Though the spooky season has passed, here is a recap and a celebration of all local Halloween events that happened this year!
One event in the Jacksonville area we have is our local zoo! ‘Spooktacular’ is an event hosted by the Jacksonville Zoo and Botanical Gardens, sponsored by Vystar, featuring treat stations throughout the venue and numerous fall festivities. On the Great Lawn, there are lawn games, a DJ, and photobooths. For older kids and adults who enjoy the scares of Halloween, the Lost Swamp, there are many, according to the Jax Zoo website, “demented forest creatures lurk in the shadows, ready to torment brave souls who enter their eerie domain”. Spooktacular dates can be found on the website, and the hours are from 5:30 to 9:30 pm.
If haunted houses are up your alley, the 13th Floor Haunted House will take your interest. According to USA Today, it is part of the top 5 most terrifying haunted houses in America,, and lives up to the hype. With multiple kinds of attractions like the Asylum, where you end outside the gates of an abandoned insane Asylum supposedly haunted by a figure called the Nurse. They also have Horror High, where you are at a haunted high school, or a more fantasy-themed attraction called Rise of the Kraken, where you have wandered too close to a ghost ship.
Some other activities they offer are axe-throwing, five-minute escape rooms, and a new experience called Return of the Dead: Zombie Shoot, where people get to shoot colored water balloons at an army of the undead. It is recommended for people 13 years old and above.
If anyone is looking for something more family-friendly, then Congaree and Penn host a pumpkin patch every year from September 16th to November 2nd. All you have to do is purchase a farm pass, and with that, you are allowed to visit the pumpkin patch, see the barn animals, and just walk through the acres and surrounding forest as well. Anyone can pick any pumpkin they like, and each of them costs $12. Also at Congaree and Penn, they are hosting “Fall on the Farm Grounds.” There will be live music and other fun events like on Halloween night with wagon rides, and a barbecue.
An activity that is both for families and friends is Cannibals in the Catacombs at Prototype Escape Rooms, and is perfect for the Halloween season. It’s an expert-level difficulty room, themed around the Paris catacombs. As a player, you are an anthropologist trying to become a famous person in your field, Arthur, who became obsessed with an alleged ancient cannibalistic tribe, and has gone missing. It is up to you to find him under a house. It is recommended to play with three to six players and is under the horror genre.
So if you have nothing to do on Halloween night next year or just in the fall season, visit your local areas and check out what they are doing. You might find a new spot to hang out or make a new friend, regardless, with all of these local spots Halloween will always be exciting.
