Features > Camping > Top Haunted Destinations this Halloween
With Halloween just around the corner, lovers of horror and gore across the country will be gearing up for the biggest scarefest of the year. Costumes will be created, candy will be purchased and neighbor will battle with neighbor for the title of “most inventive party”. However, for a truly horrifying Halloween, those who really wish to push the boat out can use the AllStays app to get out of their comfort zone and discover some of the USA's most spooky destinations for a weekend getaway.
Although most people associate the term “haunted house” with a creaky old mansion set on a hill with gravestones littering the back yard, there are a wealth of haunted locations spread across the country which come in a range of different forms. For instance, a picturesque hotel only a stone's throw from the San Antonio Botanical Garden is not the obvious choice for a ghost hunt – until visitors learn of the murder that took place there in 1876! This is only one example of the cavalcade of terror AllStays has to offer anyone wishing to have a truly memorable October 31 st .
If you go Down to the Woods Today…
The Blair Witch project is one of the most popular horror movies of all time, and has forever cemented areas of woodland as a spooky feature of Halloween. Many party hosts enjoy recreating scenes from the movie by assembling a forest of fake trees in their front yard – but this experience can be enhanced by visiting the actual location where the movie was filmed. Seneca Creek State Park , Maryland, is undoubtedly one of the scariest places to set up camp for the night thanks to its notoriety following the Blair Witch Project. Pitching up amongst the trees with nothing but a flashlight and a video camera is a guaranteed way to get the injection of horror every Halloween needs, but it is important to remember to brush up on eco-friendly guidelines before embarking on your trip. AllStays recommends using a small stove instead of a camp fire, for example, as this is a much safer method of remaining warm as the evening sets in – an out of control camp fire could see a whole different type of horror unfolding in front of unwary campers.
You can Check In, but will you Check Out?
A little known fact is that most hotels in the world are considered to be haunted, because very few have managed to rack up a zero fatalities rate over the years. Elderly or infirm visitors often pass away in such locations, giving wave to a spate of hauntings across the world. One of the most notoriously haunted hotels in the US is the Stanley Hotel in Colorado , which sprung to fame after becoming the muse for the Overlook Hotel in Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece The Shining. In fact staff are perfectly happy to play on this notoriety by offering guided ghost tours and spooky background information, although fortunately the resident spirits seem relatively benign. Ghostly piano playing and the sounds of children playing are regular occurrences, neither of which are particularly terrifying in themselves – although those that place stock in the movie may wish to avoid using the elevator!
The Stanley Hotel in daylight - Photo by Flickr's seantoyer
On the Highway to Hell
Anyone who knows their horror movies will undoubtedly have heard of The Hitcher. The story is relatively cliché for the movie industry – two attractive teenagers find themselves being chased around the back roads of America by a murderous madman. While this may put many off the idea of road trips for life, this can actually be a perfect way to cement your Halloween credentials by sourcing some of the United States' creepiest roads. Clinton Road in New Jersey is particularly reminiscent of scenes from The Hitcher, with eyewitness accounts citing vanishing headlights and the abandoned victims of serial killers as two attractive local features. While this may be a terrifying prospect for even the most battle-hardened horror enthusiast, AllStays is fortunately on hand with our road guide to help those fleeing phantom headlights find a welcome respite – presuming, of course, that the ghosts have not gotten there first.
For a Halloween with a difference, nothing beats a pilgrimage to a known haunted location. By browsing the AllStays app and finding the hotel or campsite which suits you, you can relive the best parts of your favorite horror movies and hopefully live to tell the tale.
Melissa Duncan | Oct 15, 2013 | Category: Haunted
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