The best Halloween events for 2024 in NYC

Get a chance to feel like you're inside the mind of the one and only Tim Burton. The New York Botanical Garden is hosting the worldwide debut of a new light trail entirely inspired by the 1993 classic Disney film Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas.

The trail is comprised of over 8,300 square feet of light installations with interactive video projections, intelligent LED lighting and 3D printed sculptures of the film's iconic characters. 

The outdoor adventure runs from September 27 through November 30; get tickets here. 

Carving a jack-o'-lantern may be a time-honored American tradition for many, but nobody—and we mean nobody—does pumpkin carving quite like Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.

Every fall, pumpkins aplenty decorate two locations of this festive, family-friendly attraction. This year promises thousands of intricately carved jack-o'-lanterns in mesmerizing displays, plus dazzling new experiences in honor of the event's founding 20 years ago. 

Blaze: Hudson Valley runs at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County from September 13 through November 17. Blaze: Long Island runs at Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Old Bethpage, Long Island from October 4 through November 3. Tickets are on sale now.

After the sun goes down, the Bronx Zoo will light up this fall with more than 5,000 animal-themed jack-o’-lanterns in incredible displays. Officially called Pumpkin Nights, this festivity is back for its second year after a popular debut in 2023. 

Expect to see intricately carved jack-o'-lanterns set up in different animal ecosystem scenes, such as the Amazon rainforest, Himalayas, Congo, bioluminescent deep-sea, an African Savanna waterhole and many more. Pumpkin Nights will be held on select dates from September 26 through October 27 with tickets on sale here. 

This year's festivities include an expanded and enhanced jack-o'-lantern trail that stretches for half a mile. As you walk through the experience, you'll be met with atmospheric sounds, music, costumed characters, fog, bubbles and colored lights. Last year's carved creations included a furry bear, a wrinkly elephant and a dramatically decorated leopard.

Promising to get us all in the Halloween spirit, a spooky pop-up bar is rising from the dead, bringing goth, ghouls and all the scary good times.

Starting October 1, Black Lagoon will bring mixology and the macabre to Someday Bar (364 Atlantic Avenue). Described as “an immersive, creepy-as-hell cocktail experience,” expect skeletons, life-sized coffins you can take a selfie in, illuminated skulls, and themed cocktails.

Prepare to scream in horror. Blood Manor is back from September 28 through November 3, marking more than two decades of terrifying New Yorkers. 

The 10,000 square-foot mansion at 359 Broadway in Manhattan boasts plenty of blood-chilling rooms, spooky corridors and a labyrinth filled with surprises that will make you jump in abject horror. But there's more: a great cast of actors equipped to instill maximum jump scares and state-of-the-art special effects and technology that combine reality with fantasy so that you don't quite know what's real and what isn't. Snag your timed entry tickets here.

Each year, the Amazing Maize Maze's shape changes, and this year, it's designed like a butterfly. The species starts their life cycle on the farm's milkweed plants before they migrate nearly 3,000 miles to Mexico every year. The maze is not only a fun family activity this year, but also an homage to a threatened species that we should all protect.

You can visit the Amazing Maize Maze at the Queens County Farm Museum every Friday through Sunday until October 26. Tickets are $14 for adults and $10 for children ages 4-11. Entry is free for children under 3 years old. Online tickets are required before you visit and you can get them through their website. 

At Rooftop Cinema Club this October, you can scare yourself silly (or laugh yourself into a fit if that’s more your style) with its slate of festive films. 

Rooftop Cinema Club promises to put the "sin" in cinema with a lineup of haunting and horrifying films—if you’re brave enough to watch. On the calendar for October: Hocus Pocus, Friday the 13th, Mean Girls, The Shining, Beetlejuice, Death Becomes Her, Halloweentown, Practical Magic, American Psycho, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Halloween, Scream, and more. Here's the full lineup and how to get tickets.

The Pumpkin Arch in the Seaport has been installed for the season, and this incredibly Instagrammable installation is worth checking out for free through November 3. 

What is a pumpkin arch exactly? Think of a balloon arch but with decorative pumpkins instead of balloons, plus some fall foliage and vines to add to the autumnal energy. You can find it on the Heineken Riverdeck on the north side of Pier 17 in the Seaport. In the background, you'll see the Brooklyn skyline and the East River. If you frame your photograph just right, you can even get the Brooklyn Bridge perfectly aligned in the background. It's open 24/7 for photographs.

House of Yes and ZERO are bringing us an immersive Halloween music and arts festival at Industry City in Brooklyn this weekend. The City of Gods Halloween Festival will take place on October 25 and 26 across two warehouse buildings filled with art, music, labyrinths, body paint, and more.

One unique feature of the festival is that they keep their DJ lineup across seven different stages a secret, so you're just going to have to be there in person to find out who's playing.

You can check out all the festival's offerings and get your tickets here. 

Choose from more than 10,000 gourds sourced from upstate New York at Cityside Pumpkin Patch at The Summer Club rooftop in Long Island City. The pumpkins will be spread across 25,000 square feet of space at 8-08 Queens Plaza South from October 4 through Halloween.

In addition to the pumpkin patch, expect photo ops to archery sessions, face painting, tarot card reading, a smash-o-lantern activation and—of course—food and drink offerings to boot. Tickets are on sale here.

This fall, Green-Wood Cemetery is hosting a wide array of programming, from performances in its catacombs to trolley tours to powerful discussions about grief.  

Nightfall, a two-day spectacle with after-dark immersive experiences, is among the fan favorites, and it's coming back in October. Other stand-out events include the trolley tour Gay Gothic and Spirited Stroll, a pre-Halloween walking tour with tales of murder, mayhem, and captivating oddities. Here's the full list. 

This new immersive experience at Rockefeller Center is based on the story of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman. The experience starts at the Sleepy Hollow Harvest, where you'll encounter characters from the Headless Horseman tale. Then, you'll make your way through the Hollows and the cornfield before you arrive at Ichabod’s Enchanted Grove. The journey winds through a few more experiences before ending at the Jack O’Lantern Atelier.

“Sleepy Hollow: Autumn’s Harvest” runs through November 10. Tickets start at $24. You can plan your visit on their website here. 

Are you afraid of the dark? After exploring Dark Matter, a new immersive art exhibition at Mercer Labs in Lower Manhattan, you just might be. 

The exhibition, running on select evenings from October 4 to 30, is the brainchild of experimental artist Roy Nachum, Mercer Lab’s co-founder and creative director. Through immersive visuals, interactive displays, audio installations, oil painting and robots, Dark Matter explores the depths and darkness of the human psyche and paranormal expression. The show is available from 8pm-midnight in October; get tickets here for $52/adult.

In creating the exhibition, Nachum drew on his own nightmares for inspiration; "the exhibit explores surreal and hypnotic themes of darkness and the human psyche and the unsettling realm of nightmares, inner demons and paranormal occurrences," he tells Time Out.

Described as a "deftly crafted jukebox nostalgia trip," MJ the musical brings Michael Jackson's pop music to the stage. One of the most powerful songs in the show is a climactic dark-carnival staging of "Thriller," which is ostensibly about Jackson’s fear of his controlling father but also involves demon versions of himself.

On the Halloween night performance, the MJ cast does a special post-show performance of the music video version of "Thriller" after the show. So if you're planning to go see the show, grab those tickets for October 31.

What does Jimmy Fallon dream about? Coming up with bits for The Tonight Show? Rocking out with his band, The Roots? Or perhaps something more sinister? 

At this new Halloween experience called Jimmy Fallon's Tonightmares, you can peek inside the mind of the renowned host. This haunted maze experience at Rockefeller Center is open now with 10 chilling rooms, each featuring one of Jimmy Fallon’s spine-tingling nightmares. Tickets are on sale now for about $37/person.

The maze features a cornfield with killer scarecrows, an abandoned subway with not-so-human-like creatures, and even a performance from a zombie boy band, making for a truly thrilling evening. Those brave enough to enter can expect an immersive experience with terrifying sets, practical effects and scares behind every corner.

Autumn is the time to pick two of the season’s most emblematic fruits: apples and pumpkins. Fortunately there are some fantastic farms where you can go apple and pumpkin picking near NYC. These farms and orchards will get you into that fuzzy fall feeling in no time.

There’s nothing quite like taking a bite out of a crisp apple straight from the tree (even better, taking home a basketful for making pie), and your Halloween pumpkin will be that much more special when you pick it right off the vine. You’ll find a wide variety of apples and pumpkins at these farms, plus fun activities like hayrides, corn mazes and petting zoos. Don’t miss hot apple cider and other fresh-made treats at the farmstand. 

From pumpkin kegs to molecular mixology, these bars go all out for the season. Expect creepy decor and maybe even a haunting or two. 

Get ready ghouls and girls for an epic Halloween in NYC! The city is bursting with terrifying haunted houses, Halloween parties and more pumpkin-packed events. 

It’s the freakiest time of year, and we couldn’t be more excited to scream our guts out at the scariest haunted houses NYC has to offer. Haunted houses may bring plenty of frights, but if you’re looking to get shaken to your core this season, check out these immersive experiences that will bring out your darkest, deepest fears from killer clowns to claustrophobic.

Come October 31st, New Yorkers will more than likely want to include a stop at some of the Halloween bars NYC has to offer.

In the city that never sleeps, there are haunted places in NYC whose inhabitants might keep you up at night or heading home early. From historic haunted houses to long-time taverns, the tenants at these venues might give off an eerie feeling or prompt a sudden urge to change your plans.

One of the best things to do in the fall in New York is check out The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze in Hudson Valley, New York. Trust us, it’s worth the trip. 

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