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James E. McGreevey |
William D. Watley |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Contact: Karen Wolfe - 609.292.2523 |
| HALLOWEEN’S A SCREAM IN NEW JERSEY Trenton, N.J. (October 5, 2003)—Your timbers will shiver, your knees will shake as ghosts and goblins celebrate across New Jersey this Halloween season. “Halloween is a major festival throughout New Jersey,” says Nancy Byrne, executive Director of New Jersey’s Office of Travel & Tourism. “It’s no longer just a day – it’s a season for kids of all ages to enjoy in activities from trick-or-treating and fright fests to hay riding and pumpkin picking." So, where to go for a really big scare? Head to Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, where the entire park is transformed into a haunted Halloween party, Fridays (5-11 pm), Saturdays (10 am-11 pm) and Sundays plus Columbus Day (10 am-9 pm), from October 3 through November 2. Six Flags' Fright Fest is a series of haunted shows and attractions, costumed characters and themed rides, among which are Dead Man's (dance) Party, Hayride To The Unknown, 'Dee Snider Presents The Van Helsing's Curse Fireworks Spectacular!, Hypnosteria, Bad Bob The Bone Butcher and more. A Fright Fest Pet Parade and Costume Contest, October 18, will benefit Popcorn Park, the special zoo that rescues and rehabilitates abused, injured and abandoned animals. Contestants will be judged on originality of costumes (owners and animals) and presentation. Call 732-928-1821 or www.sixflags.com/greatadventure Several of New Jersey’s farms and farm stores offer haunted hayrides that take revelers through vast fields and forests, with ghosts and goblins everywhere. Just a few are described here, but most large farms throughout the state have hayrides and other spooky happenings throughout October. Frightfest at Schaefer Farms, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday from October 3 through November 1 from 7-10 pm, consists of a haunted hayride through 200 acres, a haunted house and a nightmare “mass-acre maize.” Call 908-782-2705 or www.schaeferfarms.com At Race’s Farm, in Blairstown, “ghosts will walk and spirits will talk,” during this Haunted Hayride every Friday and Saturday, starting October 3 through October 31 from 7-10 pm. Call 908-362-9363 or www.46rescue.org Heaven Hill Farm in Vernon offers a range of Halloween events throughout the fall. Haunted Hayrides are Friday and Saturday nights from October 3 through October 25 from 7-10 pm. Families with tots should spend a day on the farm, Saturdays and Sundays, from October 4 though 27 with a “Boo Barn,” kiddie rides, pig racing, a hay crawl, corn stalk maize, pumpkin picking, sand art, and face painting. For information, call 973-764-5144 or www.hjeavenhillfarm.com Join the Jersey Devil Haunted Hayride Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays till Halloween, from October 10 through 31 at Indian Rock Resort campgrounds in Jackson. Among the “searchers” are an Evil Queen, Vlad the Impaler (otherwise known as Dracula), Zelda, a Dead Duke, a Renegade, an Evil Monk and a Tour Guide. Call 732-928-0034 or www.jerseydevilheyride.com For ghosts and spirits with more urban tastes, houses with histories of mystery are favorite Halloween haunts. They especially appeal to older kids and teenagers, who like having their hearts race with fear. Zombie Hall at the Charity Hall in Bayonne is a very scary place, according to past visitors. Starting October 3, Zombie Hall is open Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, from 7-10 pm and Fridays and Saturdays from 7-11 pm through November 1. Call 888-748-8039 or www.scaryplace.com. Depiero’s Farm in West Montvale is the setting for Nightmare’s Haunted House of the Doctor, a fictional 1880’s mortician who mysteriously disappeared in his labyrinthine mansion, never to be seen again—till maybe now. Starting Friday, October 3, The Doctor is open Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through November 2 from 7-10 pm. Call 866-271-7464 or www.night-mares.com As if the historic Red Mill in Clinton isn’t already haunted enough with its old gong occasionally sounding when no one has hit it, it will be doubly scary this Halloween, when the Exodus of the 13th Hour grips guests on Fridays and Saturdays, October 17, 18 , 24 and 25, from 6-10 pm. Call 908-735-4101 or www.hauntedmill.org Climb aboard the Halloween Express, at the Whippany Railway Museum in Whippany, Saturday and Sunday, October 25th and 26th, at 1, 2, 3 and 4 pm, for a haunted ten-mile trip; then go (carefully) through the museum and rail yard, where ghosts, creepy creatures, witches and ghouls are everywhere. Call 973-887-8177 or www.whippanyrailwaymuseum.org Think you can handle lonely wooded paths at night, lit only by candles? If so, then test your nerve on a Screaming Run Haunted Walk at Leaming’s Run Gardens in Swainton, where apparitions lurk behind every dark tree and bush. Guided nighttime tours take place October 24, 25 and 27 through November 1 from 7-11 pm. Call 609-465-2186 or www.leamingsrungardens.com Check out these and more Halloween events at www.funnj.com/holidays/halloween/ or search the web for “Halloween in New Jersey” for other sites. And, all along the way, enjoy the autumn leaves, ghoulish decorations, graveyards and witches that haunt houses throughout New Jersey towns. For information on fall activities, contact the New Jersey Office of Travel & Tourism, at (609) 292-2470 or check the website at www.visitnj.org
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