Halloween in Memphis - Pumpkins, Parties, and Hauntings!

Memphis, TN has always had a love affair with haunted things. I can remember in the 50s, as a young child, always going to the local "haunted house" for games and treats. Haunted buildings and lore abound in the city and are very popular for visits around the Halloween season. This year the Nightshade Manor Haunted House is the spot to be! An IT Product Manager has created this project and it should be a lot of fun. Centrally located in midtown Memphis, the house can be toured every weekend in October and toward mid-month will be open during the week as well. Please see the web site for details as sometime sites update and change.

http://www.hauntedhouseonline.com/show_house.cfm?house=924&type=1+Memphis
Haunted houses and public buildings are very popular in Memphis.

There are lots of venues for the haunted devotees in this town. A hugely fun event that takes place on Halloween is the Ride the Ducks tour.

This information is directly from the web site: Ride The Ducks Halloween tours will be: October 6, 7, 13, 14, 20, 21, 27 and 28. Tickets are $17.95 for adults, $16.95 for seniors and military, and $9.95 for children ages 3-12. Tickets can be purchased at Ride The Ducks departure location at Third and Beale Streets. For more information call 901-521-DUCK (3825) or visit www.memphisducks.com

The amphibious tour vehicles designed like ducks (from the famous Peabody Hotel ducks) will be roaming to places like the Orpheum Theater, Victorian Village and the old jailhouse, among other places. The guides are quite adept at telling colorful "histories" of these haunted locals to their bundled and wide-eyed riders! Trick or Treat bags will also be given to the youngsters upon the purchase of tickets. This is a really fun way to spend family time together on Halloween and is surely something that young children will remember for a long, long time afterwards.

Another site offers tips on Memphis ghosts and how to hunt for them! http://memphis.about.com/od/halloween/, You can also get information on Elmwood Cemetery, Memphis' oldest and most famous cemetary and is on the National Historic Register. Senators, mayors and other luminaries are buried here, along with others. This is a beautiful place to take a stroll and look at all the incredible statuary and read wonderful gravestone notations. It is open every day but closes in the evening. The place is very large and huge trees overhang and shadow the vast lawn, so bring a bottled drink and get ready to enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon or morning and partaking of a slice of Memphis history. There's a fun link on the web site for you to find out all about the ghosts of Memphis and what you can do to hunt them down.

.Almost any holiday or event is an excuse for a party here. Downtown will be rocking, you can bet on it. Most of the popular bars and nightspots here will be throwing a special bash for their patrons, you can be sure. There used to be an annual Halloween party on Stonewall St.which was a huge sellout every year. The street is old and is home to many old, and some very creepy, Memphis mansions. This year, however, the party has moved to the Wile Goose Sports Bar on Butler St. downtown. It should be a Blast, so get your tickets ASAP! The bash begins at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 29th. http://www.450stonewall.com/.

Another party is set for downtown "Night of the Living DJ" at Premiere Palace, 629 Monroe across from The Spot/616 .There will be lots of music and wild costumes to be sure. Jungle Juice Productions presents "Night of the Living DJ" at Premiere Palace at 629 Monroe across from The Spot/616. And Beale St. will be jamming all weekend with parties and wild antics! http://blogs.commercialappeal.com/scene/archives/2004/10/halloween.html In this web site you can check out some of the venues for more Halloween festivities going on. But even without plans, you can be sure that if you get outfitted and stroll down Beale or some of the other downtown streets that you'll run into a party at almost every address!

Another tradition in our area is hayrides. There are several sites where you can access information about upcoming rides and their fees and services. Though not restricted to just Halloween festivities, some will outfit themselves accordingly and put on a good thrill for the youngsters. Look for hay rides and more: http://www.googhoul.com/index.cfm. This next site is another one for outdoor activity for the whole family:

http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/Pumpkin.php?URL=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.agricenter.org/ will help you find a pumpkin patch, hay ride, and lots of other Halloween activities near you. A link from this site gives more detail on the cornfieldmaze, a popular site for childrens' activities: http://www.cornfieldmaze.com/sites.php?ID=&username=tnmemphis will give you more information on the fun to be had at mazes. Weekends the Agricenter's maze will be "haunted" from dusk until 10 p.m.But it will also be Halloween spooky on Oct. 29th and 31st! The Agricenter has become a real local attraction for families because there are just so many things to do at there. This year, they're having an annual Harvestfest on Oct. 7th at 10:00 am-4:00 pm. They will have a moon walk, pumpkin painting, and all sorts of activities that day to celebrate fall and the upcoming Halloween weekend. It should be great fun for families with young children. The pumpkin patch opened Oct. 6, and what fun it would be to go pick out your own special pumpkin to carve and eat! Recipes galore for pies, breads, etc.

Several other venues for hayrides and corn mazes and fun Halloween stuff are located outside the city limits so it will involve a bit of planning. One is an orchard which has been in business for over 5 decades and run by the same Jones family that started it. It linked to through : http://jonesorchard.com/ A corn maze and a pumpkin patch will be at the Singleton Parkway location in September and October. The maze will be open on nights and weekends in September. This year, however, Jones is putting in a haunted trail with thrills and squeals for the Halloween children. This will be available for visitors Friday and Saturday nights during October. The two corn Maize areas within a 5 Acre main area modeled after an Egyptian pattern and are incredibly intricate. Much fun!

So Memphis has a lot to offer for the pre-Halloween crowds. Much of the month there will be rides, haunted tours, and lots and lots of parties. The mazes available will delight children. There's enough going on at the Agricenter to pack into an entire weekend of fun and games. And by all means, take a drive to the Agricenter or Jones Farm and pick your own pumpkin! Happy Haunting !!!