Fall is a beautiful time of year. The leaves change color, Thanksgiving celebrations offer everyone a chance to reflect on what they’re thankful for and October is full of… Haunted NJ Halloween stories. At Best of NJ, we’ve put together a number of spine-tingling features and editorials to keep you on the edge of your seat/couch/coffin/wherever you’re reading this from.
For those faint of heart, fear not, we’ve also got a number of other Halloween stories that are far less frightful. (You’ll find those toward the bottom of this roundup.) Whether you’re interested in exploring NJ’s most haunted areas or just curious about what wines pair best with the Halloween candy you “inspect” for your kids, you’ll find all that and more below:
More from Best of NJ
Dan Bergstein’s Haunted NJ Series
The Seabrook-Wilson House
The house creaks with footsteps of long dead souls. A female phantom appears, clutching her crying baby and vanishes. In the shadows creeps a devil-worshiping sea captain. A ghostly child peers out from the second story window. In the basement lurks a famous blood-thirsty pirate. This is the Seabrook-Wilson House…
Clinton Road
You don’t need a ticket. You don’t need special permission from the historical society or even a crowbar or steel-toed boots to explore one of the most haunted places in the country. To experience the ten miles of terror of that is Clinton Road, you need only a car full of gas and a belly full of courage…
The Overbrook Asylum
It’s off-limits, dangerous and smells of rotting basements. So what makes the old Essex County Hospital of Cedar Grove — aka, Overbrook Asylum or “The Bin” — so intriguing? “Hollywood would be hard-pressed to make a fake asylum as eerie as Overbrook,” said photographer and Antiquity Echoes co-author Rusty Tagliareni…
The Jersey Devil
You undoubtedly know the name, even if you don’t know the legend. The Jersey Devil has become one of the icons of the Garden State, and there are regular sightings of the malformed demon throughout the area. While experts and skeptics argue over the creature’s existence, Best of NJ is uncovering the truth behind the monster…
Cape May’s Ghostly Hotspots
During the summer, Cape May is a place of sun and relaxation, but many vacationers don’t realize they’re actually sleeping with ghosts — hundreds of ghosts. Cape May, NJ is not only the most haunted town in the state, it may be the most haunted place in the country, with real spooky hotels…
Ghost Hunting in Princeton
Princeton University has produced world leaders, top business professionals and every type of genius. And when these brilliant men and women pass away, they often come back to a place they loved, making the university and surrounding town one of New Jersey’s hottest ghost haunts…
Featured Halloween Stories
The Best Haunted Houses for Halloween
There is no denying that New Jersey does Halloween right. From north to south, farms transform into the campgrounds of our nightmares. Abandoned buildings are inhabited by the insane! Demons run wild and pop out at you from every dark corner! And zombies take over the state! Get ready for a fully immersive night of hair-raising terror…
Is Halloween the New Christmas?
Last October, as I was simultaneously turning a nine-year-old boy into a clown, pouring bags of candy into a bottomless plastic cauldron and putting the finishing touches on our Jack-O’-Lantern, I came to a startling realization. This once-simple holiday had taken on the manic fever pitch of the Christmas season…
Ghosts of the Jersey Shore
The Jersey Shore is more than surf, sand, and suntans. It also has a haunted past that few know about that’s well worth exploring. If you’re looking for a getaway that’s a little bit out of the ordinary, and are interested in things not of this world, then you will definitely want to explore our top three haunted places of the Jersey Shore…
Is Halloween Getting Too Scary?
Years ago, if you really wanted to have a hair-raising Halloween, you’d bring home a movie of the always-menacing Freddy Kreuger. But now it seems you only have to peek outside your door to get a good scare. Many revelers are replacing their skeletons and gravestones with scenes straight out of an emergency room or a coroner’s office…
Show Your Jersey Pride with NJ-Themed Halloween Costumes
Halloween is fast approaching, and with it comes the opportunity to step into the shoes (or hooves) of a one-of-a-kind New Jersey icon. Stuck on an idea? These DIY costumes will help you show your Jersey pride on All Hallows’ Eve. And parents, all costumes are even cuter in miniature form – in case your toddler likes to jam out to some Springsteen…
10 Ways to Keep your Kids Safe on Halloween
Halloween has finally arrived, and your little monsters have been planning their costumes for months. But before the trick-or-treating commences, you need to take a few safety precautions. Why? “Halloween ranks right up there next to New Year’s Eve and July Fourth as the holiday that results in the most injuries,” says Dr. Steven Kairys…
Best Local Wine to Drink with Your Kid’s Stolen Halloween Candy
The last of the evening’s ghosts and goblins have retired to their beds, exhausted from trick-or-treating. Your child’s bounty sits on the kitchen table, a plastic pumpkin bursting with fruity candies, tart chewy taffies and chocolate treats that tempt you to sneak just a taste. Surely, the kids won’t miss a few pieces, you rationalize…
NJ Haunted Houses to Scare you Silly
Those who love to be terrified, get ready to scream: It’s haunted house season in New Jersey! The people who run the houses of horror around the state are putting the finishing touches on their creations before they invite this year’s victims guests inside. Among the people responsible for adding nightmare fuel to the season is Jennifer Condron…
The Best Halloween Parades in New Jersey
Halloween seems to arrive a little bit earlier in NJ with each passing year. It’s almost become an entire season unto itself, as all sorts of weird things begin to happen; zombies roam the streets, ghosts rise up out of graveyards and witches and skeletons (literally) hang out in your neighbor’s yard all in preparation for a great march down Main Street…