Halloween in Richmond, Virginia is a magical time of year. As the leaves change and the cool breeze sweeps through the city, it sets the perfect backdrop for spooky fun. Whether you’re seeking Richmond VA Halloween events for the family or the scariest haunted houses in town, RVA offers something for everyone to enjoy!
If you’re a parent bringing your child to these venues, parental discretion is advised.
Haunted Houses
One of the most popular Halloween activities in Richmond is visiting the many haunted houses in and around the city. Halloween fun is everywhere, and just outside of Richmond, you can find plenty of farmland that’s perfect for setting up one of Halloween’s favorite pastimes.
If you’re looking for a super spooky evening, head to Ashland Berry Farm or Creepy Hollow Scream Park.
Both Ashland Berry Farm and Creepy Hollow have multiple haunted places and a haunted maze where you and your friends are on your own to find your way through twisting paths with masked creatures that pop out at you along the way.
Both haunted attractions are open Friday-Sunday throughout October. This attraction is not for the faint of heart or small children!
More Haunted Houses in Richmond VA
Pumpkin Picking
When I think of Halloween, one of the first things that comes to mind is Jack-o-lanterns! If you’re looking for a family-friendly weekend event, head over to Chesterfield Berry Farm. Pumpkin season at the farm begins the third weekend in September and occurs every weekend until Halloween!
Bring the family and enjoy a hay ride out to the patch to pick your own pumpkin, get lost in their 8-acre corn maze, or check out their other games and activities, like pumpkin painting.
Tickets start at $19.99 per person, but check out their website for special events with discounted pricing. The farm is open every Thursday to Sunday from September 14th to October 27th.
More pumpkin patches in Virginia
Trick-or-Treating on Hanover Ave
I’m sure all of my Halloween fans out there can remember trick-or-treating as a little kid, but where do you trick-or-treat when you live in a city full of apartment buildings and busy lifestyles? How do you make sure your kids are safe going door to door in the city?
The answer is trick-or-treating on Hanover Avenue! Grab your little vampires, werewolves, and witches and head over to the 2100 block of Hanover Avenue for what the Wall Street Journal calls one of the “best places to trick-or-treat.” This neighborhood grassroots event happens every year as the homeowners take days off work to elaborately decorate their homes for the holiday.
In the early evening, kids are welcome to trick-or-treat, but after dark adults can enjoy one of the best Halloween block parties in the city! This is a can’t-miss event during the spooky season!
Haunts of Richmond – Shadows of Shockoe Tour
Halloween fun, you say? Of course, everyone has heard of city walking tours to learn about the history of a city, but have you ever heard of a haunted walking tour?
The Shadows of Shockoe tour is a 90-minute guided walking tour of some of Richmond’s most historic, haunted attractions. Costumed narrators guide you safely through the city stopping to highlight haunted buildings, cemeteries, and more!
Tickets start at just $25 for a tour and leashed dogs are welcome to tag along for the show! The majority of the tour follows along the cobblestone sidewalks of downtown, but there are some steep hills along the way, so make sure you bring your walking shoes!
Check out their website for more information and tour dates.
Hollywood Cemetery
Hollywood Cemetery is a little bit of history, a little bit of nature, and something spooky all wrapped into one! This 135-acre cemetery was first established in 1847 and a number of notable people are buried here. There’s a plethora of options available for tours of the cemetery and you can walk, ride a Segway, or even take a tuk-tuk tour.
Halloween is one of the best times to visit the cemetery as the fall leaves begin to change and the mild weather is perfect for a walking tour of the grounds.
The cemetery is open to the public every day between 8am-5pm (or 6pm during daylight savings). The cemetery is actually a registered arboretum so even if history isn’t your thing, it’s a great outdoor activity with a spectacular view of the James River.
The Poe Museum
Halloween is the perfect time of year to visit one of Richmond’s spookiest historic attractions, The Poe Museum. This museum was first established in 1906 as a monument to the late poet, Edgar Allen Poe, and is the world’s most comprehensive collection of Poe memorabilia.
The museum is located in Richmond’s downtown area where the city’s cobblestone streets bring a sense of what it may have been like to live there during Poe’s time there. The museum itself is a small building, made out of salvaged materials from the building where Poe first began his career, and outside there is a “secret garden” inspired by one of his poems.
Tickets for the October 2024 Unhappy Hour: Halloween is only $12 for one ticket(with some add-ons) and the entire museum can be explored in about an hour, so it’s worth it to experience something dark and dreary for the Halloween season! Their website will tell you all about the event!
Goochland Drive-In Theater
During the Halloween season, this normally family-friendly drive-in movie theater transforms into one of the scariest attractions in town! Each weekend from late September through November, this drive-in theater features the newest horror movies on the big screen for all the fun.
Fall at the Goochland Drive-In Theater is the perfect time to enjoy a Trunk-or-Treat scary movie bundled up under blankets with hot cocoa. Food specials at the snack bar are available. Food options include popcorn, burgers, and their exclusive Gooch Dog.
Tickets for the theater must be purchased online in advance and are sold per car with up to 7 passengers.
More outdoor movies in Virginia
Escape Room RVA
If you’re looking for an exciting, but not so scary activity, grab your friends and test your skills at Richmond’s premiere escape room! At Escape Room RVA, you and up to 7 of your friends will have exactly one hour to put your brains to the test solving puzzles and riddles to escape a themed room.
Check out their website for more information on the current themes like difficulty ratings, age recommendations, and more. Don’t worry, the door is never actually locked, so you’re free to go out for a break any time!
Tickets to the rooms start at $39 per person and reservations must be made in advance. It’s the perfect amount of thrill without any of the Halloween ghosts and ghouls!
Rest in Pieces
This unique shop might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s definitely worth a visit during the Halloween season.
Rest in Pieces started back in 2014 and has evolved to become the largest oddities shop in the city. They carry a huge selection of taxidermy and preserved animals from their certified sources as well as items such as tarot cards, candles, and other similar items.
Because of the authenticity of their animal pieces, the majority of their items come with a pretty hefty price tag. But if you’re looking for that hard-to-find preserved cow leg, this might just be the shop for you!
Don’t forget to check out the taxidermy giraffe on display at the shop!
More information about the shop and available items on their website.
Theme Parks
If you’re looking for a day of thrills, check out Busch Gardens or King’s Dominion theme park for exciting rides during the day and spooktacular haunts after the sun goes down! Each theme park hosts their own Halloween-themed events each weekend from late September through October 31st. Some popular events include Halloween Haunt at King’s Dominion and Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens.
During the day, you can enjoy all of your favorite rides and attractions, but after dark watch out for their costumed performers that lurk around the park waiting to scare you. Both parks feature these scare zones as well as multiple haunted homes throughout the park, each with a different theme.
Busch Gardens is about an hour east of Richmond, VA and King’s Dominion is about 30 minutes north of the city, so both are easily accessible via car. Tickets for both parks are available online and it’s worth it for a full day of fun!
