The best Halloween events for 2023 in NYC

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze is set to return this September in two New York locations, along with a full slate of Sleepy Hollow-themed events.

The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze will be back in the Hudson Valley at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson for the 19th year, from September 15 through November 19, as well as Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Old Bethpage, Long Island for the fourth year, from September 22 through November 5.

Both experiences will feature thousands of hand-carved jack o'lanterns set up in elaborate displays: along with annual favorites like the Statue of Liberty and the Pumpkin Planetarium, you'll find a circus sideshow, a jack o’lantern tribute to the Day of the Dead, and the country's first-ever pumpkin Ferris wheel in Hudson Valley, while Long Island attendees can be wowed by an under-the-sea installation, including a giant pumpkin octopus and a Montauk mermaid. 

Cheer for all the cute doggos in their Halloween finery during this year's 25th Annual Great PUPkin Dog Costume Contest on Saturday, October 28. Held every year by Fort Greene Park Users and Pets Society since 1998, the event is held at the bottom of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument stairs, where more than a hundred dogs run around in silly and creative costumes from RBG to hot dogs and more.

The entry fee for participants is $15; dogs and their humans must register before Sunday, October 22 at 10pm. It's free to watch the show.

If you want your spooky celebrations to be more festive and less frightening, Halloween House is serving up a fear-free All Hallows Eve attraction at The Oculus this fall.

Kicking off on Friday, September 29, and running through Wednesday, November 1, Halloween House—which welcomed 100,000 visitors across its various locations last year—will take over the transportation and shopping hub at 185 Greenwich Street with an array of immersive, intricately designed themed rooms: a Glow in the Dark space, a mysterious Vampires' Lair, a Horror Movie Graveyard and an indoor pumpkin patch, among others. 

Unlike traditional haunted houses, the all-ages Halloween House "sets itself apart by delivering entertainment through meticulously detailed environments, devoid of actors, jump scares, and strobe lights," reads a press release. In terms of decorations, expect more ghouls and graveyards, not gross-out gore or ghastly characters.

You can get tickets at the Halloween House website; adult entry costs $40, while tickets for kids and under are set at $35. 

Grab your garlic because a vampire masquerade is making its debut in NYC this fall, and it's going to be truly immersive. "Dreams of Dracula: An Immersive Masquerade Experience" will recreate the classic Dracula universe as a brand new vampire theatrical adventure.

The production opens on October 4 and runs through November 11 at Musica NYC in Hell's Kitchen; previews begin September 22. Gothic and Victorian costumes are "very much encouraged," event organizers say. Tickets start at $69 and are available for purchase here.

Putting a new spin on the Bram Stoker classic, this choose-your-own-adventure evening whisks visitors through two floors and six rooms across 25,000 square feet for a heady mix of immersive theater, dance and decadent masquerade.

The fall festival at the Bronx Zoo will showcase more than 5,000 carved, animal-themed pumpkins in a jack-o’-lantern trail stretching over half a mile. Live pumpkin carving demonstrations, games, festive fall treats and food trucks will also take place at the all-ages Pumpkin Nights.

Pumpkin Nights will debut on Thursday, September 28 and run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sunday, October 29 from 6pm to 10pm.

Tickets for Pumpkin Nights range from $26.95-$36.95 for adults; kids' tickets range from $24.95-$26.95 for kids. 

In addition to the new Pumpkin Nights, the Bronx Zoo will continue the tradition of Boo at the Zoo, which will return on Saturdays and Sundays, September 30 through October 29, plus Monday, October 9. 

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s annual Halloween Extravaganza returns to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve on Friday, October 27 at the uptown house of prayer.

The long-standing Upper West Side tradition was born decades ago under the direction of Artist in Residence Ralph Lee, founder of the Mettawee River Theatre Company. This year, the cathedral honors that legacy with an evening featuring frightening Mettawee performers who will haunt the audience with tricks and treats. 

The evening will kick off with a screening of the classic 1921 silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, directed by Robert Wiene and screened with live organ accompaniment by Timothy Brumfield. Following the film will be the Procession of the Ghouls, where ghouls and goblins from the Mettawee River Theater Company will fill the cathedral to scare and delight audiences.

Two viewings will be offered at 7 and 10 pm for the Halloween Extravaganza, with $40 tickets available on the cathedral's website. 

Also on October 27 and 28, the cathedral's famous Crypt Crawls will make their grand return from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm and from 3:30 pm to 4:30 pm, guiding visitors down into the rarely-seen depths of the Gothic building. You will hear stories of the entombed and learn the origins of Halloween as a Celtic New Year celebration and later transformation into All Hallows Eve. Grab tickets for the guided tour here.  

Rooftop Cinema Club is screening rooftop movies this fall with a packed slate of films running all the way through October 31. 

Sip wine and eat vegan popcorn while watching classics like When Harry Met Sally, The Addams Family, Hocus Pocus and lots more this autumn. Tickets are on sale here.

October's lineup include scary screenings such as Rosemary’s Baby, Paranormal, The Exorcist, The Shining, American Psycho and other cult classics as well as family favorites like Coco and Monsters, Inc. That all leads up to All Hallow's Eve's screenings of Hocus Pocus and Halloween.

Back for its annual celebration of all things pumpkin (and your best opportunity to take a selfie with a scarecrow in NYC), New York Botanical Garden's Fall-O-Ween officially opens on Saturday, September 16. 

The event includes hundreds of pumpkins and gourds on display, hands-on activities like mini pumpkin decorating, 3D pumpkin carving, food and beverage talks, tastings and more. Two family-friendly Spooky Garden Nights (Saturday, October 21 and Saturday, October 28) will also offer Halloween-themed entertainment including dancing skeletons, decorating trick-or-treat bags, live shadow puppets, plant potting ad more. 

Master pumpkin carver Adam Bierton will return to NYBG on select weekends to create his intricate and nature-inspired pumpkin carvings, and to host a master carver competition. At the “pumpkin patch” at NYBG Shop, guests can pick and purchase the perfect pumpkin.

Step back in time for "Magic: Distilled Presents Smoke & Mirrors" at Great Jones Distilling Co., a spell-binding performance featuring top local magicians who perform Prohibition-era sleights of hand and sorcery while sipping on craft cocktails at Manhattan's first post-Prohibition whiskey distillery. 

Available in two seatings on October 27 (one from 7pm-8:30pm and a second from 9-10:30pm), the limited-time-only show will spotlight the mind-bending skills of lead illusionist Jeanette Andrews, who will be accompanied by magician and mentalist David Corsaro and Rachel Wax.

While the audience oohs and aahs over the magicians' tableside tricks and parlor magic, they can sip on new seasonal craft cocktails featuring Great Jones Distilling Co.’s limited Peated Scotch Cask Bourbon, stirred up by the bar's head mixologist Collin Frazier. (And if you want to make a real night of it, guests who opt to dine at the distillery's onsite restaurant The Grid will receive 20 percent off their dinner bill.)

Tickets to Magic: Distilled, which are priced at $100, include your reservation in the bar's Art Deco lounge, a complimentary whiskey tasting, the performance itself as well as two drinks from a select menu of cocktails, wine and beer.