Depending on your age, Halloween is a time for trick-or-treating and pumpkin-related crafts, or an excuse for bar crawls and costume contests. But if you want to make spooky season slightly more elevated, you can enjoy Halloween activities at a museum, embassy or historic site.
If you’re a parent, taking the family to one of these events — instead of the usual community trunk-or-treat — implies that the kids are learning something, not just gorging on sugar. For adults, again, you’re not just dressing up and going to a bar — you’re learning about ghosts or bats or watching an acclaimed zombie movie while dressing up and enjoying food and drinks. Being boring? Now that’s scary.
For kids
Boo at the Zoo
The National Zoo is hosting an after-hours trick-or-treating adventure, complete with costumed visitors (but no masks for adults), a kids dance party and a new pumpkin patch for family photos. Tickets include access to select animal exhibits, including the Small Mammal House and the Elephant Community Center, while the Conservation Carousel and Zoo Choo Choo offer extra fun for an additional fee. Oct. 16-18 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. nationalzoo.si.edu. $35.
Strašidla: Czech Legends and Mythical Creatures at the Embassy of the Czech Republic
Every nation has its own stories of ghastly creatures and wandering ghosts. In the Czech Republic, those include the Headless Knight, said to ride his horse through the dark streets of Prague, and the Noonday Witch, immortalized in a symphonic poem by Antonín Dvořák. Learn more about these supernatural frights while wandering through the “haunted forest” on the embassy grounds, and then have fun trying experiments with the Science Guys. Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. mzv.gov.cz/washington. Free; RSVP required. Intended for ages 5-10.
Halloween Spooktacular at the National Children’s Museum
Get into some hands-on Halloween fun at the National Children’s Museum, where little tinkerers can launch mini-pumpkins from catapults, investigate creepy-crawly insects under digital microscopes and create spooky shadow stories — all while showing off their costumes. Then join the Monster Mash, where families can dance their way through the galleries to a holiday playlist. Oct. 23 from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. nationalchildrensmuseum.org. $18.95. Intended for all ages.
Flights and Frights at the College Park Aviation Museum
Bring your costumed goblin or princess to trick-or-treat at stations throughout the College Park Aviation Museum, which celebrates the history made at the world’s oldest continuously operating airport. In addition to tasting sweets, kids can try science experiments, make crafts and participate in other family fun. Oct. 24 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. pgparks.com. $5. Registration required before Oct. 17.
Hands-On History: Pumpkin Carving & Harvest Traditions at the Agricultural History Farm Park
Kids and teens are encouraged to get down and dirty while learning about traditional handicrafts during the Hands-On History series at Montgomery County’s Agricultural History Farm Park in Derwood. This session covers the history of pumpkin carving and associated harvest celebrations. After learning about jack-o’-lanterns, participants design and carve their own, with a little help from instructors (if needed). This is a drop-off class, so parents aren’t required to stay. Oct. 25 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. montgomeryparks.org. $15. Designed for ages 10-14.
Sensory Friendly Morning: Halloween Edition at Planet Word
Planet Word is making room for a quieter Halloween celebration, with a less-crowded museum experience designed for families with neurodivergent children and teens. Explore at your own pace, try exhibits adapted for sensitivities to light and sound, and trick-or-treat around the galleries for fidgets, bookmarks and miniature books. Costumes are welcome, but keep them on the not-so-scary side. Oct. 25 from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. $0-$25 with a donation option. planetwordmuseum.org. Intended for ages 10 and above.
Stamp and Scream Family Festival at the National Postal Museum
The National Postal Museum is booked and busy with spooky crafts, a costume parade and educational activities. Make a glowing jack-o’-lantern to take home, try spooky silhouette printmaking or hunt for hidden critters in the museum’s first installation. Stop by the African American Museum’s kids station to learn about the “The Wizard of Oz” and “The Wiz” before designing a colorful costume of your own for Toto the dog. Kids can also browse or check out books from the mobile library hosted by the D.C. Public Library. Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. postalmuseum.si.edu. Free.
For adults
Spooky History Tours at National Building Museum
The National Building Museum’s enormous Corinthian columns and cavernous Great Hall have made it one of D.C.’s most familiar indoor spaces — during the day, at least. After dark, when shadows fall, people on night watch and security guards have reported seeing specters in white Civil War-era attire, and even a figure on horseback. Join guides for an evening tour that explores the shadowy corners of the historic building, and keep your eyes peeled for unnatural apparitions. Oct. 9, 11, 17 and 25 at 8 p.m. nbm.org. $25; $22 students with ID. Recommended for ages 13 and older.
Spiritualism tours at Heurich House Museum
Spiritualism — the belief that the dead can communicate with the living — was an international movement in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including in the District. Amelia Heurich, the third wife of local brewing magnate Christian Heurich, was a believer who held séances in their reception room and recorded descriptions of mysterious “rapping” noises in her diary. Learn more about Amelia Heurich’s spiritualist beliefs and her dislike of the number 13 — including a creepy doll that always took the 14th chair at dinner — during special tours of the wonderfully preserved Dupont Circle mansion. Oct. 10 and 24 from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m. and 2:15 p.m. to 3 p.m. heurichhouse.org. $18.95.
Soul Strolls: Becoming America at Congressional Cemetery
Congressional Cemetery’s popular after-dark October tours celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Guests will be led on a lantern-lit tour of the cemetery grounds, where they will encounter costumed actors portraying historical figures buried there — such as madams, soldiers, politicians and enslaved people — and learn more about how they felt about the promises of the Declaration. Family-friendly tours are offered each day. This year, the cemetery is introducing a timed queuing system, with tours beginning every 10 minutes. Oct. 16, 30 and 31. (Oct. 17, 23 and 24 are sold out). Times vary. congressionalcemetery.org. $40; $20 children ages 5 to 12. Free for children age 4 and younger.
Death at the City Hotel: The Fear That Unites Us at Gadsby’s Tavern
George Washington and the Marquis de Lafayette both stayed at Alexandria’s City Hotel, but the most notorious guest at the hotel, now part of the Gadsby’s Tavern museum, is the Female Stranger. The unnamed woman, her face concealed by a long veil, arrived by ship in September 1816 with her husband, who said she was seriously ill. She died in the hotel a few weeks later, without ever revealing her identity, and was buried in nearby St. Paul’s Cemetery. This discussion, organized by Gadsby’s Tavern, uses the Female Stranger as a starting point to examine the ways people used protective charms, traditional medicine and faith to combat the fear of death in a time before serious illnesses were understood. Admission includes one drink. Oct. 16 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. alexandria.gov. $35.
Night of the Living Zoo Halloween Party at the National Zoo
Looking for an adults-only option at the National Zoo? Night of the Living Zoo trades the classic trick-or-treating bags for cocktails, and costumed guests can roam select animal exhibits after dark before hitting the dance floor with the live DJ set. Done with dancing? Grab unlimited drinks from the pop-up bar, get a flash tattoo, have your tarot cards read or make room for a little “Zoostrology.” Oct. 23 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. nationalzoo.si.edu. $75.
Late Night: Haunted Hall at the National Building Museum
The National Building Museum’s Great Hall is getting a haunted makeover for an evening of silent horror films and ghost stories. Start with a scavenger hunt through the building’s past, catch screenings of “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” (1920) and “The Phantom of the Opera” (1925) and close out the night with a performance by the band Night Hawk. Admission includes a drink ticket and access to “Visible Vault: Open Collections Storage,” “Building Stories” and “House and Home” after hours. Oct. 29 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. nbm.org. $20; $15 for students.
Nat Geo Nights: Spooky Night at the Museum at the National Geographic Museum of Exploration
What do you find scarier: Bats, owls or insects that feed on dead flesh? You’ll learn about all three at National Geographic’s Spooky Night at the Museum at its new Museum of Exploration. National Geographic’s Explorers, who work to conserve bats, preserve barn owl habitats and research how insects can environmental sentinels, will give pop-up talks about their work in the field. Attendees can dance to live music and DJ sets, have their tarot read and participate in a costume contests. Artists will also create a Día de los Muertos-inspired activation. Oct. 29 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. moe.nationalgeographic.org. $40.
‘Train to Busan’ at the National Museum of Asian Art
Celebrate the 10th anniversary of Yeon Sang-ho’s zombie thriller “Train to Busan” with a remastered screening at the National Museum of Asian Art. The 2016 South Korean hit, shown in Korean with English subtitles, follows a father and daughter on a birthday trip that turns into a fight for survival aboard a train overrun by zombies. Of course, zombie costumes are welcome. Oct. 30 from 7 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. asia.si.edu. Free, registration encouraged.
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