The best Halloween events for 2025 in NYC

Carving a jack-o'-lantern may be a time-honored American tradition for many, but nobody—and we mean nobody—does pumpkin carving quite like Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.

Every fall, pumpkins aplenty decorate this festive, family-friendly attraction. This year promises thousands of intricately carved jack-o'-lanterns in mesmerizing displays, plus dazzling new experiences.

Blaze: Hudson Valley runs at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County from September 12 through November 16. Get tickets here.

Step into the magical worlds of Halloween Town and Christmas Town at a frightfully fun immersive experience coming to the New York Botanical Garden this fall. After its debut last year, Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail is returning to the Bronx with brand new scenes, festive music and video projections.

This all-ages evening experience was inspired by the timeless classic 1993 movie known for its stop-motion animation and iconic characters such as Jack Skellington. The light trail promises to bring the film to life against the botanical beauty of the garden. The experience runs on select evenings from Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, November 30, with tickets starting at $33 for children and $45 for adults.

Visitors can walk through more than 8,300 square feet of dazzling light installations featuring interactive video projection, intelligent LED lighting, and 3D-printed sculptures of the film's iconic characters. 

Frigid New York gives you the chills in a festival inspired by Mexico's dead-lifting Día de los Muertos. The lineup features spooky variety shows, short horror plays, Edgar Allan Poe works, a traditional ofrenda, psychic mediums, a tiny interactive matchbox theatre, a murder ballad musical, necromancer burlesque, and other tales of the macabre. Among them are The Witching Hour by Andrew Agress, One Man Poe performed by Stephen Smith and Death Owns an Ice Cream Parlor, written by Maeve Aurora Chapman & Liam Corley. 

Visit the festival's website for a schedule and a full list of offerings for shows running October 16 through November 2. 

In this spooky-seasonal variation on the long-running Drunk Shakespeare, five actors gather to perform a vampire-in-New-York story loosely adapted by Lori Wolter Hudson from Bram Stoker's batty gothic thriller.

The twist? One of them gets plastered before the performance and it's up to the four remaining cast members to keep the show from going down for the Count. (Audience members can buy alcoholic drinks of their own to get into the spirit.)

Time Out readers can use code DRUNKTIME for a ticket discount.

The Summer Club rooftop is getting a makeover for fall: the breezy Long Island City spot (8-08 Queens Plaza S) has been transformed into Cityside Pumpkin Patch, a.k.a. "NYC's biggest pumpkin patch," for the Halloween season.

Now through November 2, the rooftop space will be decked out as an immersive Halloween experience with over 10,000 pumpkins (locally harvested from upstate New York) spread across the 25,000-square-foot space. 

Embark on an adventure to choose your own locally sourced-pumpkin—any pumpkin on display could be yours. Pumpkins are included in most ticket packages, but are also available for purchase.

Celebrate amidst a variety of interactive spooky photo moments while you indulge in the rich flavors of the fall with an array of autumn-inspired treats and beverages. Don’t miss out on a series of signature activities (Smash-o-Lantern Zone, Scarecrow Archery, Pool of Pumpkins, Carnival Games, Face Painting, Tarot Card Reading) onsite.

Check out more information and ticket pricing at the event website. 

For the past 50 years, the Queens County Farm Museum has served as a rural oasis within the New York City limits. And what better way to celebrate an anniversary than by creating a complex corn maze for New Yorkers to get delightfully lost in?

The Amazing Maize Maze is back this fall with a sunburst design celebrating five decades of the museum's existence. Expect plenty of twists, turns and tricks inside this three-acre living labyrinth. The Amazing Maize Maze is open on Saturdays and Sundays through October 26, with an additional open date on Monday, October 13 at 73-50 Little Neck Parkway, Floral Park. Tickets cost $16 for adults and $10 for kids aged 4-11; kids under 3 are free. 

If you're convinced of your super-solving skills, check out Maze by Moonlight where you'll have all the fun of the laborious labyrinth with the added feat of darkness. Stroll through the interactive maze under the starry skies for a spooky experience made for brave souls. We'd recommend bringing a headlamp for some extra light. That's available on October 18 and 31 with tickets priced at $18 adults; $14 kids.

It's time to give your Instagram feed an autumnal glow-up, and there's a picture-perfect backdrop opening in the Seaport to help you do just that. The annual Pumpkin Arch has returned to Pier 17 through November 17 offering a charming seasonal photo spot. 

The arch is crafted from hundreds of pumpkins and draped in vibrant fall leaves, but it's not just about the decor. The views of the glittering Lower Manhattan skyline and the stately Brooklyn Bridge take this photo spot to the next level. 

Find the Pumpkin Arch on the Heineken Riverdeck, that's the north side of Pier 17 at 89 South Street. Trust us, you can't miss it. Though it's on view 24/7, we recommend visiting at golden hour (that's right after sunrise or just before sunset) for the dreamiest lighting. That's when the illuminated arch will start twinkling, but you'll still have enough natural light to keep your subject's face visible. 

Remember dearly departed dogs at AKC Museum of the Dog's Dia de Muertos ofrenda. The community altar will a collection of photos of dogs who have passed on, and you're welcome to contribute a photo of your own dog here until October 26. The ofrenda will be on display until November 2. 

Día de Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is a celebration to honor and commemorate the lives of the deceased and welcome the return of their spirits. Come to the museum to learn more about this meaningful day and celebration of loved ones, as well as its historical connection to dogs.

There’s no spookier way to welcome the Halloween season than to visit Blood Manor, the popular 10,000-square-foot haunted house that’s actually deemed too scary for children under 14 years of age.

Visitors will confront their deepest fears as they journey through dark, sinister corridors filled with twisted characters and scares at every turn. Incorporating state-of-the-art special effects, BloodManor brings unparalleled realism to the haunting experience. 

This year features all new costumes from Abracadabra, NYC's ultimate Halloween store, plus a terrifyingly talented team of trained actors, set designers, make-up artists and more. Expect an unprecedented level of horror and excitement, spanning three new rooms—from cursed mansions to abandoned asylums, every theme promises to invoke terror and adrenaline. 

Blood Manor is open every weekend and some weekdays from October 3 to November 8 at 359 Broadway in downtown Manhattan. General admission starts at $50 per ticket. You can purchase tickets for a timed entry here.

New Yorkers who like their spooky season with a side of skyline views are in for a treat: Edge at Hudson Yards is turning into a “Garden of Shadows” this fall—and it’s going to be dramatic.

Through November 3, the city’s highest observation deck will be adorned with floor-to-ceiling Gothic floral installations designed by Fleurs de Villes, the global outfit renowned for its extravagant flower shows. The result is a Halloween spectacle that trades pumpkins for petals, all 1,131 feet in the air.

The floral takeover isn’t just for snapping envy-inducing selfies (though, yes, it’s perfect for that). Select nights and Sundays will bring the displays to life with an eclectic roster of performance artists.

Rooftop Cinema Club takes movie-going to a whole new level—literally. This rooftop film series at a midtown skyscraper offers stunning views and an impressive lineup of films. 

In addition to the movie magic, the venue also offers movie snacks, a full bar and cute photo opps. This season features a Gilmore Girls marathon, a drag night, singles events and plenty of Halloween fun to make the most of fall 2025.

As for seating, you'll get to choose a standard high-back lounge chair or a premium lounge chair that comes with extra cushions. You'll book your ticket type, then get to pick your exact seat on-site, first-come, first-served. Ticket prices range from $23-$29/person depending on your seating preference and movie time.

What are you doing at 10pm on a Thursday night? Sleeping? We have a better idea: Brolesque at Balcon Salon in Hell's Kitchen.

This weekly—and did we mention free—strip revue, Fortunes of Love, was created by Lockhart Brownlie (Katy Perry's Super Bowl choreographer) and is a night full of tarot cards, choreography and plenty of skin.

For the entire month of October, Brolesque presents "a cheeky, camp parody where spooky icons like Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Michael Myers get undressed with a wink, all led by a blood-thirsty, showtune-slinging Dracula host." Expect Thriller-style dance numbers, seductive solo acts, flirty audience games (with prizes), and a disco-fueled finale that transforms the entire venue into a glitter-drenched Halloween party. Heads up that there's a two-drink minimum.

Perhaps you're more into LOL thank BOO. Upright Citizens Brigade in the East Village has got you covered with a variety of seasonal comedy shows, including UCB Presents: Rocky Horror Picture Show and Gone Trick or Treatin'. Think less jump scare and more fall out of your chair laughing.

The trolley tour that's outfitted to look like a Victorian funeral parlor—think chandeliers and velvet curtains—and takes you on a trip through the shadows of historic Brooklyn is back. The tour visits the secret location where Murder, Inc. disposed of bodies, alien abduction sites along the Brooklyn Bridge, a brothel and more spooky sites spanning 400 years of Brooklyn history. 

Even if you're a supernatural skeptic, it's fascinating to see hidden cemeteries, mobster dumping grounds, and an EPA Superfund site. Plus, get the chance win prizes with spooky trivia.

Prepare your costumes and your crosswalks—Halloween is about to take over the streets. The city’s Department of Transportation just announced the return of Trick-or-Streets, its annual Halloween celebration that turns Open Streets and plazas across the five boroughs into car-free zones for candy, costumes and community. This year’s edition will be the biggest yet, with a record 137 events (and counting) planned between October 17 and October 31.

Expect everything from pumpkin patches and hay bale photo ops to live performances, games and Día de los Muertos celebrations. A full list of Trick-or-Streets events and participating locations will be available on the NYC DOT website—because in this city, Halloween is best celebrated curbside.

Cemeteries are, of course, always good places to remember lost loved ones. But this season, Brooklyn's Green-Wood Cemetery is taking that to new heights as it unveils Reposo y Recuerdo (Rest and Remember), an expansive Día de Muertos ofrenda by acclaimed artist Laura Anderson Barbata.

All are welcome to bring photos, flowers or keepsakes to the community altar, creating "a collective gesture of remembrance and care." The installation, which features handwoven hammocks, colorful papel picado and cascades of paper marigolds, will be on view in Green-Wood's historic chapel from October 11 through November 16. 

At this Irish Halloween celebration, kids can learn about the spooky traditions indigenous to the Emerald Isle. Irish Arts Center's Oíche Shamhna (that's EE-huh how-nah) promises spooky shows, creepy crafts and magical music.

This year's event will explore the similarities and differences between the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain and the Latin American celebrations of Día de los Muertos, with performances from Darrah Carr Dance and Mazarte Dance Company, storytelling in Spanish, Irish, and English, and a visual arts project by Chilean artist Niktalope.  

The fun takes place on Sunday, November 2 at the Irish Arts Center in Hell's Kitchen. It's recommended for ages 4–8, but kids of all ages are welcome. Be sure to buy tickets in advance.

Soho shoppers aren’t the only ones clutching their wallets this season. A long-abandoned Broadway bank has opened its vaults this October—and what’s inside is far scarier than overdraft fees. Meet The Haunted Bank NYC, a new immersive haunted house that promises blood-curdling shrieks, spine-tingling sets and a story ripped straight from a heist-gone-wrong.

The experience unfolds inside a real bank at 415 Broadway, where a botched robbery in the 1980s left whispers of blood and betrayal in its wake. The vault was sealed, the crime scene boarded up—until now. 

But the horror doesn’t stay underground. The story bleeds into the streets of New York, pulling you through a shadowy alley, a butcher shop dripping with gore and even a derelict hospital wing tended by a nurse with a very loose definition of “patient care.”

The pun, that most democratic of jokes: At its best, it’s sublimely satisfying to the reptilian part of our brains that loves easy comedy. At its worst, it produces a groan so gut-deep, it’s almost as good as a belly laugh. The form is mined for all it’s worth at this monthly tournament, hosted by Rodney Dangerfield impersonator Fred Firestone and his daughter, Jo.

A fixture on the NYC comedy landscape for more than a decade, this show at Littlefield in Brooklyn is like a rap battle, only much nerdier. Hear pun pros face-off in the All-Star Tournament of Pun Champions where punsters deliver two-minute pun-stand-up routines, after only two minutes of preparation.

For Halloween, the October 29 show features themed puns and pun costume compuntitions.

Autumn is the time to pick two of the season’s most emblematic fruits: apples and pumpkins. Fortunately there are some fantastic farms where you can go apple and pumpkin picking near NYC. These farms and orchards will get you into that fuzzy fall feeling in no time.

There’s nothing quite like taking a bite out of a crisp apple straight from the tree (even better, taking home a basketful for making pie), and your Halloween pumpkin will be that much more special when you pick it right off the vine. You’ll find a wide variety of apples and pumpkins at these farms, plus fun activities like hayrides, corn mazes and petting zoos. Don’t miss hot apple cider and other fresh-made treats at the farmstand. 

Laurence O'Keefe, Keythe Farley and Brian Flemming's 2001 cult musical Bat Boy, a horror comedy in the sliced vein of Little Shop of Horrors, gets another chance to fly.

Director Alex Timbers (Moulin Rouge!) has assembled a tremendous cast for the show's two-week gala run at New York City Center: Taylor Trensch as the title character, a misunderstood monster torn from the headlines of the lurid supermarket tabloid Weekly World News; Christopher Sieber and original cast member Kerry Butler as the West Virginia couple that takes him in; Andrew Durand, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Rema Webb and Mary Faber as local townsfolk; and Alex Newell as the satyrical Greek god Pan.  

Composer Michael Sgouros and librettist Brenda Bell adapt Washington Irving's classic tale of horror and decapitated equestrianism into a spooky 90-minute musical aimed at family audiences. Directed by Bell, the show has had several previous New York runs, most recently in 2021.

From pumpkin kegs to molecular mixology, these bars go all out for the season. Halloween bars have got plenty of range this Halloween season: heavy-metal horror, adorable witchiness, a creaky tavern that serves pot pie with a side of horrifying lore. Want Zombies? We got ‘em. Ghosts? Yup. Vampires? Covered.