Halloween has a way of winning everyone over. Elementary school costume parades and over-the-top haunted neighborhoods. Pumpkin carving, classic movies and that well-earned parent candy tax. It is a holiday made for pure fun, and here in the mountains, it feels a little more magical.
In the Sullivan Catskills, Halloween still feels like home. Porch lights glow against early dark. Neighbors laugh on front steps while leaves skitter down Main Street. You can still hear kids giggling under ghost sheets, smell pumpkins warming on the porch and wave to friends as they pass. It is old stories & new traditions, crisp air & cozy corners, a friendly spirit that never needs an invitation.
So, grab your witch’s hat, practice your best spooky laugh and step into the season, Catskills style.
Check In, If You Dare: A Real Catskills Haunting
Have you ever wanted to spend the night in a haunted house? You can at Burn Brae Mansion, a grand 1908 estate tucked into the rolling hills of Glen Spey. It was one of seven lavish summer homes built by the family of George Ross Mackenzie, the third president of the Singer Sewing Machine Company, and his daughter Margaret Ross Mackenzie Elkin. Today it is the only one still standing.
Burn Brae has worn many hats over the past century, including a boarding house and a tearoom during Prohibition. Now it welcomes guests as a thoughtfully restored bed and breakfast, with a 12-room motel on the site of the former horse stable. And then there is the matter of its other residents.
We’re talking about children’s voices (Margaret Elkin outlived several of her children), doors that slam on their own and the sound of an organ playing. There is no organ. More recently, guests have reported seeing the spirits of the Hapijs, a Ukrainian couple who lived and passed away in their apartment at the mansion in the 1990s, not long after the current owners took over. Visitors say they still spot the pair by the window, quietly playing chess. Checkmate.
Not up for the full freaky Monty? That is fine too. For more than three decades, Burn Brae has turned the woods behind the mansion into the Dark Forest Fright Trail, a story-driven walk along overgrown estate paths where each year brings a new tale and new creatures lurking in the trees. Expect live music, food, beer and wine by the fire before you brave the woods. It leans genuinely frightening, so it is best for teens and adults. The mansion also hosts murder mystery dinners and private paranormal investigations throughout the season. Check burnbraemansion.com for this year’s theme, dates and overnight availability, and book early. October weekends go fast.
The Haunting at Stone Arch Bridge
In 1892, one of the most gruesome murders in Catskills history took place at Stone Arch Bridge, the graceful three-arch span over Callicoon Creek just outside Jeffersonville in Kenoza Lake. 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 dumped over the side of the bridge, less than a tenth of a mile from his own front door.
The crime was later traced to Adam Heidt, the brother of Markert’s first wife (that is another story), who believed Markert was a “hexenmeister,” a practitioner of the black arts. According to local history, Heidt and his son Joseph were convinced 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 from Heidt turned up in his coat pocket. The first warned that if Markert was caught on the Heidt property again, he would be killed. The second said that if he did not stop “moonshining,” or cursing the family, he would be killed anyway.
The trial lasted two days and included an overwhelming amount of evidence, from a blood-soaked gun to those letters. Heidt was sentenced to life at Dannemora, the prison that later became its own real-life jailbreak story.
Today the bridge sits in a quiet county park, all creek song & stone, a lovely spot for a picnic under the fall color. But to this day, visitors report sightings of a ghostly George Markert near the water. Come at golden hour, linger until dusk and see for yourself. Plein air painters gather each spring to commemorate the day. Also another story.
Moonlit Mischief & Grown-Up Ghouls
If haunted mansions and murdered farmers are not quite bone chilling enough for the big kids, there is no shortage of creeptastic ways to spend an October night. A few favorites:
- Cocktails & Clues at Bethel Woods: Put your detective skills to the test at the Murder Mystery Mixers, an interactive cocktail experience set in the Special Exhibit of the Museum at Bethel Woods. Each Friday brings a new case from 7 to 8:30 p.m.: Dying of Curiosity on October 9, Dead Man’s Party on October 16, Beetlejuice’s Ghostly Ball on October 23 and a witchy Hocus Pocus night on October 30.
- Boos & Booze: On Saturdays, October 10, 17, 24 and 31, guests 21 and over can add Boos & Booze to Bethel Woods’ Peace, Love & Pumpkins ticket and sample Halloween-themed cocktails at stations along the glowing trail from 6:30 to 9 p.m.
- Friday Night Fright: On Friday, October 30, the gentle jack-o’-lantern gardens at Bethel Woods get a sinister makeover. Ghosts and ghouls roam the grounds from 6:30 to 11 p.m. (last entry at 10 p.m.). This one is a true scare and not recommended for young children. You have been warned.
- Disco & Dread: NACL in Highland Lake brings back last October’s thriller, Murder On The Dance Floor: Disco Inferno, on Saturday, October 24 at 7:30 p.m. The performers of Bread Arts Collective invite you into the action on a dance floor hotter than Hades. Tickets run $20 to $25. Bell bottoms encouraged.
- Steins & Scarecrows: Need a break between frights? Holiday Mountain in Monticello raises a glass at its 3rd Annual Oktoberfest Beer Festival on Saturday, October 24 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., with local craft beverages, live music and big Catskill views.
Freaky Family Funsies
When it comes to family Halloween fun, the Sullivan Catskills are double stuffed. Think hayrides and pumpkin patches, costume parades and trick-or-treat trails, and a candy-corned bouquet of other pint-sized parties, Catskill crafted for kiddos.
- Jack-o’-Lanterns & Woodstock Glow: Bethel Woods Center for the Arts’ Peace, Love & Pumpkins returns for its sixth year, lighting up the historic site of the 1969 Woodstock festival Wednesday through Sunday, October 9 to November 1, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. (last entry at 9 p.m.). Your creepy crew winds through garden trails lined with thousands of hand-carved jack-o’-lanterns and glowing pumpkin art, from Woodstock icons to dinosaurs, mermaids and witches. Warm up by the fire pits, grab a cider and catch live music in the Market Sheds from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. every night. Tickets are $25 to $30 for adults, $15 to $20 for ages 3 to 17, and free for little ones 2 and under. Fridays and Saturdays are timed entry, so plan ahead.
A few more Bethel Woods treats worth knowing about:
Halloween night on the trail: On Saturday, October 31, wear your costume and bring your candy bag for trick-or-treating among the pumpkins.
Spooky Sunday crafting for families: A Witches Potion Workshop on October 11 and Pumpkin & Treat Bag Decorating on October 25, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. ($15 per child, admission sold separately).
Sensory Friendly Wednesdays: On October 14, 21 and 28, guests with autism, developmental disabilities or sensory sensitivities can walk the trail from 4 to 6 p.m., before it opens to the public, with trained staff on hand. Caregivers get in free with ID.
Discount nights at the gate: Wear-Wolf Wednesdays (come in costume), Back-to-Ghoul Thursdays (bring a student ID) and Sullivan Sundays (20% off with a Sullivan County ZIP code on your ID).
Locals’ Tip: Arrive early and make an evening of it. During Peace, Love & Pumpkins, the Museum at Bethel Woods stays open until 9 p.m., and after 5 p.m. admission is just $5 with a same-day pumpkin ticket (purchased in person). History at dusk, jack-o’-lanterns after dark. - Ghosts & Gears in Roscoe: Bring the family for Haunted Afternoons at the Roscoe O&W Railway Museum, open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on select October days, including Saturday, October 31. Explore Halloween displays throughout the museum and its gardens, then head to the craft room if things get a little too spooky for the smallest conductors.
- Treats & Trails in Thompson: The Town of Thompson’s sixth annual Treats & Trails takes over East Mongaup River Park on Saturday, October 17 from 3 to 6 p.m. It is spooktacular but never scary, and completely free. Come in costume, bring a bag for treat stops along the trail, ride the hay wagon and paint a pumpkin to take home.
- Pumpkins & Petting Zoos: That same Saturday, October 17, Beaverkill Meadows Farm in Livingston Manor throws its Pumpkin Fest from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., complete with pumpkin decorating, a fiber arts demonstration and a petting zoo of mini goats and one very charming baby donkey.
- Main Street March of Mini Monsters: Callicoon’s beloved Children’s Halloween Parade & Party returns on Saturday, October 24. Little ghouls line up near the Callicoon Caffe before parading down Main Street to the Delaware Youth Center for a post-costume-crawl party. It is free to join, and registration is encouraged at delawareyouthcenter.org.
- Ghouls, Gags & Grooves: The Decrepit Ghouls Variety Show takes over a warehouse at New Memories in Parksville on Friday and Saturday, October 23 and 24 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, October 25 at 4 p.m. Part haunted house, part concert and part comedy show, it features musicians and performers who have played with Blue Man Group, Stomp! and Absinthe, plus Hudson Valley artists and eerie art installations around every corner. Doors open an hour before showtime. Costumes are encouraged, and the Sunday matinee is the most kid-friendly pick of the weekend. Get tickets at decrepitghouls.com.
Your Halloween Weekend, Paired Just Right
This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday, which means one very full weekend. Here is how we would spend it.
- Friday, October 30: Fog & Fright. Dinner in Bethel, then choose your adventure: sleuth your way through the Hocus Pocus Murder Mystery Mixer or brave Friday Night Fright in the Bethel Woods gardens.
- Saturday, October 31: Sweet Mornings & Spooky Nights. Start at the Barryville Farmers Market (10 a.m. to 1 p.m.) for cider, baked goods and the last of the season’s harvest. Wander north for a Haunted Afternoon at the Roscoe O&W Railway Museum, then end the night trick-or-treating on the Peace, Love & Pumpkins trail. Grown-ups, Boos & Booze is calling.
- Sunday, November 1: Slow Coffee & Last Light. Linger over breakfast at your B&B, take a golden-hour stroll to Stone Arch Bridge and say goodbye to the pumpkins on the final night of Peace, Love & Pumpkins, or sip & craft a harvest terrarium to carry the season home.
The BIG Halloween List
If you have scrolled this far, you are clearly one of us: ready for pumpkins & porch lights, ghost stories & good company. The Sullivan Catskills is bursting with Halloween happenings, from haunted trails to harvest suppers, and new events land on the calendar every week. Head to our Events page to see the full lineup, find a cozy place to stay and start planning your frightfully fun fall.
What more awaits? Come see us. We will save you a spot by the bonfire.