October in New York City brings us a consistent stream of Halloween events. Whether you are into ghost hunting, costume parties, horror movies, or New York history, the city aims to please.
Flier artwork courtesy of Screen Slate and Roxy Cinema.
Roxy Cinema presents horror movies for cinephiles. Located inside the Roxy Hotel, Roxy cinema is an intimate art-deco style theater, providing you with the perfect backdrop for a spooky night out. The entire month of October Screen Slate and Steak Mtn. invite you on the road for a Death Takes a Holiday film series of horror hotels, haunted weekends, and other travel terrors. See films like The Shining, The Hills Have Eyes, and Identikit. These films help film goers explore their fears associated with vacations and other excursions: eerie dislocation, off-season emptiness, unfamiliar territory, shifty locals, and chance encounters with sinister strangers. For tickets go to Roxy Cinema.
Roxy Cinema at The Roxy Hotel, 2 6th Avenue (betw Walker and White St), Cellar Level, Tribeca
Photography courtesy of Cauldron NYC.
Unleash the witch inside with Cauldron. Cauldron is a quirky bar and restaurant located on the historic Stone Street. They are best known for their immersive cocktail making class, and fun events, like The Wizard Afternoon Tea. The magic bar just opened a new wizard-themed location in the Flatiron District. For a guaranteed spooky good time book a class with friends and learn how to make potion-like cocktails that look more like a science experiment. The cocktails might look scary, but they are seriously tasty. The 1 hour and 45 minute immersive experience transports you into a witchy world of brewing and cackling. At the end you will come up with two or three brewed cocktails and lots of merrymaking. This bar consistently comes up with fun events and you will not want to miss their lineup of Halloween events. For more information on events go to Cauldron’s website.
Cauldron, 47 Stone St (betw Coenties Alley and Mill Ln), Financial District
Flier courtesy of the Tompkins Square Park Dog Run, with illustration by Andrea Caceres.
Get some joy at the Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Parade. Tompkins Square Park’s beloved Halloween dog parade is back, and this time it gets its own route. Over the years this parade has gotten bigger and bigger, making its mark on the neighborhood and in the press. Dog lovers can look forward to fun and even extravagant dog costumes, a costume contest, and a lot of laughs. The parade is scheduled to take place on October 21, 2023 from 1-3PM. The parade begins on 14th street and Avenue B, making its way downtown to 7th Street. 7th Street, between A and B will be designated for those who want to enter the competition. One of the parade’s sponsors and judges, Get Joy, will provide incredible prizes for winners of various costume contest categories, including Best in Show, People’s Choice, Most Creative and more. For more information go to Tompkins Square Park Dog Run.
Photography courtesy of the Merchant’s House Museum.
Visit the city’s most haunted places. Fans of the paranormal will want to visit some of the city’s most historical and haunted places. New York City is almost 400 years old. Its inhabitants included literary heroes, famous gangsters, punk rockers and wealthy industrialists. Their work and energy remains. There is no better time to check out some of the city’s most historical places, which are rumored to have the most ghost sightings.
Merchant’s House is a museum depicting a typical row house, dating back to 1832. Built 190 years ago by Joseph Brewster, its fourth street address used to be an exclusive suburb of the city. The house was purchased by merchant Seabury Tredwell, whose family has lived there for almost 100 years. When its last inhabitant died in the house in 1936, the family sold it, and today it is a national historic landmark. Over the years this house has been carefully preserved. Not only is the house a time capsule to how a typical well-to-do family lived back then, it is said to be one of the most haunted places in the city. The most paranormal activity is said to be in the attic, where the servants used to sleep. Enter, if you dare!
Merchant’s House, 29 East 4th St (betw Bowery and Lafayette St), East Village
Photography courtesy of the Edgar Allan Poe Cottage Museum.
The Edgar Allan Poe Cottage is a city and state landmark, and it was the writer’s final home. There is no one more qualified to help you celebrate Halloween than the master of gothic stories, Edgar Allan Poe. As a New York City resident, Poe lived in a cottage in the area of the Bronx. The cottage was built in 1812, and back then this area was considered the countryside of the city. It is also where his ailing wife Virginia died. This is most definitely a spooky destination for both Halloween and Edgar Allan Poe fans. Book a tour by emailing them,
Edgar Allan Poe Cottage, 2640 Grand Concourse, Inside the Poe Park, Bronx
Photography courtesy of the Morris-Jumel Mansion Museum.
Morris-Jumel Mansion is Manhattan’s oldest house, and it is open for both self and guided tours. Built in 1765 for the Morris family, this house has served as headquarters for General George Washington as well as the British military and Hessian troops during the American Revolution. The mansion’s spookiest tour has to be the paranormal investigation event. While this tour has to be booked well in advance, there is nothing stopping you from visiting on your own. The mansion’s staff have seen a lot of paranormal activity, but its main ghost seems to be Eliza Jumel. Jumel was rumored to be a prostitute turned socialite when she married the wealthy merchant, Stephen Jumel. Some claim he died of pneumonia, others say he got seriously injured in a carriage accident and Jumel caused his untimely death by removing his bandages. The next year Jumel married the former United States Vice President Aaron Burr, who died four months later, on the day of their divorce. To visit, go to morrisjumel.org.
Morris-Jumel Mansion, 65 Jumel Terrace, Inside the Roger Morris Park, Washington Heights
Photography by Paulina Kajankova.
Hotel Chelsea is an iconic New York City landmark and while it has been renovated, its history might give you the chills. The hotel’s famous residents and visitors not only lived, created and partied here, but a few also died in pretty horrific ways. While employees hesitate to talk about it, we were told about consistent sightings of a Titanic survivor who lived and died here, and about chilly temperatures in the room where the Vicious-Spungen murder happened. Fans of literature, punk rock and history will love staying or dining here. Regardless of its spookier history, Hotel Chelsea is worth your visit for the architecture, and martinis, alone.
Hotel Chelsea, 222 West 23rd (betw 6th and 7th Ave), Chelsea
Photography courtesy of Catacombs by Candlelight.
Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral invites you to explore its history and catacombs. This tour of 200 year old catacombs is unlike anything else in the city. You will embark on an 80-minute candlelit journey touring the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Cathedral and all its secrets. The tour includes off-limits areas through its ancient walled cemeteries and mysterious catacombs. The catacombs have served as the final resting place for some of the city’s most influential figures, like Countess Anna Leary, former slave and notable philanthropist The Venerable Pierre Toussaint, Francis Delmonico and the Delmonico Family (original founders of the Delmonico’s restaurant), and Andrew Morris – First Roman Catholic elected to public office in New York City. It’s enough to give you goosebumps! To book, go to Catacombs By Candlelight.
Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral, 263 Mulberry St (betw Prince and Jersey St), Nolita
Photography by Mario Becker and Paulina Kajankova.
Creepy tour of West Village. The West Village might be a picturesque neighborhood with tree lined streets and expensive shops, but it is also full of spooky history. No matter which way you choose to visit, by yourself or with a tour group, there is plenty to see and learn. For a more family friendly outing, walk the streets enjoying Halloween decor. October is when New Yorkers with stoops go all out!
Historic townhouses are nice to look at, but for a more serious and sordid history lesson, check out streets like Grove, McDougal, Gay and Minetta Lane. There is even more creepy history to be had at Washington Square Park.The lively park might seem full of life, but it used to be a potter’s field, and people remain buried there to this day. For help from a tour guide, go to NYC Ghosts or Boroughs of the Dead.
