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Halloween is a real scream in Philadelphia.
Each fall, Philly takes spooky season to the next level as creepy haunted houses, nerve-wracking hayrides and terrifying Halloween attractions pop up throughout the region, scaring up new and over-the-top Hollywood production-level experiences set inside some of the creepiest places you can imagine.
Abandoned Eastern State Penitentiary becomes America’s largest haunted house. A century-old industrial warehouse basement morphs into the Fright Factory. And deserted psychiatric hospital Pennhurst Asylum transforms into a terror-inducing spookhouse.
As one of the nation’s oldest — and possibly most haunted — cities, Philadelphia is also home to a bevy of frightening historical ghost tours offering up chilling tales of the region’s paranormal past and shocking true events.
Read on for our picks of Greater Philadelphia’s top haunted houses, startling hayrides, scary attractions and moonlight ghost tours for 2024.
September 20 – November 2, 2024 (select dates)
Located at the Phoenix Sport Club in Feasterville-Trevose, The Valley of Fear has offered Halloween frights for 34 years. The twisting, disorienting Original Haunted Hayride — five-out-of-five “blood drops” and an Attraction of the Year favorite by Halloween Haunts 365 — presents an all-new production with a redesigned trail for 2024. Then risk it all seeking One Eye’d Willie’s lost treasure as you Escape Shipwreck Cove before exploring the dreaded mansion of evil at the risen-from-the-ashes Miles Manor Haunted House.
Where: Phoenix Sport Club, 301 W. Bristol Road, Feasterville-Trevose, PA
September 20 – November 3, 2024 (select dates)
Hollywood-level special effects ramp up the trilogy of terror at The Bates Motel in Delco — named one of America’s 10 best haunted house attractions by CNN — with new sets and trails for 2024. The Haunted House offers high-tech effects and realistic details; the Haunted Hayride is a 25-minute horror tour through the tall forest of Arasapha Farm; and the Revenge of the Scarecrows Haunted Corn Trail is a walk-through experience riddled with animatronic monsters and actors. Also new this season: mobile ax throwing from Double Edge Axe (additional charge).
Where: The Bates Motel, 1835 Middletown Road, Glen Mills, PA
September 20 – November 9, 2024 (select dates)
I scream, you scream, we all scream … because we’re all inside an abandoned prison. Eastern State Penitentiary opens its cell blocks each fall after dark for Halloween Nights, one of Philly’s most beloved Halloween attractions and America’s largest haunted house. The legendary prison (which once housed infamous criminals from Willie Sutton to Al Capone) offers 15 different attractions across its 11 acres, including five haunted houses, two walking tours, an immersive light display, campfire ghost stories (with s’mores!) and four spooky-themed bars, plus Triple Bottom Brewing’s Fair Chance Beer Garden.
Where: Eastern State Penitentiary, 2027 Fairmount Avenue, Philadelphia, PA
September 21 – November 2, 2024 (select dates)
Operating in the same facility that housed a psychiatric hospital for 80 years, Pennhurst Asylum is a terrifying near-real-life attraction in Chester County. Voted the No. 2 best haunted attraction in the USA TODAY 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards and described as “scariest place I’ve ever seen, period” by HauntWorld, the programming at the 120-acre property offers three menacing stops: the Legendary Asylum haunted house, the disturbing Morgue and the panic-inducing Tunnels (all respectfully presented while reappropriating the site’s problematic history through feedback from the disability and mental health communities). Also available: professionally guided daytime history and photography tours.
Where: Pennhurst Asylum, 250 Commonwealth Drive, Spring City, PA
September 27 – October 26, 2024 (Fridays and Saturdays)
A chilling chairlift ride at Scream Mountain at Spring Mountain Adventures takes you to the top of the Montgomery County ski mountain’s dark side just to leave you to guide yourself back down an eerie, dimly lit trail to the base. At the bottom, hop aboard a haunted hayride to visit remains of the vengeful quarrymen murdered in their sleep who haunt the resort. The hayride is also rideable as a standalone attraction, and a daytime “starter” version is also offered. Live bands play nightly and new-for-2024 skip-the-lines tickets are available.
Where: Spring Mountain Adventure, 757 Spring Mount Road, Schwenksville, PA
September 27 – November 2, 2024 (select dates)
The story of Lincoln Mill Haunted House is a spine-chilling tale of bodies “discovered” in a secret basement chamber after flooding from Hurricane Ida in 2021, uncovering the mill’s dark and gruesome past. Explore the 160-year-old abandoned Manayunk mill as you avoid the lingering spirits of workers who were subject to torment and experimentation by disturbed owner Viktor Kane (possessed by the ghostly Corruptis) a century ago. Expect scare actors, high-quality sets, special effects and animatronics, with new props, characters and sets for 2024.
Where: Lincoln Mill Haunted House, 4100 Main Street, Philadelphia, PA
Like a nightmare right out of a Stephen King novel, the dark and cavernous basement of a 120-year-old abandoned factory is surely one of the most unnerving places on the planet. That’s the setting for the high-scare, high-startle Fright Factory, a crowd-pleasing, creep-factor-100 warehouse in South Philly named one of America’s scariest Halloween attractions by Travel Channel. The 25,000-square-foot space is split into three themed areas: the dystopian and derelict Industrial Nightmare; the abandoned South Side Sanatorium; and Fright Factory Unholy, a consecrated cathedral home to possessed priests and demonic entities.
Where: Fright Factory, 2200 S. Swanson Street, Philadelphia, PA
September 28 – October 27, 2024 (Fridays to Sundays)
Offering suburban scares since 1990, Sleepy Hollow Haunted Acres hosts three ghoulish attractions (featuring new scenes for 2024) at the 230-acre Gunser Farm, a working family farm in Newtown, Bucks County. At a mile-and-a-quarter, the Sleepy Hollow Hayride is one of the longest in the region, winding through dark woods and pumpkin fields. Afterward, make your way through the abandoned Field of Fright village to old Malfate Manor — known as The House in the Hollow — for a terrifying haunted house experience. End your night by the bonfire pit with live music at the concessions building.
Where: Sleepy Hollow Haunted Acres, 881 Highland Road, Newtown, PA
You’ve never witnessed the movies like this! Roll up to the Haunted Halloween Drive In Movie Experience at Morrisville’s Snipes Farm & Education Center for 31 nights of frightful Halloween flicks — — from Scream and Saw to Texas Chainsaw Massacre and the Bucks County-set Signs) — projected onto a 50-foot screen. The immersive experience isn’t just a drive-in movie — it’s also a creepy after-dark viewing experience that features terrifying animatronic characters and live actors that surround you and bring the story to life. “RIP-freshments” are available for purchase.
Where: Snipes Farm & Education Center, 890 W. Bridge Street, Morrisville, PA
October 4-27, 2024 (select dates)
Get ready for a three-part chilling adventure, as Warrington’s Winding Brook Farm features three classic Haunted Attractions (ticketed separately) in one terrifying location. The Night Chills Hay Ride winds through woods transformed into the Gates of Hell — populated, of course, by eerie nighttime creatures. The Corn Walk of Horror is a haunting trail with blood-curdling screams at every dark turn. And try not to get trapped in the Haunted Hay Maze, where spooky characters chase you into a (seemingly) never-ending series of dead ends.
Where: Winding Brook Farm, 3014 Bristol Road, Warrington, PA
October 4-31, 2024 (select dates)
All aboard for a frightful Halloween adventure-on-the-rails. During No Hope After Dark, New Hope Railroad takes you on a journey to the unknown aboard antique trains where terror and holiday revelry collide, featuring sinister characters, immersive sets and heart-pounding fear. The 100-minute excursion departs from New Hope Train Station, with a choice of luxurious first-class table seating or high-back coach benches. New in 2024: a 90-minute rail expedition to the all-new Halloween Festival at a secret location with a scare maze populated by live actors, food trucks and live music.
Where: New Hope Railroad, 32 W. Bridge Street, New Hope, PA
October 5-26, 2024 (Saturdays)
You’ve never seen Philadelphia’s Historic District like this. Travel back to 1760s Philadelphia for the gruesome Bloodletting & Burials event at the iconic Betsy Ross House. Hear grisly tales of the city’s history of infections and inoculations along with macabre details about bloodletting, smallpox, yellow fever and more, presented by spooky characters who lived through those ghastly 18th century times gathered around Betsy Ross’ courtyard grave and throughout the eerily candlelit house. Advance tickets are required for the hour-long event.
Where: Betsy Ross House, 239 Arch Street, Philadelphia, PA
Ongoing
Historians and professors lead the highly researched, adults-only Grim Philly Tours, including two excursions tailor-made for spooky season. The R-rated Dark Philly Adult Night Tour features risqué tales of ghosts, sex, vampires, blackmail, espionage and murder from the days of the Founding Fathers while visiting Old City landmarks. The True Crime Philadelphia: Cemetery & History Tour mixes real-life crime stories and history lessons with tales of serial slayings and psychopathic killers, with stops at Revolutionary-era sites including Elfreth’s Alley and Benjamin Franklin’s Grave.
Where: Tours depart from the Independence Visitor Center, 599 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA
The Philly Ghosts: Phantoms of Philadelphia Tour explores the dark underside of Philly’s Old City. Expert guides lead you on a journey through the city’s past across haunted buildings, ancient streets and ghostly monuments, telling stories of historical events, local legends and eyewitness accounts. Standard mile-long tours run 60 minutes covering eight stops, while extended 90-minute tours feature a dozen stops, with both starting in Washington Square. Alternatively, enjoy an evening of sips and scares along the Philly Ghosts Boos and Booze Haunted Pub Crawl.
Where: Tours depart from Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, 217-231 W. Washington Square, Philadelphia, PA
Through Thursday, October 31, 2024 (daily)
Wander the back streets and secret gardens of Independence National Historical Park, Old City and Society Hill by candlelight on the guided Ghost Tours of Philadelphia. Hear chilling ghost tales and see where the bodies were (literally) buried from the era of William Penn to the Founding Fathers to today. Costumed tour guides spin spooky tales of villains, tragedies and plagues as you explore haunting burial grounds and historic sites along the dark city’s back alleys and secret gardens on a journey based on the book Ghost Stories of Philadelphia, PA. Tours depart from the Signers Garden at 5th and Chestnut streets.
Where: Tours depart from Signers Garden, 434-498 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
Through Saturday, November 23, 2024 (select dates)
The lantern-lit Ghost Tours of New Hope — led by best-selling author and long-time paranormal investigator Adi-Kent Thomas Jeffrey — are one-hour, one-mile ghostly ambles through the streets of the Bucks County river town, offering interesting and surprising stories of spine-tingling hauntings and spooky locales. Public tours are available every Saturday night, plus Friday nights during October only, as well as Halloween night. Tours meet in front of the Parry Mansion Museum on Ferry Street.
Where: Tours depart from Parry Mansion Museum, East Ferry & South Main streets, New Hope, PA
Through Saturday, November 30, 2024 (Fridays and Saturdays)
The paranormal stories heard along the Spirits of ’76 Ghost Tours are “one part history, two parts haunt.” Experience stops at more than 20 of Philadelphia’s (definitely) historic and (possibly) haunted sites for chilling stories from the city’s past, including the ghosts of Independence Hall, the dancing statue of Benjamin Franklin, paranormal Pine Street Church & Cemetery, and grim tales of long-time Philly resident Edgar Allan Poe and Leo Callahan (allegedly the only person to escape Eastern State Penitentiary). Also visited: movie set locations from The Sixth Sense to National Treasure.
Where: Tours depart from 325 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA
October 4-26, 2024 (Fridays and Saturdays)
After 20 years of spooktacular excursions through “the most haunted borough in Pennsylvania,” 2024 will mark the last season for Ghost Tours of Phoenixville, so join in for the “scarewell” before it’s too late. Led by paranormal author Peggy Schmidt, the 90-minute Chester County walking tour stops by the town’s most eerie and supernatural locales including Phoenixville Library, Colonial Theater (setting for The Blob) and Forge Theatre (a former mortuary) while offering stories dating back to the Revolutionary War and Civil War. Private tours for 15 or more are also available.
Where: Tours depart from The Bridge Bar & Grill, 37 Bridge Street, Phoenixville, PA
October 11-27, 2024 (select dates)
Explore one of the nation’s oldest active military facilities after dark with Candlelight Ghost Tours at Fort Mifflin, a pure Halloween season experience free of decorations and costumed characters. It’s just you, your tour guide, a few candles and whatever apparitions might be roving the historic site near Philadelphia International Airport. The one-hour walking tour covers three-quarters of a mile through America’s only operating base predating the Declaration of Independence. Before or after your tour time, enjoy new-for-2024 tarot card readings, vintage horror films screened outdoors and a cozy firepit.
Where: Fort Mifflin, 6400 Hog Island Road, Philadelphia, PA
The only way to fully experience Philly? Stay over.
Book the Visit Philly Overnight Package and get free hotel parking and choose-your-own-adventure perks.
Or maybe you’d prefer to buy two Philly hotel nights and get a third night for free? Then book the new Visit Philly 3-Day Stay package.
Which will you choose?