Halloween is drawing nearer, and the High Country is hopping with activities for kids of all ages.

From merely festive to downright spooky, take your pick and get your ghoul on!

 

ONGOING EVENTS

 

Tweetsie Railroad’s Ghost Train

Ghosts and ghouls will haunt Ghost Train’s passengers through the ride and throughout the Wild West theme park, which features a haunted house, haunted forest, carnival rides and more. Tickets are $28 and free for children 2 and younger. Gates open at 7:30 p.m., and the park is open Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27. For more information, call (800) 526-5740 or visit http://www.tweetsie.com.

 

Haunted Horn

Haunted Horn is a 25-minute haunted hiking trail through themed screams, gunshots and chainsaws. It disorients visitors with black lights and strobe lights through grounds of Horn in the West. The event is presented by the Southern Appalachian Historical Association, organizer Freda Greene, ASU Teaching Fellows and Epsilon Tau Pi. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students. The trail is open at dusk from Oct. 25 to 27 and Oct. 30 to 31. It runs until midnight on Friday, Saturday and Halloween night. For more information, call (828) 264-2120 or visit http://www.horninthewest.com. This event is not recommended for children 9 and younger.

 

‘Dracula’

Ensemble Stage will present a staged recreation of the Orson Welles’ 1930s Mercury Theatre radio drama, “Dracula.” The tale of horror and suspense comes alive on stage, just like it did nearly 75 years ago.

General seating tickets are $12 for adults and seniors and $8 for students. The performances will be held at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27, at Blowing Rock School Auditorium at 160 Sunset Drive in downtown Blowing Rock. For more information, call (828) 414-1844 or visit http://www.ensemblestage.com.

 

New River Corn Maze

The New River Corn Maze is set on the banks of the scenic south fork of the New River. The maze itself winds through five acres of planted corn with more than a mile of twists, turns, dead-ends and switchbacks.

Tickets are $7 for adults; $5 for students; kids 5 and younger free. Train ride tickets are $5, and combination train ride and maze tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students. The maze will be open Friday, Oct. 26, and Saturday, Oct. 27, from 10 a.m. until dark and Sunday, Oct. 28, from 1 p.m. until dark. The corn maze is located at 556 Laurel Gap Ridge in Boone. For more information, call (828)-264-2986 or email newrivercornmaze@gmail.com.

 

SATURDAY, OCT. 27

 

Blowing Rock Halloween

Blowing Rock Parks and Recreation's annual Halloween Festival is a day full of colorful exploration activities. The day will begin at 3 p.m. with inflatables in Memorial Park and games for kids in the Recreation Center. At 5:30 p.m., lineup starts for the Monster March through downtown. At 6 p.m., trick-or-treating with the downtown merchants begins. At 7 p.m., the costume contest will be held. A bonfire will be held from dusk till 9 p.m. The night will end with the Moonlight Scavenger Hunt at Broyhill Lake after the costume contest (be sure to bring your flashlight).

For more information, call Blowing Rock Parks and Recreation at (828) 295-5222.

 

Beech Mountain celebration

The Town of Beech Mountain will celebrate Halloween with trick-or-treating at local businesses and festivities at the Buckeye Recreation Center. Food, drinks, fun games and a haunted egg hunt will be featured, along with a haunted hayride. Trick-or-treaters can meet at 5 p.m. at Town Hall, and the party begins at 6 p.m. at Buckeye Recreation Center. Hayrides are $2, and the rest of the festivities are free.

For more information, call (828) 387-3003.

 

Beary Scary Halloween

Grandfather Mountain will celebrate the holiday with crafts, nature programs, ghost stories, trick-or-treating at the animal habitats and a costume contest. An interactive program called “Going Batty for Bats” is also part of the celebration. The events are included with park admission, and children in costume get in half-price. The activities run from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. For more information, visit http://www.grandfather.com or call (800) 468-7325.

 

WEDNESDAY, OCT. 31

 

Boone Boo!

The Downtown Boone Development Association will host the 12th annual Boone Boo! Halloween Festival in downtown Boone. The event begins with crafts and activities at the Watauga County Public Library at 4 p.m. Around 4:30 p.m., participants will parade in costume to the Jones House Community Center, which has been converted into a haunted house. Appalachian State University's men’s basketball team will be at the Jones House from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. to meet fans, hand out posters and sign autographs. Afterward, everyone will hit the merchants of King Street for trick-or-treating fun.

For more information, call the DBDA at (828) 262-4532, or visit http://www.downtownboonenc.com.

 

Pumpkin-carving contest

Children are invited to trick-or-treat at Blowing Rock’s historic Green Park Inn, and the first 20 participants who arrive at 6:30 p.m. can participate in a pumpkin-carving contest. Participants must bring their own tools and carving skills, and the inn will provide the pumpkins. Pumpkin lighting begins around 7:30 p.m., and the contest winner receives a prize. Call (828) 414-9230 to reserve your pumpkin or for more information.

 

Halloween Monster Concert

Enjoy a frightfully fun evening when the Hayes School of Music’s organ studio presents its annual Halloween Monster Concert. Featured will be Bach’s famous “Toccata and Fugue in D minor” with special audience participation, the singing of “pumpkin carols,” a Name-That-Scary-Tune quiz, a silent movie with organ accompaniment, free candy, costume contests and more. Costumes are encouraged.

The event is free and open to the public. The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Broyhill Music Center’s Rosen Concert Hall on the campus of Appalachian State University. For more information call (828)-262-3020 or email Joby Bell at belljr@appstate.edu or visit http://music.appstate.edu.