Halloween is fast approaching like a witch on her broom at full speed. If you still don’t have plans this weekend, why not go on a Halloween road trip with friends or family. You don’t have to spend the night but it’d be more fun if you can visit lots of spooky places. If this is your cup of tea, check out some of the most popular Halloween road trip destinations in the country.
Halloween Road Trip Safety Tips
A Halloween road trip is something that’s fun to do during the holiday. It shouldn’t end with you becoming part of the lore or the wax display in the case of the characters in House of Wax. Always be on the safe side by planning your road adventure thoroughly and taking safety tips seriously.
Do your research
First off, figure out what Halloween road trip destinations you want to visit. We’ve listed down below some of the most haunted places in the country.
This should help you figure out what route to take so you can check out the roads, alternate routes, and shortcuts. You should also check all possible stops like fueling stations, auto repair shops, rest stops, restaurants, inns, and hotels. Know where the hospitals, police stations, banks, ATM machines, bus stations, and train stations are, too.
Next, learn what you can about the tourist spots you’ll visit. It’s a good idea to know if there are certain things that you can’t do while there. See if there are things to watch out for, too.
Check your car
Before you go, your vehicle should be in good condition. Take it to your trusty mechanic first to see if it’s in shape for some long-distance driving. Make sure the tires are good to go. Check all the fluids (engine oil, brake fluid, window washer fluid, etc.) and fill your tank, too.
Pack an emergency kit
Check all your car tools prior to your road trip. Make sure you have everything you need in case of a car emergency. Some common car tools include a tire jack, lug wrench, pump, jumper cables, portable jumper, socket set, wrenches, screwdrivers, pliers, and dead blow mallet. A jerry can will be necessary if you run out of fuel.
You should also check your spare tire if it’s in good condition. Speaking of tires, bring tire traction mats and tire chains, too. A shovel and some cat litter will also come in handy when your tires are stuck.
Make sure you have a work light and early warning devices like road flares, a reflective triangle, and a reflective vest. Brings road maps, and a GPS tracker to help keep you from getting lost. Also, learn how to pick your car’s lock in case you get locked out.
Your car emergency kit should also include a flashlight, headlamp, portable lantern, zip ties, duct tape, electrical tape, WD-40, fire extinguisher, and a snow brush. Keep bottled water and non-perishable food like energy bars in your car so you can nourish yourself while on the road. Use a cooler so you can enjoy cold drinks during the drive.
Bring a tent, sleeping bag, thermal blanket, wool blanket, poncho, tarp, and warm clothing to help you stay warm in case you’re stranded or have to sleep on the side of the road. A lighter or any fire starter along with some tinder and a camping stove will also be necessary for such a scenario.
Other important survival tools you should pack include multi-tool, pocket knife, pepper spray, baseball bat, compass, signal mirror, whistle, paracord, and a first aid kit. Don’t forget your phone, extra battery, and solar charger. Oh, and pack toilet paper, toiletries, and other personal items for those messy kinds of emergencies.
Inform someone
You’re all packed up and ready to go. Now it’s time to tell someone – your family, closest friends, neighbors, or landlord – that you’re off on a road adventure. Tell them when you’re going, where you’re going, and when they should expect you back. In case you don’t get home on time, they can check up on you (give them your contact details). They should raise the alarm if you don’t get back to them.
Halloween Road Trip Destinations You Should Visit
Now that we’ve got all the basic safety tips covered, it’s time to look at some of the best Halloween road trip destinations in the country.
Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah, Georgia
Cemeteries are obvious choices if you want to scare yourself silly. There’s probably one near you where you can hang out with friends, tell scary stories, and just freak yourselves out. But if you really want to have an eerie yet amazing experience, why not head over to one of the most popular Halloween road trip destinations in the country: the Bonaventure Cemetery.
If you’ve read the novel or seen the movie adaptation of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, you may remember the parts that take place in the cemetery. In the film, the scene shows Minerva (Irma P. Hall), a voodoo priestess, telling John Kelso (John Cusack) that “to understand the living, you must commune with the dead.” This was shot in the Bonaventure Cemetery and you can see how spooky the place is with its Southern Gothic vibe and Victorian grave markers.
Another reason to visit Bonaventure Cemetery during the Halloween season is to get a glimpse at the resting places of some known personalities. This is where Academy Award-winning lyricist Johnny Mercer and poet Conrad Aiken. But what really stands out is the grave of a little girl known as Little Gracie Watkins.
Born in 1883, Little Gracie died of pneumonia when she was only six years old. Her grave marker is a life-sized statue of her likeness touching a tree stump. It is believed that the ghost of Little Gracie wanders the Bonaventure Cemetery. Some people claimed that the statue would cry bloody tears.
St. Louis Cemetery in New Orleans, Louisiana
If you think Bonaventure Cemetery is scary, wait till you hear about St. Louis Cemetery in New Orleans. The centuries-old cemetery is quite a popular hang-out for ghosts, which is why it’s one of the top Halloween road trip destinations around. St. Louis Cemetery is the oldest cemetery in Louisiana having been established in 1789. With over 100,000 people buried here, it is also considered the most haunted cemetery.
The most popular of the lost souls supposedly wandering St. Louis is Marie Laveau. The Voodoo Queen of the 1800s was a free woman of color who was well-known for practicing the craft. There have been numerous sightings of her in the cemetery and even in the city’s streets. If you spot a lady with a red and white turban and brightly colored ceremonial clothes, that’s probably her.
If you see a tall person with blue eyes and wearing a white shirt and black coat, that’s likely Henry Vignes. Henry was a sailor during the nineteenth century who entrusted the landlady of the boarding house where he stayed with his important documents including the deeds to his family tomb. The landlady reneged on her promise to take care of the papers and sold the deed to Henry’s family tomb.
Vignes died without getting his family tomb back and was buried in an unmarked grave in St. Louis Cemetery. To this day, Henry continues to look for his family tomb. He even appears at funerals and talks to mourners asking if there was space for him in the tomb. There was supposedly an instance that he was captured on film and that he can be heard saying, “I need to rest!”
These two are not the only known paranormal entities to call St. Louis their home. There’s this ghost known as Alphonse who would show himself to visitors and even talk to them. Some have said that the young man would ask people to help him go back home before crying and eventually disappearing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKyAW8VP49w&ab_channel=TheSpeakeasy
LaLaurie Mansion in New Orleans, Louisiana
New Orleans is quite a hot spot when it comes to the supernatural. The LaLaurie Mansion is another popular place for ghost hunters as many unfortunate people met their deaths in this horrific place.
Madame Marie Delphine LaLaurie, a well-known socialite in the early 19th century, used to hold lavish parties in her mansion. Unknown to her guests, the floor two stories above them was the scene of gruesome torture and murders.
In 1834, a fire broke out in the kitchen leading to the discovery of mutilated bodies in the attic. LaLaurie managed to escape and fly to France before an angry mob stormed her mansion. Soon afterward, reports came in of strange occurrences in the mansion. The most common of which are piercing screams that are believed to come from the victims of the murderess.
Lizzie Borden House in Fall River, Massachusetts
If you’re driving through Massachusetts, make sure you drop by Fall River and visit Lizzie Borden’s house. The property has witnessed not one but two horrific murders. The most popular is, of course, the ax murders supposedly committed by Lizzie. In 1892, Lizzie’s father, Andrew, and stepmother, Abby, were killed in the said house. Lizzie was tried for the murders but the jury made up of men, acquitted her mainly because they thought a woman was incapable of such a gruesome thing.
The other murders happened in 1848, long before Lizzie was born. Eliza Darling Borden, Lizzie’s great grand uncle’s second wife, killed two of her three children before killing herself. She threw the young ones down the cellar cistern then slit her throat.
Today, the house is said to be haunted by the ghosts of Lizzie, her parents, and the “children down the well.” The Lizzie Borden House has become popular among tourists and is one of the many Halloween road trip destinations you should visit at least once in your life. You can stay in the house as it offers bed and breakfast services.
Bodie Ghost Town in Bodie, California
A Halloween road trip won’t feel complete without a visit to a ghost town. If you’re in California, the town of Bodie near the Nevada border is the perfect place to do some ghost hunting or at least take a peek at the country’s past.
During the gold rush of the 1870s and 80s, the town was brimming with activity as about 10,000 people settled in the area. It has since been abandoned and is now a State Historic Park. The ghost town is in “arrested decay” with many of the places preserved to look like the people just disappeared in a snap of a finger.
A stroll around the town will definitely give you the hibbie jibbies, especially after seeing that the shops are still full of supplies. Many visitors say they’ve seen ghosts or heard strange noises like the piano playing even if there was no one around.
A word of caution: avoid taking anything from Bodie. There’s this supposed curse that anyone who takes even a piece of rock from the ghost town will suffer from a string of misfortune.
RMS Queen Mary in Long Beach, California
One of the most popular tourist spots in Long Beach California, the RMS Queen Mary is also a must-visit for thrillseekers looking for some Halloween fun. The retired World War II warship and ocean liner now function as a hotel. You can spend a night here and see for yourself if the place is really haunted.
The RMS Queen Mary is filled with the ghosts of people who died on the ship, which numbers at least 49, though some have said the ship is home to about 600 spirits. One restless soul belongs to John Pedder, a young sailor who died in the boiler room. Also called “Half Hatch Harry,” Pedder was tragically crushed by Door 13. He was either playing chicken with a fellow crewmember or was late and trying to beat the watertight door before it closed. If you go to the boiler room, you may find greasy handprints, hear loud clanging, see a dark silhouette, or be chased around by a ghost. That’s likely Pedder being his prankster self.
Another crew member who worked the boiler room, John Henry, was found dead near the Green Room next to the boiler room. It is said that strange occurrences like knocks, a ball of lights, and smoke tendrils have been observed in the area where Henry died. Some have seen his shadowy figure while others have communicated with him, particularly when he was asked about beer.
Jacqueline Torin, or Little Jackie, was only 5 or 6 years old when she drowned in the second-class pool. The living first became aware of her ghost’s presence after the late psychic Peter James famously recorded his conversation with Little Jackie in 1991. Since then, there have been numerous sightings of the playful girl. It’s believed that Jackie has a playmate and protector named Sarah, another girl who drowned in the pool in 1949.
Another well-known ghost in the Queen Mary, the White Lady supposedly took a liking to Jackie, too. She’s been heard singing to the little girl. The White Lady has been photographed floating at the end of the Queen’s Salon, a first-class lounge.
If you hear a growling sound, especially when you’re in the boiler room or near the stairs next to the first-class swimming pool, that’s probably “Grumpy the Growling Ghost.” While he’s known for his grumpiness, some believe Grumpy is responsible for some of the murders on the ship though there’s not much proof of that.
One of those who were murdered on Queen Mary was Dana, a young woman who was killed inside Room b-474 along with her mother and younger sister. Some say her father was the killer who strangled her family and shot her inside the bathroom. The ghost of Dana still lingers in the ship and can be heard looking for her mother. She’s known to hang out with other children in the second-class pool and with John Henry and Grumpy in the boiler room. That said, Grumpy’s probably not the cold-blooded killer responsible for Dana’s death. In fact, anyone who encounters him and his growls will probably find it funny how he tries so hard to be scary.
St. Augustine Lighthouse in St. Augustine, Florida
If you’re a fan of Ghost Hunters, the TV series about people investigating paranormal activities, you probably saw the episode where the cast visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse. It’s a prime Halloween destination for those looking for a thrill since it’s known to be haunted by a number of spirits.
Some of those spirits supposedly belonged to a trio of young girls who died at the spot. In 1871, Superintendent of Lighthouse Construction, Hezekiah Pittee, spearheaded the new lighthouse project after the old one was deemed unsafe. Pittee brought his wife and three daughters with him while overseeing the construction.
Tragedy struck when the three Pittee girls along with an African-American girl, believed to be the daughter of one of the workers, fell into the water while playing with a cart. The youngest daughter survived while the bodies of her two older sisters were recovered. The other girl was never found.
Years after the horrific accident, ghosts of little girls have been seen around the property. James Pippin, the head keeper from 1953-1955, reportedly moved out of the Light Station and stayed in the Coastal Lookout Building instead because the “big house was haunted and he would not stay another night in it.” Another lighthouse keeper reportedly heard footsteps upstairs but found no other people in the tower.
The ghost sightings continued after the tower was rented out to a local craftsman in the 1960s. The man once woke up and saw a girl standing near his bed. When he blinked, she was gone. In 1970, the Keeper’s house burned down though the basement was spared. The house and tower were rebuilt years later. Workers experienced more paranormal events during the renovation.
The lighthouse was later opened to tourists and guests would report strange happenings. In one instance, a female guest discovered that her shoelace was tied to the staircase. In another, a woman was complemented by another guest for how behaved her daughter was during the tour of the place. She didn’t have a daughter and there were no children at the time. The other guests insisted they saw a girl beside the woman during the evening tour.
Emily’s Bridge in Stowe, Vermont
You’ll probably pass through a few bridges during your Halloween road trip so why not go through a haunted one. Emily’s Bridge in Stowe, Vermont is known as such because of the ghost that haunts the place.
According to the story, Emily is a young woman who was jilted by her lover in the mid-1800s. The couple was supposed to meet at the bridge to elope. The man never came and Emily hanged herself from the rafters.
The ghost of Emily is a rather violent one. There are reports that she would claw at the backs of people passing by leaving them bloodied. Other times, she would claw at the cars driving through. Some have witnessed a white apparition, heard footsteps, or heard voices in the tunnel.
There is no shortage of haunted places in the United States. Everywhere you go, we’re sure you’ll hear a ghost story or two from the locals. Check out the Halloween road trip destinations we’ve listed down here or do more research to find some near you if you don’t want to go too far. Just don’t forget to prepare well and stay safe so you don’t end up as a ghost story yourself. Are you scared now? Be on the safe side and learn more road safety tips over at Gentleman Pirate Club.
