Halloween Bucket List

For day three of #blogtober, I’m sharing all the things that I would love to do at some point in my life during the spooky season! Some of these are pretty tame and I’m surprised that I’ve never been able to do them before, but some of these are pretty intense! I’m lucky (or unlucky, however you look at it) to live in Pennsylvania which has a lot of history itself since it’s one of the original 13 states, and I live close to quite a few “haunted” locations which is cool too.

Go Apple Picking

I’ve been to apple orchards, but never to actually pick my own apples or do anything fun like that! When I was back in elementary school I vaguely remember taking a tour of a local apple orchard, but I don’t think we even went out into the orchard itself. I feel like this is one of the things that really embodies fall and the feeling of the season!

Visit Eastern State Penitentiary

While I don’t live terribly close to Philadelphia, it’s still reasonable for me to drive there as a day (or in this case, night) trip. I’ve been to some local haunted houses but never anything on a level that would actually scare me. Around here, the scariest thing we have are people walking up to you in costume with chainsaws (with the chain removed, of course) and that just doesn’t scare me. I want to go to the Eastern State Penitentiary so badly because of all the haunted things that happen around there!

Go on a Haunted Hayride

I feel like this is something I see a lot in movies and TV shows that have fall episodes and I’ve never been on a haunted hayride! I’ve been on a regular old hayride as a kid (or at least I think I have) and I don’t really even remember it being a tour or anything like that, just literally a cart of hay being pulled by some horses. That’s it, nothing special. I want jump scares and headless horsemen chasing you and everything like that!

Visit a Pumpkin Patch

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve bought pumpkins before but never ones where you actually walk through the pumpkin patch to pick out the one you want! It’s always just been a roadside stand or little farmers market where they’ve already been picked and are neatly labeled that you just grab and pay for. I want to experience actually picking a pumpkin just once!

Go to Salem Massachusetts

If you were unaware, Hocus Pocus is one of my favorite Halloween movies EVER and I’ve always wanted to visit Salem because that is where it was filmed. And I wouldn’t want to visit just because of Hocus Pocus, I want to visit because of the witch trials and I think the history of Salem is so fascinating and spooky!

Decorate Outside

Growing up a lot of people in my neighborhood used to go all out with their Halloween decorations, and for a while my family did too! But it’s been many years since my family has done any sort of decorating for Halloween, and it made my Halloween loving heart sad. Now that I’ve moved out I would love to start decorating outside again! I of course decorate the inside of my apartment, but I need tombstones and skeletons and jump scares outside ASAP.

Visit Bran Castle (aka Dracula’s Castle)

If we are talking bucket list items with no limit as to where it is or how much it would cost to get there, I would totally want to visit the infamous location that was home to Vlad the Impaler! It isn’t known for sure if he actually lived in this castle, but it would still be a fantastic story to tell if I ever got the chance to visit.

Visit the Stanley Hotel

While I don’t necessarily care for any of Stephen King’s books (don’t hate me, okay??) I would love to go to the hotel that inspired his book The Shining! Not only did it inspire The Shining, but it’s also haunted by quite a few ghosts and it would be really cool to spend the night there, especially around Halloween.

Visit Sleepy Hollow

If we are talking bookish related fall bucket list items, visiting Sleepy Hollow in New York is definitely one of them! Haunted bridges, demons, the headless horseman, and one of the oldest cemeteries in America! It would be so cool to visit and see what it’s like there, because the photos are beautiful! Surprisingly, it’s only 30 miles north of New York City so it would be a perfect day trip!

Visit the Waverly Hills Sanitorium

This one could potentially give me nightmares for weeks, but I think it would be cool to visit this abandoned tuberculosis hospital where it is believed that as many as 63,000 people died at. A lot of people means a lot of ghosts, and this place has been featured on a TON of ghost shows (which I love to watch!) I don’t know if they actually do any tours here, but it would be an interesting experience for sure.

Visit Mary King’s Close in Edinburgh

This location has been featured in quite a few books and is a pretty popular tourist destination, and it’s pretty much my goal in life to witness anything paranormal so this seems like it would be a good place to achieve that goal. Plus it’s in beautiful Scotland which I would love to visit no matter what, so it’s a win-win! The Close is made up of a bunch of underground streets and tunnels that led to businesses and homes in the 16^th and 17^th centuries and was abandoned after the plague broke out. That means it’s probably one of the most haunted places in the world.

What are some of your autumn bucket list items? I’d love to hear them and add some to my list!