Spooky season has officially begun, and we’re already gearing up for the big event: Halloween! No matter what describes you best—studious spirit, partying paranormal, musical monster, or fearless phantom—the District is hosting a Halloween event that’s perfect for you! Below, check out some of the best haunts D.C. has to offer:
1. Dining in the Dark: A Unique Blindfolded Dining Experience
While D.C.’s Dining in the Dark experience takes place year-round, there is certainly an element of spookiness as you step into a darkened restaurant.
Once blindfolded, you will have your remaining senses to experience your meal from an entirely different perspective. Brave enough to put your taste buds to the test? Snag tickets here for this one-of-a-kind dining experience.
2. Do a thrilling escape room at this spot in Georgetown
At The Escape Room DC in Georgetown, you’ll be able to participate in two unique themed escape rooms this Halloween season.
The first room is called ‘The Curse of the Mummy’ and the second escape room’s theme is the Titanic!
3. Attend a family-friendly Halloween-themed afternoon at Mystery Mansion
Including a family-friendly haunted house and a bonfire bash that will be fun for all ages, this plan is a perfect plan to get the whole family into the spirit of spooky season!
There are a dozen rooms in the haunted house, live music, a bonfire event, food, and so much more available.
4. Take a haunted ghost tour of D.C. for Boos and Booze
With rich history comes mysterious and inexplicable happenings, so there have been whispers that D.C. is plagued with ghosts and spirits of the past!
If you dare, this ghost tour will show you the haunted side of the District you never knew!
5. Don your best costume for one of D.C.’s Halloween-themed bar crawls
Halloween isn’t just for kids—and what’s better for adults than trick-or-treating for booze?! D.C. has several Halloween-themed bar crawls this month, encouraging you to dress up and do the “Monster Mash” until you wake the dead!
- Trick or Drink Washington DC Halloween Bar Crawl
- DC Halloween Crawl
- Nightmare in Navy Yard
- Nightmare on M Street
6. Enjoy a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt at the O Museum
Hidden D.C. gem, the O Street Museum, is celebrating Halloween all month long! A mansion and hotel teeming with kitschy objects and collectibles for sale, themed hidden rooms, and more than 80 secret doors—the O Street Museum is giving itself a spooky spin by making its scavenger hunt Halloween-themed! But be careful—who knows what’s behind each door!
7. Get into the spooky spirit with Boo at the Zoo
It’s a dream come true! You can now reserve tickets for October 18th, 19th & 20th for Boo at the Zoo—a family-friendly event filled with spooky activities and Jack O’Lantern adorned animal habitats at the National Zoo!
Boo at the Zoo is sponsored by Mars Wrigley Confectionery, so it’s safe to say that there will be plenty of treats in store for those who come.
8. Take in a classical rendition of your favorite Halloween haunts
Taking in the sounds of classical renditions of your favorite Halloween haunts amidst soft candlelight? Spooky season just got better! The Fever Originals Candlelight series is the perfect way to get into the Halloween spirit (or spirits). With multiple genres and musical themes to choose from, there’s bound to be a creepy concert that’s perfect for you!
- Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics at St. Francis Hall
- Candlelight: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics at Miracle Theatre
- Candlelight: Best Horror Movie Soundtracks
9. Go to the Harry Potter: A Forbidden Forest Experience
Starting on October 26th just in time for Halloween, this Harry Potter event in Leesburg is a perfect plan for any Potter-heads this Fall!
Tickets are already selling out, so don’t wait to reserve your spot because it might not be available much longer!
Fortunately, the event will stay up until early December, so if you don’t see it before Halloween, you haven’t completely missed out.
10. Get tickets to the real-life Squid Game experience coming to NYC this fall
Netflix’s Squid Game took the world by storm not long ago and with season 2 of this hit show slated to come out in December of this year, you’re not going to want to miss out on this incredible event happening right by Penn Station in Midtown, Manhattan!
The experience will open on October 11th, but with the popularity of the event and how quickly tickets are selling out, you might want to grab your tickets now before it’s too late!
Tickets start at around $50 for standard admission tickets to participate in 5 unique challenges inspired by the show!
Once the challenges are over, you’ll also be able to check out the incredible pop-up Squid Game shop, which is packed with limited edition merch that you can rock on Halloween.
Where: Midtown, Manhattan, NYC