The Headless Horseman in Ulster Park, New York has to be one of the prettiest haunts on the east coast. From start to finish, this monster of a haunt strikes a perfect balance between scaring you to death and catching you in the autumnal feels. This year’s outing from The Headless Horseman offers ten separate attractions alongside a whole village’s worth of sights, smells, and sounds that will put you right where you need to be: in the mood for Halloween! 

The last time we made our way to The Headless Horseman was 2019 (ah, the before times). Since that visit, this attraction has made several changes that made it even more of a blast than it already was! We were dismayed at first to learn that their hayride was on hiatus. But, once we got into it, the hayride’s conversion into a walk-through attraction is nothing short of awesome. You have the opportunity to thoroughly enjoy the hayride’s sets while also getting a little closer to their fantastic crew of actors along the trail. Comprising the first half of your visit’s scares, it reaches a stunning climax in a fog maze that, on our visit, had grown men crying out for their parents. 

While the new walk-through was this year’s stand-out experience at The Headless Horseman, the haunted houses at the end of the walk-through’s trail rocked in their own right. There are eight—yes, eight—unique haunted houses on offer this year. The Lunar Motel, remains a favorite, but we were also impressed by Two Raven’s Manor and The Nightshade Greenhouse. Something truly stunning about The Headless Horseman’s collection of houses, in comparison to other scare parks, is that most are connected to one another by a (very real!) corn maze. So, even if you have made your way out of a house, you should stay on your toes. You never know when a child of the corn will catch you off-guard. I mean it when I say they have something for everyone’s Halloween taste! 

This year is The Headless Horseman’s 30th Anniversary. Because of its ongoing process of perfecting its many offerings, guests are treated to a supremely polished, professional experience. Nancy and Michael Jubie, the Headless Horseman’s owners and creative directors, have absolute aesthetic and narrative command of their attraction. They have also structured a safe time for those wanting to be scared half to death. And, although things can get gruesome, everything about it is, for lack of a better descriptor, beautiful. The sets are carefully curated, the actors are hand-selected, and the customer service experience is flawless. In other words, the Headless Horseman remains a must-do Halloween activity for haunters near and far away from upstate New York. 

The Headless Horseman offers ticket options that suit various budgets and fear levels. We recommend booking your visit online for $73.33 (plus tax and fees) because on-site tickets are $80.95. As seasoned haunters may expect, lines get very long at this attraction the closer we get to Halloween. For those who are impatient or have an evening packed full o’ other hauntings, you can purchase their $35 scream pass on-site for front-of-the-line access. If their regular Halloween offerings are too rich for your blood and you have kiddies in your haunt family caboodle, check out their Children’s Days on October 8th and 22nd! Tickets for this special event are $17.95 (plus taxes and fees)—a more than reasonable price for all this attraction offers! 

Last, it is essential to note that Headless Horseman has seasonal offerings (spooky and not) elsewhere on the calendar. For example, you may want to catch one of their escape rooms! And, should you not be able to carve out the time to make it to their haunts this year, then Frosty Fest—a thoroughly wholesome and not-at-all fearsome event—usually kicks off in November!

For more information, visit them at: https://headlesshorseman.com/