Halloween has a way of winning everyone over. From elementary school costume parades and over-the-top haunted neighborhoods to pumpkin carving, classic movies and that well-earned parent candy tax—it’s a holiday made for pure fun.
In the Sullivan Catskills, Halloween still feels like home. We celebrate with porch lights glowing, neighbors laughing, and a friendly spirit that never needs an invitation. It’s the kind of place where you can still hear kids giggling under ghost sheets, smell pumpkins on the porch and wave to friends from the front steps. So, grab your witch’s hat, practice your best spooky laugh, and step into the season—Catskills style.
Experience a Catskill Ghost Story
Have you ever wanted to stay in a haunted house? You can at Burn Brae Mansion—a grand 1908 estate tucked into the rolling hills of Glen Spey. Once one of seven lavish summer homes built by Margaret Ross Mackenzie Elkin and George Ross Mackenzie, the third president of Singer Sewing Machine Company, it’s the only one still standing today.
Burn Brae Mansion has served a variety of uses over the years, including a boarding house and tearoom during the prohibition. Today, it operates as a thoughtfully restored bed and breakfast along with a 12-room motel on the former horse stable site. And then, there is the large amount of paranormal activity the mansion has experienced over the years.
We’re talking about children’s voices (Elkin outlived several of her children), slamming doors and sounds of an organ (there isn’t one). More recently, guests have claimed to see the spirits of the Hapijs—a Ukrainian couple who passed away in their apartment at the mansion in the 1990s, not long after the current owners took over. Even now, visitors say they spot the pair quietly playing chess by the window. Checkmate.
Not up for the full freaky Monty? That’s fine too. On Fridays and Saturdays in October, Burn Brae hosts a Dark Forest Fright Trail where you wind through overgrown estate paths to uncover the horrors of the experiments of Dr. Moreau and the terrifying outcome of tampering with nature. Hint: It didn’t go well.
The Haunting at Stone Arch Bridge
In 1892, one of the most gruesome murder cases in Catskill history happened at Stone Arch Bridge over Callicoon Creek in Jeffersonville. As the story goes, a local farmer named George Markert was heading home after an evening at a “respectable roadside inn” when he was shot five times in the back and beaten with a heavy stick. His body was then dumped over the side of the bridge, less than a tenth of a mile from the farmer’s home.
The bloody deed was later determined to have been executed by Adam Heidt, the brother of Markert’s first wife (this is another story), who believed Markert was a “hexenmeister” who practiced the black art of witchcraft. According to local history, Heidt and his son Joseph believed Markert had cursed their family—bringing illness, keeping their cows from producing cream, killing their livestock, and ruining their crops.
When Markert’s body was found, two letters written from Heidt to Markert were discovered in his coat pocket. One contained a warning that if Markert was caught on the Heidt property again he would be killed. The second stated that if Markert did not stop “moonshining,” or cursing the family, he would be killed anyway.
The trail lasted two days and included an overwhelming amount of evidence, including a blood-soaked gun and the letters. Heidt was subsequently sentenced to a life term at Dannemora Penitentiary, now its own real-life prison break story.
To this day, many visitors to the bridge have reported sightings of a ghostly George Markert. Plein air painters commemorate the day each spring. Also, another story.
Spirited Sullivan Catskill Events for Adult Ghouls
If visiting either of these spooky spots isn’t bone chilling enough for big kids, there are no shortage of other “creeptastic” activities to indulge in. Following are just a few samples:
- Murder Mystery at Kartrite: The Kartrite Resort & Indoor Water Park hosts an evening escape for adults on Friday, October 24 with A Murder in Transylvania Mystery Dinner where guests become detectives (and suspects). Did Renfield, the caterer, do it? It’s up to you to find out.
- Freshly Baked Frights: Cuppie Cake Desserts and Double D Sourdough in Jeffersonville presents an adult-only Spooky Scary Ghost Story Night on Friday, October 24, billed as an evening ghost stories, laughter and cozy vibes. They bring the stories, you bring the laughter and everyone creates the vibes.
- Saddle Up for Scares: On Saturday, October 25, it’s time to rattle some bones at Upper Room Farms in Mongaup Valley with Halloween Hunter Pace, a themed horseback riding event where costumes are encouraged, and prizes awarded. The riding tour start at 9:30 a.m.
- Death, Dinner and a Dance Floor: Eldred Preserve is the haunt on Sunday, October 26 when The Dunn Speakeasy presents Death of a Gangster, a 1920s Mafia Wedding Murder Mystery. Slip into your finest flapper dress or pinstripe suit and crack the case as two powerful families tie the knot, but… not everyone makes it to the honeymoon. Oh, and it includes a gourmet three-course dinner.
Freaky Family Funsies
When it comes to family Halloween events, the Sullivan Catskills are double stuffed full of them. Think hayrides – both haunted and not – costume parades, Main Street trick or treating and a candy-corned bouquet of other pint-sized parties Catskill crafted for kiddos.
- Jack-O-Lanterns, Woodstock Style: Bethel Woods Center for the Art’s Peace Love & Pumpkins lights up every Wednesday to Sunday until November 2—a must-see celebration only Woodstock’s hometown could dream up. During this walk-thru experience, your creepy crew winds through garden trails lined with thousands of hand-carved jack-o-lanterns. Locals’ Tip: October 17, 25 and 31 will also feature drone shows at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. No, they are not UFOs.
- Sweet Streets & Family Treats: If you time it right, you can also hit Trick or Treat Street in downtown Bethel on Saturday, October 25. From 1-3 p.m. the community becomes an open-air candy shop where kids can safely roam to fill their pumpkin pails. Psst… remember the mom and dad candy tax. Bonus points if parents dress up too.
- Spirits Stir in the Park: Thompson hosts Treats & Trails at the Park on October 18 from 3-6 p.m., where the Mongaup River Park transforms into a Halloween Haven complete with pumpkin painting, hayrides and plenty of other holiday spooks and surprises.
- Ghost Tales on the Trail: For an interactive family adventure, The Sullivan O&W Rail Trail is the place to be in Hurleyville on Friday, October 24 for the HO&WL Haunted History Hike. Costumes and dogs (with costumes) are welcome for this free stroll with historian John Conway.
- Barryville Brings the Boo: It’s Trunk or Treat time on Saturday, October 25 with the Halloween Harvest Fest in Barryville featuring a costume parade, baking contest and live music from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the farmer’s market. Mmm… pumpkin pie.
- Main Street March of Mini Monsters: October 25 is also the Children’s Halloween Parade & Party at the Delaware Youth Center. The lineup begins at 11:45 a.m. at the Callicoon Café with the parade cascading down Main Street to the Youth Center for the post costume crawl party.
- Hot Dogs & Haunts Await: And, if you can make it to actual Halloween without crashing in a candy coma, then get to Jeffersonville on Friday, October 31 when The Backyard Park wakes the undead with spooky music, a trunk or treat, hayrides and $1 hot dogs. Yes, $1 hot dogs. Oh, and you can take selfies with ghouls & goblins. Holding a hot dog in the photo is optional.
The BIG Halloween List
If you’ve scrolled this far, you’re clearly one of us—ready for pumpkins, porch lights and a good ghost story or two. The Sullivan Catskills are bursting with Halloween happenings, from haunted trails to harvest feasts. Head over to our Events page to see the full lineup and start planning your frightfully fun fall. We’ll save you a spot by the bonfire.
