Curious Parents Places to Go

spooky harvest

New Jersey sure can be spooky and during October it gets even scarier. From haunted hayrides to haunted restaurants, you’re sure to find something for the whole family to enjoy on a daytrip in New Jersey. This is just a sampling of Halloween events and attractions this month. For more, check out our calendar.

Creamy Acres Farm, LLC. 
448 Lincoln Mill Road. Mullica Hill, N.J. 
For more information, call 856.223.1669 or visit www.creamyacres.com   

If you are looking for some traditional Halloween fun but really want to get your pants scared right off you, The Night of Terror is the event for you. With four (yes, four) separate terrifying events in one place, you will definitely be sleeping with the lights on. First there are the terror factory and the 3D haunted house, which use the latest in haunting technology to bring fear to a whole new level. Next is the haunted hayride, a ghostly trip through spirit filled woods, only to drop you in the middle of the haunted hay maze, a dark and spooky quest to escape to freedom. Don’t worry though; most people make it out alive.

The Burlington County Prison Museum
128 High Street. Mount Holly, N.J.
For more information, call 609.265.5958.

Not all haunted houses are just entertainment or just special effects. If you are looking for something that is a history lesson while still being entirely spooky, give the Burlington County Prison Museum a try. When it closed in 1966, it was the longest continuously used prison in America. Consequently, it has had its fair share of violent criminals pass through its walls, as well as violent crimes. Two guards have been killed in breakout attempts from the prison. To make it even more frightening, the body of murderer Joel Clough is buried in the yard. Their ghosts are all said to haunt the prison and can make what would seem to be a simple museum trip into something much more interesting.

Elaine’s Dinner Theatre
513 Lafayette Street. Cape May, N.J.
For more information, call 609.884.4358or visit www.elainesdinnertheater.com.

Whew! After all that running from ghosts or crawling through swamps, your family probably worked up an appetite fit for a zombie. When deciding on somewhere to eat, why not eat food at a restaurant where you might be the next meal. At Elaine’s Haunted Restaurant, you never know what will happen next. From the spirit that leads you to your table to the painting that seems to be following you around the room, ghosts seem to be lurking around every corner. What better way to end a day of ghost hunting than by sharing a meal with them. Just make sure you get them to pay up front, ghosts tend to disappear when the check arrives.

Hallowmarine  October 27, 4-8p.m. 
New Jersey Marine Sciences Consortium
Sandy Hook Field Station. Fort Hancock, N.J.
For more information, call 732.872.1300 or visit www.njmsc.org

Ghosts and goblins and dinosaurs sure can be frightening, but what about creatures that exist in your very own backyard? The New Jersey Sciences Consortium has a truly monstrous tour that combines aspects of both museum and haunted house. The tour will wind through the Sandy Hook Marsh at twilight, exploring the bizarre creatures that live there. Later you will get a look at creatures so small you could never see them without a microscope and so bizarre you won’t believe it. To top it all off, there will be stories about the ghosts and lost pirates who haunt Fort Hancock.