Halloween Activities on Long Island, New York

Sure, you could make your own home a Halloween attraction, however, would it be one of the best? We realize that this is the economic downturn, however, you are going to spend a lot more money making your place look scary than you would going to a local event. If you want to go in costume, by all means, get some extra use out of last year's costumes, this year's costumes, or ideas for costumes that you are still perfecting that are safe to wear. Halloween is the time to go out and do something locally, while the weather is still great.

Long Island has a few fantastic haunted firehouses, these are a few examples of the firehouse fright night, which is a new and extremely frightening concept, for most audiences. Luckily, there are a few of these great, scary firehouse attractions around Long Island; at the Bayville Fire Department on the North Shore, plus the North Babylon Fire Department, as well as the North Lindenhurst Fire Department this year. All three of these events are excellent places to go for a fright. The haunted firehouse or firehouse of horrors is a fun, fresh, and original Halloween scare idea that a lot of people, including children will find to be frightful entertainment.

Firehouse of Horror of North Babylon - on Wallace Court, off Deer Park Avenue, looks to be a fun and scary show, for attendees, as usual. This haunted firehouse is a place that has grown in popularity over the years. The admission fee is $14. Call 631.667.0379 for more information. The lines to visit this show have become huge, especially during the Halloween weekend shows.

The Haunted Fire House of Bayville- 258 Bayville Avenue, this North Shore Halloween show location is a draw for people living on the north shore of Long Island, from Port Washington to Port Jefferson. The admission fee is $10. Call 516.628.3230 for more information.

North Lindenhurst Fire Department's Haunted Firehouse Tour, located on 1630 Straight Path is a ghoulishly central place for a fright show. This place only costs $6 for the day show, on Saturday and Sunday, and $9 for the evening show. Some of the staff of the North Babylon show have started this attraction in order to help alleviate the crowding that happens at the North Babylon show.

For October 31st itself, saving money on the candy is probably a great idea, plus, the day is also a great excuse to visit the local shopping area for ideas about what to get and if to get less than sixty days in the future for gifts. There are a few venues on Long Island that offer free trick or treating activities on Halloween, as well as the final weekend of Halloween.

There are many places for Halloween festivities other than the firehouse concept. Both the villages of Cold Spring Harbor and Huntington are offering Trick or Treat on Main Street of each town, in the shopping area, this Halloween, October 31st, 2008. This is something that is free to do, that the whole family can enjoy together on October 31st. Your children under the age of 12 will love you for doing this with them, if you are living in the area. For information on the Town of Huntington Trick or Treat, call 631.351.3000.

For people living out on the East End of Long Island, there is the Festival of Frights, in East Hampton, at Mulford Farm on James Lane at Montauk Highway. which also is a free activity. There will be a harvest festival, as well as ghost stories here, and more Halloween frights for a monstrously good time. Call 631.324.6850 for more information on this year's event details.

A lot of people have stopped going trick or treating in their local neighborhood, and are doing private house parties instead. You can save money on the Halloween party, and go trick or treating in the shopping district of your village area instead. The Sunrise Mall, Walt Whitman Mall, and Smithhaven Mall all offer trick or treating activities that are fun and festive places to go for kids, and the trick or treating activities are free.

Schmitt Farms Haunted Mansion of Melville - this place is happening, and it is horror. If you don't go here, you are missing out. There are different routines here every year, there are also long lines to this event on the weekend of Halloween. This is my personal favorite. There is a discount coupon for the mansion, plus a combination coupon good for the corn maze and haunted mansion attraction, on the website.

Darkside Productions Route 25A Wading River, for $18 per night, you can be completely frightened, between October 22nd and November 2nd. There is also a day show on Sunday afternoon, starting at 1 pm for younger children and those with heart conditions or history of epilepsy. Of course, there are shows every weekend between now and the final weekend of Halloween. Call 631.369.SCAR for exact details of the show for the evening.

Friendly Farms 832 Merrick Avenue East Meadow looks to be really cool place for the Octoberfest event to celebrate Halloween for those with small kids who are already chilled to the bone to go to. This location is right off of Hempstead Turnpike, and is only a few miles from the Long Island Children's Museum. The price is a bargain, too, I think. The treats are nutritious, and the event is low-cost. There is apple cider, there is pumpkin picking, there is organic produce at this little children's party location. The website also offers children's parties to be held at Friendly Farms.

This article is supposed to be about the five best places for Halloween haunt and horror fans to go to with your families, in 2008, so, the workstation and attendant did at least an hour of searching in order to produce this little piece. Hope that you find the results to be worth the effort, even though I got distracted by more videos by long-time haunted house manager, Rich Hanf, who has helped most of the haunted house producers in the New York metropolitan area, with the assistance of the talented costumer, Roxanne Hanf, prior to moving on to the Nightmare on the Bayou production in the Houston area. Thanks for helping us get our start in the business of fright.

Sure, you could stay home and watch You Tube videos of these productions instead of going out, however, is your whole family going to fit comfortably around the computer screen?