Halloween isn't just for kids. While it certainly can be a cuddly holiday of jack o' lanterns and tiny ghosts and goblins, there's a very adult side to the tradition of dress-up and delusion, to the celebration of the wisdom of fools and the masked ball. Like some of the pagan gods it originally celebrated, Halloween has two faces: the childish and the grown-up, the cheerful and the scary. So do Halloween festivals around the USA.
We've previously mentioned Halloween deals across the country, including trips to Cape Cod, Ohio, Indiana and New Orleans. The entire state of Massachusetts has gotten into the Halloween mood, too, Frommer's writer Bob Fisher reported in September.
Some other spooky ideas for a last-minute jaunt:
The nation's largest Halloween festival is in New York City, (www.halloween-nyc.com), and it's open to all ages. The annual New York Halloween parade features more than 25,000 costumed marchers, 38 marching bands, elaborate floats and a slew of street performers. Two million people attend, according to the festival organizers. It's truly amazing, and if you want to get a good spot, you need to be at the parade site (along Sixth Avenue between Spring and 23rd streets) well before the 7 pm start time. According to the festival organizers, the stretch between 14th and 23rd streets is less crowded than the area below. (Unfortunately, there are no hotels that front onto the parade route.)
New Orleans' biggest Halloween events involve alternative lifestyles -- and we don't just mean gay people, we mean people who think they're vampires. The Big Easy is the world capital of undead wannabes, and aficionados of voodoo, Anne Rice, Buffy or anything similar will find a slew of terrifying parties and events to attend. The nation's most haunted city has plenty of more mainstream events, too, including a bash at the zoo for the kids and some traditional Halloween chaos along Bourbon Street. Head over to www.nola.com/haunted/index.ssf?hcalendar.html for a full listing.
Both R- and PG-rated Halloween celebrations are available in San Francisco; we like the comprehensive listing at about.com. Head to Civic Center with the kids, or to the Castro without them. There's even a trick-or-treat night in the Mission District that non-local kids are invited to attend.
Things are purely G-rated at Disneyworld, where Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party runs from 7 p.m. to midnight. Expect this one to appeal mostly to the under-10 crowd, and expect it to be done with the usual high-budget Disney style, including a costume parade. Tickets cost about $30 over the normal Disney ticket; click here to buy tickets online. Older theme-park-goers will probably prefer the half-dozen adult-style haunted houses set up this year at Universal Orlando -- but at $51.95, the ticket price may be the most terrifying facet of that event.
Savannah, Georgia has a reputation as America's most haunted city, but they don't seem to have many specifically Halloween-themed events this year. Treat this as an opportunity to have an alternative Halloween experience -- stay at a haunted inn, eat at a haunted restaurant and go on a ghost tour without the New Orleans crowds. The 17 Hundred 90 Inn is the place to go for a troubled night's sleep, what with the ghost of the original owner's daughter hanging out in room 204. Have dinner at the Moon River Brewing Company (www.moonriverbrewing.com), which offers pub food, local microbrewed beers and a slew of stories about ghostly encounters. Then go on one of Savannah's ghostly walking tours. It'll be a howl of a holiday.