Hex in the city These kids are looking to scare up some fun.

Photo courtesy of The Hudson River Park Trust

Looking to scare up a good time this Halloween? Visit one of these unnatural happenings—all guaranteed to put a quiver in your child’s step (and perhaps your own as well). Here are five city spots that offer a range offrights, ranked on a scale of 1 (mildly startling) to 5 (hair-raising) evil pumpkins.

Prospect Park Halloween

Few toddlers need an excuse to scream, but they should find something worth getting worked up about at Prospect Park’s pre-Halloween celebration. From creepy crafts and scary storytellings to a haunted carousel, the weekend before the holiday is packed with thrills for the littlest hobgoblins.

The main event, the Haunted Walk at noon on October 28, features witches, phantoms and vampires lurking in the woods at every turn—but don’t worry, it’s mild stuff and shouldn’t give your squeamish preschoolers nightmares. The walk begins at Prospect Park Southwest and 16th Street, and is recommended for kids ages three to ten.
Evil pumpkin rating: 1
Prospect Park Halloween, Prospect Park, 16th St at Prospect Park West, Park Slope, Brooklyn (prospectpark.org). Subway: F to 15th St. Oct 28–29; see website for schedule. Events are free, carousel $1.50. All ages.

The Haunted House at Queens County Farm

When ghostly guests move in for the weekend, the normally quaint 18th-century Adriance Farmhouse, at the Queens County Farm Museum in Floral Park, becomes downright eerie—organizers construct a labyrinth of temporary walls to darken the interior and give kids a fairly mild haunted-house experience. And for the very faint of heart, there’s a three-acre corn maze and fright-free hayrides.
Evil pumpkin rating: 3
Queens County Farm Museum, 73-50 Little Neck Pkwy, Floral Park, Queens (718-347-3276, queensfarm.com). Travel: E, F to Kew Gardens–Union Tpke, then take the Q46 bus to Little Neck Pkwy. Haunted House: Oct 28, 29, 31 4–7pm. $4. Ages 4 to 11. Maze: Oct 28–29 11am–5pm. $7, children 4–11 $4, 3 and under free. Hayrides throughout the weekend: $2. All ages.

Ghost Stories for All Ages

The spirit of Edgar Allan Poe takes an earthly form in Phil Schoenberg, guide of the Ghost Stories for All Ages Walking Tour and a professor of history at Queens College. Follow the original “Dr. Phil” as he gambols around Washington Square Park dispensing local ghost stories both fictional and (horrifyingly) true, including one about the poor souls who perished in the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. He’ll also tell some of Mr. Poe’s macabre tales, though you won’t see the poet’s house—NYU demolished most of it in 2001 to make room for a dorm.
Evil pumpkin rating: 2
New York Talks and Walks, meet at the Washington Square Park arch, Fifth Ave at Washington Sq North (888-377-4455, newyorktalksandwalks.com). Call for reservations. Subway: N, R, W to 8th St–NYU. Oct 21, 31 at 4pm; Oct 28, 29 at 1:30pm. $10. Ages 8 and up.

Crazy Dreams Fun House

More wacky than disturbing, this fun house offers eight rooms of Halloween-themed antics for the ten-and-under set, including a mirror maze, a black-lit “glowing bubble” chamber and a giant ball pit. The fun house is produced by the same team of Broadway and Off Broadway set designers that created Nightmare, the city’s popular and not-so-kid-friendly horror house (slogan: “the most frightful haunted house on the East Coast”). This year, in each borough, the group also offers teens a scaled-down (but still chilling) version of its adult horror house.
Evil pumpkin rating: 1 (Fun House)
Evil pumpkin rating: 5 (Nightmare)
Crazy Dreams Fun House, Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center, 107 Suffolk St between Rivington and Delancey Sts (hauntedhousenyc.com). Subway: F to Delancey St; J, M, Z to Delancey–Essex Sts. Oct 5–31. Mon–Fri 3–8pm; Sat, Sun 11am–3pm. Adults free, children $15. Ages 10 and under.
•Nightmare, multiple locations (hauntedhousenyc.com); check website for venues. Oct 7, 8, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 1–5pm. $15. Ages 11 and up.

Pier of Fear

For the seventh year in a row, Hudson River Park’s Pier 54 goes overboard with its Pier of Fear, featuring the (free!) Maze of Horror with special effects at every turn, as well as face painting, fortune telling and other activities both silly and sinister. The maze boosts the fear factor for kids ten and up (and their parents) after dark, when actors jump out at unsuspecting guests, and there’s a bit more gore in the story line.
Evil pumpkin rating: 2 (day)
Evil pumpkin rating: 4 (night)
Pier of Fear at Pier 54, Hudson River Park, 14th St at the Hudson River (hudsonriverpark.org). Subway: A, C, E to 14th St; L to Eighth Ave. Oct 28–29 noon–9pm. Maze is free; activity prices vary. Ages 5 and up during the day; ages 10 and up after dark.