand going across the bridge, after which they said they loved it, but “would never do it again!”

Arent closed with, “Wing wrote on a wall in the Blue Barn, ‘Silence is creepy. You don’t need to be loud or obnoxious to be scary.’” 

Haunted Fortress runs weekends starting October 2 but won’t be on the 31st, “so our young actors can trick or treat.” The sensory-friendly events will be afternoons on October 2 and 18. 

Residency artists create the Haunted Barn

The Haunted Barn began as the Haunted Mill, at the Wassaic Project in Wassaic, NY in 2013. The artists creating it start months ahead to make their sections.

Persons accepted for the residency program running June through September are commissioned to make Halloween-inspired installations that are family friendly and suitable for PG-13 and under. The artists get a stipend towards materials and producing their work, which can take from a week to a month to install.

Development and communications assistant Kassandra Gonzalez explained that the project tries to prioritize artists who are creative self-starters to make works that are inventive and show the best use of the space.

Each will have a stall in the former livestock auction’s Luther Barn. Giving a preview of their works, Gonzales listed a Grimm’s Fairy Tales forest, a large mock-Rorschach test, and a puppet performance exploring the theme of walking. 

There is not a specific theme, she explained, “They’re just walking into a gallery space, which is transformed into sight-specific installations. Those can range from really beautiful puppets to a place for kids to get candy.”

“People really appreciate how family friendly it is; they call it a lot of fun,” Gonzalez said, adding that they try to prioritize the local community, “The firehouse makes hot dogs for free.”

“People who may not have been in the mill or barn, but remember them from the past, will be surprised at what the space has been transformed into, without changing the historical architecture or history of it,” she continued, praising the co-directors, who “have done a really good job.”

They’re not going away soon, Gonzalez stated, since crowds get bigger and bigger. She said, “We’re just grateful people show up and are excited about bringing their kids.” Anyone dealing with a wheelchair should contact them to learn about accessibility.

The Haunted Barn is open October 23, 24, and 25. The Monster’s Ball, for adults only, will be October 21, at The Lantern in Wassaic, NY. 

Get lost in a corn maze

Mazes, or labyrinths, date back to ancient Greeks, Romans, and medieval monks. In 1993, Earl Beal, inspired by his father’s maze designs for Knoebel’s Amusement Resort, cut the first known full-size corn maze. Guiness World Record lists the largest at 65.8 acres, made by Luc Pellitier in La Pocatiere, Quebec.  

Most cover several acres, in a pattern telling a story or following a theme that can’t be seen from within. Photos taken from above show people where they traced and retraced their steps while finding their way through and out of it. 

Casey Swift says  the corn maze at Willowbrook Farm in Millerton, NY, is hand crafted, which “makes it better than any other around here. No AI or GPS.” 

It all began when, “About five or six years ago owner Ken Beneke had an extra field and decided that’s what he was gonna do with it.” 

This year’s theme is America’s 250th Anniversary. Swift is an art teacher and drew a design including the years and a liberty bell. “Ken drives a lawn mower amazingly,” she raved, adding that he holds the drawing as he drives and mows to interpret the pattern, “He’s very good at it.” He then re-cuts every two to three weeks, to keep the paths neat.

Last year, trying to encourage young artists, they chose a haunted design, “One little boy designed it for us. He’s coming back to see if my design is as good as his!”

Lots of people come every year, Swift said: “They love to know in advance what it’s gonna be.” All ages enjoy it, kids the most, she reported, but parents do, too. 

They provide a map to help guests find their way out and don’t let anyone in after dark: “We haven’t lost anybody yet!” 

“It’s just a traditional corn maze,” Swift finished with. When the maze closes the ‘plain old cow corn’ is chopped to feed livestock through the winter.

Willowbrook Farm Corn Maze is open Labor Day through November 1.

Jack-o’-lanterns light up the season

Jack-o’-lanterns are thought to have originated in Ireland and Great Britain, to represent spirits, supernatural beings, or Christian souls in Purgatory or to ward off evil spirits. Using them for Halloween decorations in this country developed through Celtic immigrants’ root vegetable carving traditions.

Hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns Blaze

Perhaps the most classic and widely read Halloween story is Washington Irving’s “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” A pumpkin plays a feature role in that, so it should come as no surprise that The Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze® at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-On-Hudson, NY is a highlight of ‘Sleepy Hollow Country’s’ attractions for the season.

A team of local artisans individually handcarve the thousands of jack-o’-lanterns that illuminate the buildings and grounds of the National Historic Landmark. Elaborate displays in a host of configurations set up by professionals create ‘a sensational atmosphere filled with wonder’ rather than scary scenes. 

This year’s trail is the longest in Blaze history. New exhibits include the Creature Feature Forest, with classic movie monsters carved from pumpkins paying tribute to the mid-1900s drive-in movie theater on the manor grounds. Classic children’s stories get a whole new glow in Literary Lane, while an interactive dance party takes place on the regal manor house lawn. 

The favorite for all ages runs September 18 through November 8.

Naumkeag pumpkin show is ‘gently spooky’

The historic home and gardens of Naumkeag in Stockbridge, MA are part of The Trustees of Reservations. The Incredible Naumkeag Pumpkin Show started in 2019 to open the grounds between the end of summer and holiday Winterlights.

  About 100 of the over 1,500 pumpkins displayed are real, hand carved by volunteers and replaced weekly. The rest, also hand carved, are of foam product Funkin. Long-time volunteers bring their own designs to life. 

Pumpkin arrangements, along with miles of lights, hundreds of seasonal gourds and live mums, plus cauldrons, cobwebs, fairy houses, and volcanos fill the estate gardens. The entrance to the house is decorated as the ‘Hall of Faces.’ Some areas feature Star Wars, Disney, and other themes. 

The show is rated ‘gently spooky,’ but earlier hours have been added this year for younger children who might not like an after-dark experience. 

Time Out New York named the show the best Halloween event in America in 2025. Pro tip from Mary Dettloff, director of public relations for The Trustees: book a ticket for just before sunset to watch the property ‘glow up’ as it gets dark!

Sculptures adorn unlikely scene

Where’s the place you’d least expect to find unique, often one-of-a-kind sculpture pieces, without a crowd or entrance fee, and where you can linger as long as you want – or as long as you dare?

A cemetery. When would be a more perfect time to have a boo-tiful experience exploring one than this month? 

While the work today may be more precise, artisans of past decades and centuries created elaborate headstones and monuments rivaling sculptures in museums. Flowers, urns, scrollwork, pillars and patterns, angels and artwork adorn squared, stacked, short, and tall pieces. Flowing script writes commentary on the interred person, or poems and scriptures. 

  Working on another story, we found ourselves wandering through Irondale Cemetery in Millerton to enjoy many of the tombstones. Go see what you find, but you may want to leave well before dark!

These are just a few of the places to find your Halloween spirit. Check websites or Facebook pages for addresses and times, and go see what the artists have created to help get your “BOO!” on.