Richmond Halloween guide: Haunted tours, horror shows and spooky events
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Halloween season is here.
Why it matters: For some (Karri), October is the most wonderful time of the year, filled with terrifying tours, spooky events, chocolatey treats and flannel-clad outings.
Driving the news: Here's how you can get into the Halloween spirit in RVA.
Haunted forests, houses and hayrides
🧛 Red Vein at Hanover Vegetable Farm in Ashland runs every Friday-Sunday, starting at 7pm, through Nov. 1.
- This relative newcomer to the terror-filled scene has near-perfect online review ratings. This year's theme: Blood Rites, a ceremony that resurrected the Ashland Witch.
- Admission starts at $26.99 and includes access to all four attractions (an asylum, a house, a cornfield and woods). You can upgrade to a fast pass to skip the lines.
- There's a kid-friendly, less scary night on Thursday, Oct. 16.
🧟♂️ Terror on the Farm at Ashland Berry Farm is running its terror tours every Thursday-Sunday through Nov. 1.
- This long-running Ashland fear fest is no slouch when it comes to scaring the bejesus out of locals (Karri cannot go back due to trauma).
- Every year, it hosts four themed haunted tours ($15-$25 each), or you can buy an unlimited pass and get access to all four (starting at $29.16), plus skip-the-line passes.
- Prices vary by night of the week and proximity to Halloween, but be sure to check the schedule for discounts.
🎃 Chesterfield Berry Farm's family-friendly Fall Festival is running every weekend through Oct. 26. It's perfect for folks looking for something tamer — for the kids, or because you're a big scared baby (like Karri).
- Highlights include hay rides, hay mazes, and rubber duck and living pig races.
- New this year: an alien invasion-themed corn maze and giant jump pad. Admission starts at $19.99.
⚰️ Creepy Hollow Scream Park in Hanover runs every Friday-Sunday, starting at 7pm, through Nov. 1.
- Its two trails take locals through haunts including Scream Forest, Nightmare Labs, Stone Horse Creek Sanitarium, and Axl's Dark Carnival. Tickets start at $29.95.
🌽 Total Terror at the Powhatan Fairgrounds is running Fridays and Saturdays through Halloween.
- Their two haunts this year are a haunted corn maze and an exorcism; there's also a midway with music, food and games. Tickets start at $20.
🙀 Richmond's Eerie Canal Tours are kid-friendly, 20-minute canal cruises that run Halloween weekend. Tickets are $6.
🐈⬛ Kings Dominion's Halloween Haunt and its six indoor and outdoor themed mazes are a can't-miss this year, Axios' Sabrina Moreno reports. Admission is $49.
Real ghost tours in our very haunted city
👻 Richmond Ghosts brings nighttime walking ghost tales through Shockoe Bottom, plus optional spooky pub crawls. Dates, times and tickets vary.
😱 Haunts of Richmond offers roughly a half-dozen 90-minute walking tours focused on a specific part of Richmond and its haunted past, including Shadows of Shockoe, Church Hill Chillers, and Specters & Shades of Court End. Dates, times and tickets vary.
Horror shows
🎥 Goochland Drive-in will be showing scary movies throughout the month, starting Friday with a zombie triple feature. Showtime is 7pm. $30 per car.
🍿 "Spooky Season" is on at The Byrd with scary movies running nearly every night through Halloween. Tickets are $9.
👄 "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" is live and in concert with the Richmond Symphony and Richmond Triangle Players on Halloween at the Carpenter Theatre. Tickets start at $14.60.
- Want the classic film version? Ashland Theatre has two showings — Oct. 18 and 25 at 8pm — including a shadow cast performing. Adult tickets are $13.
Other terrifyingly awesome can't-miss events:
💀 Tunnel of Terror car washes are back at two of Richmond Tommy's locations, happening Oct. 17-18 and Oct. 24-25 from 6:30-9:30pm. $25.
- This year, they'll be at the North Chesterfield and Arthur Ashe Boulevard locations. (They're actually kind of awesome. And apparently, your car is clean at the end. At least the outside.)
🧟 Richmond Zombie Walk is Saturday, Oct. 25 at 3pm in Carytown. Zombies welcome. Be prepared for awesome Insta footage.
⚰️ "Squirrel-O-Ween" with the Flying Squirrels at The Diamond for one last time. Trick-or-treating, costume contests and hayrides. Oct. 30, 5:30-8:30pm. Free.
👺 The Richmond Halloween Parade from All Saints Theatre Co. is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with the theme "A Funeral March for the American Dream." It's always on Halloween, always starting at 7pm at Monroe Park. Always awesome.