Monday, March 18, 2024

26 things to do in and around Victoria to get into the Halloween spirit

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Halloween is just around the corner and with it, there will be numerous opportunities for family fun, community bonding, and bone-chilling activities.

Maybe you want to do something ghastly and scary, or maybe you want to do something family friendly – either way, here are 26 things to do to get into the Halloween spirit.

Make sure to keep checking back as we continue to add more events happening around the region. Know of one we should add? Email us with all the details.

Visit over 31 haunted locations around Victoria

  • What: Victoria is the most haunted city in British Columbia, if not all of Canada. Almost every building in the downtown core has a ghost story. Some say it’s a result of our Wild West beginnings during the Gold Rush, when the streets were full of fortune hunters, pleasure houses, saloons, public hangings, opium dens and vice was around every corner. The mystery around Haunted Victoria remains. So, Victoria Buzz has compiled some of the most famous and active locations of paranormal activity in the city.
  • Where: All around town!
  • When: Whenever you want!

Monsters House – Fear on the Pier

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It’s all anyone’s been talking about. A haunted house exploding with monsters and loaded with fright. Two-for-one admission is October 15th!

  • Where: Ogden Point, 203 Dallas Rd.
  • When: October 12th – October 31st.
    • Open 6:30pm-11pm Sun-Thurs.
    • Open 6pm-11:30pm Fri & Sat.

Self-guided Ghost Walking Tour

  • What: Round up a squad, follow the map, and read the stories of some of Victoria’s most haunted downtown locations. A great way to get spooky with some room for spontaneity!
  • Where: Wherever you’d like to start!
  • When: Whenever you’d like to get going!

Ross Bay Cemetery Tours

  • What: Options! A Psychic Tour awaits, where clairvoyant medium Dawn Kirkham leads a walk through the cemetery and shares information on the spirits that inhabit it. A Murder Most Foul explores old graves and the grisly tales found in old newspapers and the BC Coroner’s records. The Annual Ghost Tour will explore ghost stories linked to people buried at Ross Bay Cemetery.
  • Where: Ross Bay Cemetery
  • When: Click here for detailed scheduling options.l
    • Oct 21: Psychic Tour
    • Oct 28: Annual Ghost Tour

Fun for the whole family. Entertainment including face painting, hay-rides, train rides, corn maze, petting farm, haunted house & plenty more activities for the children to enjoy. Don’t forget to check out the Cow Train.

  • Where: Galey’s Farm, 4150 Blenkinsop Rd
  • When: Every weekend until October 28th from 10 am to 4 pm.
  • Cost: $12 per adult $8 per child for one Train Ride ticket or one Corn Maze ticket. With your purchase of first ticket, second ticket at $5 (+taxes). Family Combo Pass (2 adults, 2 children) for $48 includes Corn Maze and Train Ride. Petting Farm is complimentary only with the purchase of first ticket or separately $2 per person.

“Festival of Fear” Galey Farms

  • What: Galey Farm’s signature event features a Haunted House for kids, the much scarier 6000 square foot Carnevil Haunted House for adults, a haunted corn maze, Crazy Train and Seance. The Cornfield of Horror is fully animated and features The Haunted Mansion, Pirates Island, The Addams Graveyard and many more fabulous displays. Fun for all ages during the day, but gets much spookier after 6 pm.
  • Where: Galey Farms, 4150 Blenkinsop Rd
  • When: Runs nightly October 12th & 13th,18th to 21st and 25th through to Halloween night. 6 p.m. – 10 p.m.

Ghost Walk Tours

  • What: On these Halloween tours, you’ll hear the stories of the ghost of Belle Adams who slit her boyfriend’s throat, a Jack-the Ripper-style murder, the ghost of the star-crossed Chinese lover, the ghost in the Broad Street bordello, a famous doppelgänger, the mysterious ghost in Trounce Alley, hauntings in Helmcken Alley and classic tales from Bastion Square. The tour starts and ends inside haunted buildings.
  • Where: Market Square, 560 Johnson St.
  • When: Every day from Oct 12 – Oct 31. 6:30, 7:30, and 8:30 and 9:30 pm

Pendray’s Corn Maze 

Vancouver Island’s biggest corn maze features 14-acres of corn and 10 acres of maze trails – Pendray Farms is the place to be! The average time to get through the maze is 2 hours, although some have made it in 45 minutes.  The 2018 corn maze has a small maze, a walking trail, and a large maze. The small maze (~2 km) can be completed in 30 minutes to an hour. The “Walking Trail” (~1.1 km) goes around the maze, but is not connected to the maze. These sections are ideal for children and grown ups who prefer a shorter exploration of the corn maze.

  • When:
    • Fridays: 5pm – 8pm
    • Saturdays: 10am -8pm
    • Sundays 10 am – 8 pm
  • Where: 9537 West Saanich
  • Cost: Adults 13+ $10, Kids 5-12 $5, Kids under 5 are free.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

  • What: The Rocky Horror Show returns to the Metro Theatre this Halloween Season for another high-energy, audience participation, no-holds barred, performance to make you shiver with antici… pation. Newly engaged sweethearts Brad and Janet become stranded with a flat tire during a storm – their only ray of light coming from the mansion of mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter. As their innocence is tested, they meet a houseful of wild characters. Directed by Britt Small, and featuring some of Victoria’s best performance and design talent, this show is a high energy cult-classic that has to be experienced..
  • Where: Metro Studio Theatre, 1411 Quadra St.
  • When: First show October 17th. Last show October 28th. 11 total – full listings here.

Pumpkin Art on Oak Bay Ave

Pumpkin Art on the Avenue features hundreds of pumpkin carvings set up in themes featuring Canadian Idols, cartoon characters, prime ministers, presidents, TV shows, the royal family, sixties icons, CBC history and more!

  • When: October 26 to 30, 5 pm to 9 pm / October 31, 5 pm to 10 pm
  • Where: Behind the Oak Bay Municipal Hall, 2167 Oak Bay Avenue

Halloween Express at Heritage Acres 

VIME is hosting their annual Halloween event. There will fun things for kids to do from spooky Games, face painting, pumpkin carving, scavenger hunts, and of course, TRAIN rides! Cost is $10 per car load.

  • Where: Heritage Acres, 7321 Lochside Drive, Saanichton
  • When:
    • Fri, October 19th – 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
    • Sat October 20th – 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
    • Sun October 21th – 4:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Ballet Victoria presents Frankenstein

Celebrating 200 years, Shelley’s original gothic novel meets Coralli and Perrot’s timeless ballet Giselle in an alchemy only Destrooper dares bring to the stage. Horror, romance and science fiction galvanised into a new ballet driven by a score boasting Verdi, Shostakovich, Dukas, Catalani and Adam. Think Corpse Bride meets Frankenstein.

  • Where: McPherson Playhouse, 643 Broughton St.
  • When: October 26 & 27 at 7:30pm. October 28 at 2pm

Paranormal Investigation at Point Ellice Garden

Join the Beyond Belief Paranormal Team on October 20th or October 26th as they investigate the paranormal occurrences that staff, volunteers, and visitors have experienced at Point Ellice House.

Reports of activity in and around the 1861 home include full body apparitions, voices, footsteps, and lights turning on by themselves. Some people feel ghostly presences in the rooms of the house and visitor centre. Access is being given to the team and those that are brave enough to join them! Over the course of the evening you will have the opportunity to participate in seances, vigils, EVP sessions, glass moving, and table tipping as well as use some of the ghost hunting equipment the team will be bringing.

  • Where: Point Ellice House and Gardens, 2616 Pleasant St.
  • When: October 20th and 26th 7:30 p.m. to 11 p.m.

Forest Spooktacular drop-in event!

  • What: Bring family and friend for a wonderful afternoon of spooky Halloween fun! Join the guided walks – if you dare – and CRD Regional Parks naturalists will take you through the treasures of the natural world. Displays, Halloween crafts, and hot ghoulish brew await. Costumed folks can win a prize!
  • Where: Francis/King Regional Park. Meet Francis/King Nature Center off Munn Rd.
  • When: October 20, 21, 27, 28. 11am – 2pm.

Horror Escape Rooms

You have 45 minutes to uncover a mystery in our detailed escape room sets, finding clues, solving puzzles, triggering high tech props and unlocking your way into multiple rooms! There are 3 thrilling escape rooms at Horror Escape and they launch a new room every year. Will you escape?

  • Where: 523 Broughton Street
  • When: Anytime after 3 pm weekdays, and noon on weekends! Book online.

Haunted Horse-Drawn Tours

Take a ride back in time on the haunted horse-drawn trolley down the dark streets of Victoria and hear about the scary occurrences in the most haunted neighbourhoods on the west coast – you just might see a ghost or two! These rides are fully narrated, and every told story is true.

  • Where: Located at the corner of Menzies and Belleville.
  • When: October 27 – 29.
  • Cost: Adults: $20, Seniors/Children under 12: $15

Wicked Victoria

Need a reason to wear that costume another time during the Halloween and Harvest Season! This annual event started 4 years ago to promote a walkable downtown and our amazing Harvest and Halloween City!  Whether you stroll into the “Feeling Ghoully Music Zone,” visit our “Ghostly Giving,” and learn more about some of our over 3000 non profit organizations in Greater Victoria, start some early shopping in the “Harvest Market,” or have some fun in the “Too Cute To Spook Wicked Kid Zone,” I promise you will have a wonderful time seeing all your favorite characters, costumes and ghosts!

  • When: Boo Boulevard(Government Street)
  • Where: Sunday October 28th from 12 noon to 5pm

Haunted Zipline!

  • What: Haunted Night Zipline Tours are full of terror and fun! There are strange creatures running amok and spooky tales to be told. Ghosts, monsters and tall tales are all a part of this very interactive experience, available only around Halloween.
  • Where: Adrenaline Zipline Adventures, 5128C Sooke Road.
  • When: October 26 – 28th.

Ghost Bus Tours

  • What:  Now in their 25th year, Ghost Bus Tours take you past some of Victoria’s most haunted places in the comfort of a charter coach. Tours last 2 hours and make 2 stops for onsite ghost hunting and stories, including the Victoria Golf Course for the story of the famous “golf course ghost.” A secret starting location in Oak Bay is revealed when the transaction is complete. Ghost Bust Tours are conducted by John Adams as a fundraiser for the Old Cemeteries Society.
  • Where: Oak Bay Marina, 1327 Beach Drive
  • When: October 20, 27, 28. Reservations required! Tickets here.

Quivering Village Carnival & Crazy-Maze

Haunted house (2 floors of fun!), crazy-maze, carnival games, photo booth, and costume show! There will also be a food cart, fortune teller and a witches liar. The event is By Donation.

  • Where: Quadra Village Community Centre  (901 Kings Rd)
  • When: October 26th, 6pm – 8pm.

Halloween Club Crawl 2018

Starting at V Lounge and taking you through the city to Distrikt, Upstairs, and more! The 2018 Halloween Club Crawl Pass Includes: 4 Halloween Nightclubs and Parties, party bus transportation between clubs, no cover charges and no waiting-in-line, costume contests & prizes.

  • Where: Starts at V Lounge, 3366 Douglas St.
  • When: October 26 and 27th. Doors 6:30pm – buses depart at 7:15pm.

16th Underwater Pumpkin Carving

  • What: Bring your dive gear, wear a costume or a decorated hood, carving tools and pumpkin to compete in this annual tradition!
  • Where: Esquimalt Lagoon Beach
  • When: October 28th, 11 am – 1 pm

Pumpkin Pursuit

Pick up your map at any participating business & go find your favourite pumpkin. Once discovered, cast your vote for which is the best, and you could win an awesome Downtown Victoria prize pack! The map is here, and contest information is here.

  • Where: All over downtown!
  • When: October 29-31. And remember to bring the little ones down for Trick or Treating on October 30 & 31 from 3:30-6 pm

Heritage Haunted House

 Not for the faint of heart. Do you dare?? Admission is a suggested cash donation to the Help Fill a Dream Foundation aiding children with life threatening illnesses

  • Where: Heritage Haunted House, 2808 Heritage Lane
  • When: October 31st, 5:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Sidney Treat Street 2018

Downtown Sidney will be closed to traffic and invites little ghosts, goblins and princesses to enjoy a family trick or treat event! Visit various Treat Stations around Sidney as well as at some of the local merchants. Free fun for the whole family!

  • Where: Downtown Sidney (Beacon Avenue)
  • When: October 31st, 4:30 pm – 6 p.m.

Fernwood Halloween Bonfire

  • What: Fernwood’s family friendly bonfire will light up your Hallows Eve this year! Come on down in your creative Halloween attire for the Halloween Bonfire. The Community Centre gym will be open housing every child’s favourite ­activity: ­a Bouncy Castle! Take a minute to drop in and relax while your child bounces out all their candy-fuelled energy.
  • Where: Stevenson Park, 1240 Gladstone Ave
  • When: October 31st, sunset to 10 p.m.

 

Know of a Halloween event we should add? Email us with all the details.

 

 

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Victoria Buzz Staffhttps://www.victoriabuzz.com
Your inside source for Greater Victoria happenings. Established in 2012.

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