Halloween in Richmond, Virginia is truly something special. It’s the perfect time of year when the leaves begin to turn and the evening brings a crisp, cool breeze to the air. Whether you’re looking for a family-friendly activity or some of the most ghoulish haunted houses around, RVA has a little something for everyone!
Haunted Houses
One of the most popular Halloween activities in Richmond is the many haunted houses in and around the city. Just outside of Richmond you can find plenty of farm land that’s perfect for setting up one of Halloween’s favorite past times.
If you’re looking for a super spooky evening, head over to Ashland Berry Farm or Creepy Hollow Scream Park.
Both Ashland Berry Farm and Creepy Hollow have multiple haunted houses as well as 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 the month of October. This attraction is definitely 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 are 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.
Tickets start at $12 per person, but check out their website for special events with discounted pricing. The farm is open every Saturday and Sunday from September 18th to October 31st.
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 definitely a can’t miss event!
Haunts of Richmond – Shadows of Shockoe Tour
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 $13 for a tour and leashed dogs are welcome to tag along for the show! The majority f 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!
Hollywood Cemetery
Hollywood Cemetery is a little bit of history, a little bit of nature, and definitely 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 are only $9 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!
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 October 31st, this drive in theater features the newest horror movies on the big screen.
Fall at the Goochland drive-in theater is the perfect time to enjoy a scary movie bundled up under blankets with hot cocoa. The snack bar at the drive in has plenty of food options like 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 $25 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.
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 special event each weekend from late September through October 31st.
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 houses 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 start at $45, but it’s worth it for a full day of fun!
