🧟 Paranormal Activities: Our Favorite Haunts

Something about fall piques our interest in paranormal activities. From storytelling and investigating to fascinating displays, these day trips encourage you to explore the other side of Rochester.

Halloween attractions and neighborhood displays change from year to year. Before heading out, check the organizer’s website or social media page for current dates, hours, admission, age recommendations, and weather-related updates. Please be considerate in residential neighborhoods: keep noise down, avoid blocking driveways, and view displays only during posted hours.

The Haunted Housel on CR 4

Haunted Housel on CR 4
Hopewell, near Canandaigua
Seasonal, typically late September through Halloween
Get Directions

Haunted Housel is far more than the roadside Skeleton Army most drivers spot from County Road 4 in Hopewell. Plan time to explore multiple themed zones and extras:

• Skeleton Army Walk-Through – Wander paved paths amid hundreds of life-size skeletons staged in elaborate vignettes—a Viking longship, horseback riders, dinosaurs, and a dog-drawn wagon—excellent for selfies day or night.
• Backyard Cemetery – Behind the house, demon skeletons dine at a gothic banquet table while interactive props invite eerie photo ops.
• Haunted Woods and Corn Maze – A twisting trail through the adjoining cornfield and treeline. Family-friendly by day; after dark, purple lights and live actors crank up the scare factor.
• Hand-Built Props & Live Actors – Nearly every set piece is custom-made by owner-creator Karl Housel, and costumed actors roam weekends to surprise guests.
• Pumpkin Sales & Pop-Up Vendors – Grab a carving pumpkin or seasonal snack from on-site stands before you leave.
• Practical Details – The attraction typically operates from late September through Halloween, with daytime and evening experiences. Check Facebook for the current schedule, admission, parking information, and actor nights.

Together, the skeleton spectacle, interactive cemetery, haunted woods, corn maze, and seasonal extras turn this homegrown display into a substantial Halloween outing.

GCV&M Spirits of the Past (and more!)

GCV&M Spirits of the Past (and more!)
Genesee Country Village & Museum
Mumford
Seasonal dates vary

Genesee Country Village & Museum presents fall programs that draw on the atmosphere of its 19th-century village after dark. Past seasons have included guided Spirits of the Past walks, historical storytelling, themed refreshments, family programs, and literary events. Programs, age guidance, and ticket requirements vary, so review the museum’s current events calendar before planning your visit.

More Spooky Season Events at GCVM

• Agricultural Fair
• Spooky Saturday
• October Overnight at the Museum
• All Hallows’ Tea
• A Night with Edgar Allan Poe

MAG Museum of the Dead

MAG Museum of the Dead
Memorial Art Gallery
Rochester
Seasonal; adults 21 and over

The Memorial Art Gallery’s Museum of the Dead is a 21+ Halloween event that has included dancing, cocktails, gallery exploration, ghost tours, tarot readings, costumes, and other activities throughout the museum. The program and ticket options can change each year; check MAG’s event calendar for the current theme, schedule, and admission details.

Powers Farm Spooky Teepee and Hayrides

Powers Farm
Pittsford
Fall season; check for current dates and hours

Powers Farm combines its fall market with two long-running Halloween attractions. Walk through teepees illuminated by jack-o’-lanterns and decorated with ghosts, bats, and other seasonal details, or take a hayride past staged scenes with witches, skeletons, and graveyards. Daytime rides offer a gentler experience, while evening rides add darkness to the special effects. The farm considers the hayride family-friendly, though some scenes may be too intense for sensitive children. Before or after the attractions, the market offers pumpkins, apples, baked goods, cider, and fall decorations.

VerHulst Haunted Hayride

VerHulst Haunted Hayride
Spencerport
Fall weekends; check for current dates and hours

The VerHulst experience pairs a haunted hayride through the woods with a haunted corn maze. Admission has traditionally been first-come, first-served rather than reserved, and waits can be substantial on Friday and Saturday nights. The attraction is not recommended for children younger than eight. Check the current season’s schedule and admission information before heading to Spencerport.

Nightmare Manor Haunted House

Nightmare Manor Haunted House
Southtown Plaza, Henrietta
Fall weekends; check for current dates and hours

Nightmare Manor is an indoor haunted attraction with multiple themed scare zones that may change from year to year. Check the attraction’s website for the current setting, schedule, ticket prices, and age guidance.

Halloween at the Public Market

Halloween at the Market
Rochester Public Market
Rochester
Typically held near Halloween; check for the current schedule

Halloween at the Market is a free, family-friendly community event with costumes, trick-or-treating, activities, entertainment, and food options. Details can change from year to year, so confirm the date, time, and program on the City of Rochester website.

Seneca Park Zoo Spooktacular

Spooktacular
Seneca Park Zoo
Rochester
Seasonal dates vary

Seneca Park Zoo’s Spooktacular offers family-friendly Halloween activities after hours. Themes, dates, times, admission, and entry procedures may change each year, so check the zoo’s events calendar before visiting.

Guided Ghost Walks & Hosted Talks

Rolling Hills Asylum Tours

East Bethany
Events all year are amped up in October

Rolling Hills Asylum (RHA) has been spotlighted on Ghost Hunters and numerous other well-known paranormal investigation shows. Their website offers a year-round events calendar featuring a variety of experiences, including guided and self-guided tours, public and private ghost hunts, themed dinners, and special events. To explore more about RHA, visit the Haunted History Trail of New York.

Mount Hope Cemetery Walking Tours

Guided tours are offered seasonally; dates and themes vary

Explore one of Rochester’s most famous cemeteries through guided walking tours. These tours offer historical insight into the cemetery’s notable residents, with tales of hauntings and paranormal activity adding a spooky twist to the area’s rich history.

Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks

Locations Vary
Dates, times, and locations vary

Guided walk themes include Ghosts of Mt. Hope Ave., Jack the Ripper in Rochester, Spirits of Sea Breeze, Lady in White, Phantoms of Fairport, Haunts of Henrietta, and Lilac Legends.

Rochester Candlelight Ghost Walks combines local history with ghost stories at locations around the Rochester area. Check the organizer’s current calendar for available themes, meeting places, age guidance, and registration details. You can also explore regional sites through the Haunted History Trail of New York.

On Stage and Screen

Seasonal Laser Shows at RMSC

Rochester Museum & Science Center
Strasenburgh Planetarium
Seasonal schedule varies

The Strasenburgh Planetarium often adds horror-themed or Halloween-adjacent laser shows to its fall schedule. Titles and showtimes change, so check the current calendar for selections, age guidance, and tickets.

Spooky Season at The Little

The Little Theatre
Rochester
October schedule varies

The Little’s Spooky Season brings horror, fantasy, and Halloween films and events to the theater in October. The lineup may range from classic and international horror to family-friendly selections and themed screenings. Check the current schedule for titles, ratings, dates, and showtimes.

The Fox Sisters

You can visit Hydesville in Wayne County, where sisters Margaretta and Catherine Fox reported mysterious rappings in their family home in 1848. Their story became closely associated with the rise of Modern Spiritualism. The cottage no longer stands, but the site is preserved as the Fox Sisters Property and Hydesville Memorial Park.

Their story has been widely attributed to the beginning of the Spiritualism movement and the creation of Lily Dale, the world’s largest center for the Study of the Science, Philosophy, and Religion of Spiritualism. Lily Dale was incorporated in 1879. The Fox cottage was moved to Lily Dale piece by piece in 1915, but burned down in 1955. Learn more about The Fox Sisters at The Haunted History Trail of New York, smithsonian.com, and Crooked Lake Review.

Dryden Theatre

George Eastman Museum
Rochester

Each October, the Dryden Theatre draws from the George Eastman Museum’s film collection for screenings that explore the eerie, uncanny, and macabre. The changing lineup may include silent films, classic horror, international cinema, cult favorites, and contemporary selections, with many presented in their original film formats. Check the current calendar for titles, dates, and ticket information.

Halloweenfest at Lincoln Hill Farm

Lincoln Hill Farm
Canandaigua
3792 NY-247
Fall schedule varies

Lincoln Hill Farm may add live music, food, games, and Halloween-themed attractions to its fall calendar. Offerings have included a haunted hayride zombie hunt. Check the current schedule before planning a visit.

Spooky Displays

House of Horrors

For more than 30 years, the family behind House of Horrors has built a free walk-through haunted house at their Gates home. The handmade attraction changes each season, with detailed interior scenes and a large yard display that includes a full-size haunted castle. Because this is a residential display with a limited operating schedule, search Facebook for House of Horrors – Gates NY to confirm open nights and hours before visiting.

2 Nisa Lane
Gates
Free admission; seasonal schedule varies
Get Directions

Me Hearty Haunts of Mount Morris

Pirate-themed chills await at the corner of Main Street & Erie Street in Mount Morris. This seaside-style display has included oversized skeletons, towering creatures, spooky projections, and a family-friendly scavenger hunt. Watch my video of the display, and follow Me Hearty Haunts of Mount Morris on Facebook to confirm when the current show is live.

161 Main Street
Mount Morris
Get Directions

Nightmare Before Christmas

Take a slow roll past this elaborate home display, which changes from Halloween scenes in fall to a winter wonderland in December.

16 Beauclaire Lane
Perinton
Get Directions

Clowning Around in the Graveyard on Wilelen

At 61 and 62 Wilelen Road in Chili Center, a graveyard circus combines creepy clowns with handmade scenery and select nighttime scares. Join the Clowning Around in the Graveyard on Wilelen Facebook group to confirm the current season’s display and operating nights.

61 and 62 Wilelen Road
Chili Center
Get Directions

Insomnia House

Insomnia House is a free, family-friendly haunted house and graveyard that also serves as a fundraiser. The attraction has featured a haunted maze, immersive rooms, and four fear levels ranging from a sensory-friendly experience without actors to extreme scares with intense sounds and effects. A game area and snack bar may also be available, with proceeds supporting AutismUp. Follow the updates on Facebook to confirm the current schedule, features, and beneficiary.

16 Avacado Lane
Gates
Get Directions

Roxwood

Roxwood Drive
Greece
Get Directions

The White Lady’s Castle

Durand-Eastman Park
Irondequoit
self-guided

Despite popular belief, the White Lady’s Castle at Durand Eastman Park is not an actual castle, but rather the façade of a former beachside dining hall called the Three Lakes Pavilion. However, rumors persist of a vengeful mother and her two large white dogs haunting the area.

Driving on Lake Shore Boulevard, you’ll find a little parking lot across from Lake Ontario, between Log Cabin Road and Zoo Road. Park and look up the hill to see this view of the White Lady’s Castle and the Legends & Lore marker.

So take a walk and see if you can find any rumored apparitions of the White Lady searching for her daughter. Rumor also has it that this story inspired the 1988 movie The Lady in White. And don’t forget the White Lady tree! Learn more about Durand Eastman at The Haunted History Trail of New York.

Paranormal Investigations

TIP: If you’re looking for support with your own paranormal activities, CITY News, in an interview with Monroe County Paranormal Investigations, said they are “dedicated to investigating the truth behind the paranormal, and they operate with a healthy sense of skepticism. This isn’t about the spooky and scary, but a look into the real and normal lives of some of Rochester’s paranormal investigators.” See also: (585) Magazine also interviewed M.C.P.I

What are your favorite paranormal activities?

I’d love to hear from you—please reach out and share your thoughts and experiences.