It’s finally that time of the year again. I don’t know about you, but once the leaves start turning and I get a crisp, cold waft of air on my face when I walk on campus, something in me starts preparing for Halloween. No, I don’t just mean partying on the weekend. What I start looking for are experiences that will make me feel equal parts entertained and terrified. So, what better way to talk about them than to share a couple places that might entertain you this fall season? Here are some of the most interesting scary attractions near Ithaca:
This is my absolute favorite place to go each October. Tagsylvania offers four scary haunted-house style attractions where you must wander through and experience jump scares first-hand, in addition to a Spirit Realm if you are interested in tarot or the mystical and a carnival area full of festive games and themed food items. The park is located in Big Flats, New York, so it’s around a one-hour drive from Ithaca. I would definitely make this a spooky day trip with friends, as there’s also a mall right around the corner from the area! Why not go shopping while there’s light out and then visit the park once the sun sets?
Ever since my senior year of high school, visiting this place became a yearly tradition for my best friend and me. Our favorite attraction is definitely the Orphan House. To begin your journey, you have to enter the small, Victorian-style, old house and make your way through countless rooms filled with scary patrons. My funniest memory of Tagsylvania comes from the dentist’s room in the Orphan House, when the dentist approached my group and screamed at us for being “stinky, dirty orphans.” Queue our trademark group chat name: The Stinky Orphans. I will say that if you are remotely claustrophobic, beware of this haunted house! It’s definitely not for the faint of heart.
Tagsylvania is open every weekend of October from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., so be sure to make this part of your Halloween plans this year.
Situated in Binghamton, New York, this haunted park is also about an hour drive away from Ithaca. If you love gory attractions filled with saws, knives and bloodshed, then this is the place to go! Ever since my traumatic experience with the Thanksgiving movie, I realized that I can’t tolerate gore as much as the supernatural or psychological, so I’m not sure that I’ll be visiting Slaughterland any time soon.
One attraction that seems particularly interesting is called Wendigo Woods. In this experience, you must find your way through the woods exclusively by using the light of a flickering lantern. If there’s anything that horror movies and living in rural Pennsylvania has taught me, it’s that I would never want to be wandering alone in pitch-black darkness without some kind of defense or mode of escape.
All four attractions in Slaughterland seem to be connected to each other, offering a different experience than Tagsylvania, where you can pick and choose which attractions to visit. Although getting in line to enter each house helps to mentally recover, I think this back-to-back strategy might ease nerves in the long run and avoid a buildup of anxiety while waiting.
Slaughterland is also open every weekend in October from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Haunted History in Downtown Ithaca
If you prefer a spooky ambience without the imminent terror of disguised clowns and serial killers chasing you with knives, then I have just the experience for you. I recently discovered that the History Center in Ithaca offers guided walking tours where they narrate stories of murder, crimes and ghost sightings that are directly taken from the city archives.
Instead of listening to a true crime podcast on your phone, why not learn about the haunted history of Ithaca by visiting the exact places themselves? Plus, it’s a great way to exercise, as the walking tour is 75 minutes long. Tours are offered Thursday through Saturday at 6:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. during the month of October, so I would advise you to layer up clothes and bring an umbrella. Trust me, as someone who is recovering from the flu over fall break, you don’t want to risk it by walking in the cold for so long. I would even bring a hot drink for the walk if I were you.
Conduct Your Own Ghost Hunt!
Last but not least, for the bravest souls, consider going on an actual ghost hunt at a haunted location in New York. While this idea has always interested me, I’m not sure what I would do if I actually witnessed or heard the inexplicable. Perhaps it’s best to leave that can of worms unopened. However, if you are itching for an experience that is completely unscripted and unpredictable, I recommend you look through the Haunted History Trail of New York. From haunted museums and inns to cemeteries and asylums, there’s an experience waiting for everybody. Most attractions are further away from Ithaca, though, so expect to drive at least an hour and a half to reach them.
As my closing recommendation, for those of you who absolutely hate getting scared or watching a horror movie (I write this with specific people in mind…) carve a pumpkin, improvise a costume and bake some Halloween-themed cookies with your friends! Make sure to enjoy the spookiness of the season in one way or another.
Giuliana Keeth is a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at gmk74@cornell.edu.
