Ten Things to do in Saint Louis For Halloween
In 2019, hot on the cusp of our hometown hockey team the Saint Louis Blues’ path to the Stanley Cup, horror mogul Jason Blum was in attendance at a game in our city cheering on the Boston Bruins. Apparently unfamiliar with St. Louis, he took to Twitter and asked:
Most of the replies were pretty jokey, tongue-in-cheek responses akin to “a dark alleyway in St. Louis – now that’s SCARY”.
Some of us gave some good suggestions, seemingly unseen – or ignored – by Blum, as he followed up with:
Oh, Jason. Saint Louis is a great horror town. We’re ripe with horror history, whether it be the site of the case that inspired William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, or the birthplace of Linda Blair, and Vincent Price. But I want to make the case for why Saint Louis is not only a great horror town – it’s a great Halloween town.
Of course, COVID kind of changes things this year, but this was written with that in mind. Halloween ain’t canceled, and on this list, there are plenty of outdoor events where social distancing is very doable.
But safety begins with you. Whatever you do, please wear a mask. It isn’t hard, especially considering it’s the Halloween season.
HERE ARE TEN THINGS TO DO THIS OCTOBER IN GREATER SAINT LOUIS:
10
ECKERT’S – MILLSTADT FAMILY FUN FARM
2719 ECKERT ORCHARD LN, MILLSTADT, IL 62260
THURSDAYS AND FRIDAYS SEPTEMBER 11TH-OCTOBER 30TH 7-10 PM
One of the greatest pumpkin patches around, Eckert’s feels a lot like the type of Fall Fest you’d see in a classic movie. You can rent bonfires and sit on bales of hay to have a few beers and hang out with friends, they have classic carnival rides, a *very* cheesy “haunted” house, as well as a haunted hayride that is actually…pretty good! They also have a beer garden where you can grab yourself a pumpkin ale on tap and soak in the fall nights.
9 GRANT’S FARM HALLOWEEN NIGHTS
10501 GRAVOIS RD, ST. LOUIS, MO
FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS OCTOBER 2ND-OCTOBER 31ST, 6-10
Grant’s Farm’s events are a little more family-friendly but effective enough to get you in the Halloween spirit. In ghoulish fashion, you begin your journey on a tram that takes you through the farm. The ride is set to atmospheric Halloween music as you take in the decorations and extravagant Halloween lights. Once they drop you off near the beer garden and Clydesdale stables, you have the opportunity to walk around the farm and look at the decorations, and there are a lot of them! With it being more family-friendly, there aren’t really any actors that pop out at you or anything like that, but it is fun and sets the mood. Don’t forget to grab your two free beers from the courtyard – The Bauernhof.
8 “THE EXORCIST HOUSE” AND REAL-LIFE LOCATIONS
8435 ROANOKE DR, ST. LOUIS, MO
Saint Louis is also the site of the historic demonic possession case that inspired William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist and the 1973 film that followed. You can drive past the home in the neighborhood of Bel-Nor where the exorcism took place, and see the hospital in south city where the possessed child was held for a time.
7 Calvary Cemetery
5239 W Florissant Ave, Saint Louis MO
To piggyback off of our top 8 pick, you can also visit Calvary Cemetery to visit the grave site of Father William Bowdern, the priest who participated in the exorcism, who inspired the Father Merrin character played by Max Von Sydow.
6 Laclede’s Landing Wax Museum
720 N 2nd St, St. Louis, MO 63102
Thursdays through Sundays 11-6
Located on St. Louis’ historic Laclede’s Landing, the wax museum features 250 + wax replicas, and has got to be the weirdest wax museum I’ve ever been in. But the real kicker is the horror room, the Chamber of Horror.
“This should be called a ‘Wax Creepy Show’, not a Wax Museum”- Trip Advisor Reviewer
I recently went here for the first time, and I have to say, I was creeped out going in alone. Flashing lights and creepy sounds and a figure at every corner (sometimes catching you off guard IN THE HALLWAY), the wax museum feels like a haunted house. When I went it was very dead and I was the only one there. Since it’s never busy, the wax museum might be a great and safe place to check out to get your haunted house fix, given the limited options this year.
5 The Lemp Mansion and Lemp Mansion Halloween Bash
3322 Demenil Pl, St. Louis, MO
Said to be one of the most haunted places in America and probably the most haunted building in St. Louis, The Lemp Mansion is the historical site of the Lemp family (of Lemp Beer), offering ghost tours, great dinner and lunches, and the opportunity to stay the night, if you dare. It’s a great place to grab a bite to eat, and if you dine in, the vibe is just so spooky and quiet save for the old timey music they place which adds to the creepy atmosphere. And the food is pretty good (they have a unique take on toasted ravioli which I recommend). So dine among the creepy atmosphere and maybe occasionally you’ll hear an odd sound that will make you say “was that a g-g-g-g-g-ghost?!”
If you want to play it safe (as you should) they also offer an outdoor patio for dining outside. Great for that spooky lunch or dinner before you begin your Halloween festivities.
Lemp Mansion Halloween Bash
There’s nothing like going to a Halloween party in an actual haunted house. Though we don’t recommend going this year, The Lemp Mansion Halloween Bash is a thing to be seen to be believed. “One of the best Halloween Parties in the country” feels like the closest thing you can get to a Halloween party you’d see in a horror film. Partygoers show up in some of the cleverest costumes you’ll ever see, a band on every level of the mansion (if you’re lucky you might be witness to a band of Elvis impersonators playing Journey covers), and an outdoor dance floor. For $75 you get access to all you can eat snacks and a four hour open bar. It can be a little overwhelming for some (it is a lot of people in one building) but it is something you have to do at least once. You will not forget it.
(Editor’s Note: While this seems to be happening this year according to the link we have, we would recommend avoiding this if a statement is not made regarding social distancing.)
4 The Haunt
5000 Alaska Avenue, Saint Louis MO
St. Louis’ premiere Halloween bar is a dive but what a fun dive it is, and a horror lover’s dream. Prior to COVID-19, you could find some DTB staff hanging out during the Karaoke nights as well.
Whether you want to sit at a table with a Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Phantasm 2 poster hanging above it (our typical spot), it’s decorated wall-to-wall with horror movie posters, Halloween decorations year round, various horror memorabilia (above the bar you might catch glimpse of a Child’s Play 3 promo plush Chucky doll) and if you’re there on a Thursday you can participate in their weekly karaoke. They also have an outdoor patio if you don’t want to risk going indoors.
3 The Darkness Haunted House
1525 S 8th St, St. Louis, MO
Fridays-Sundays, October 2nd-31st
Heralded as one of the greatest haunted houses in the country, The Darkness has hundreds of insane animatronics set in their attractions. Hey, it scared me!
Located at the exit of the main attraction is the pinball room and horror museum, featuring dozens of classic and rare horror pinball machines, from The Munsters, Monsters of Rock, Elvira, The Creature From The Black Lagoon, A Nightmare on Elm Street. You can kill some time looking at their gift shop and décor surrounding the entire room, featuring great replicas and hundreds of autographs from classic horror stars.
Better yet, you can access it without paying admission to the attraction (the games do cost money) by entering on the side of the building that serves as the exit. You can also support the business by purchasing some merch in their store.
2 Slashfest at Skyview Drive-in
5700 N Belt W, Belleville, IL
October 2nd, 3rd, and 4th
Every first weekend of October, Skyview offers seven spooky films – three on the family screen, three on the adult screen, and a midnight showing of Rocky Horror Picture Show. There’s nothing better than getting your horror-loving pals together and bringing a cooler of beer and Halloween candy, watching such classics as they’ve shown in recent years: Halloween, The Thing, Creepshow, The Evil Dead, Night of the Demons, The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and A Nightmare on Elm Street. Hopefully they have some good picks this year but no matter what, you can find me there that first weekend.
Before we get to our top pick, here are some honorable mentions…
October Horror movies at Warrenton Cinema
265 W Veterans Memorial Pkwy, Warrenton, MO
If you’re up for the drive, about 60 miles west of St. Louis, Warrenton Cinema has confirmed they are going to be having a horror fest in October, promising to screen many classic spooky flicks. Normally we wouldn’t recommend going to a movie theater during this time, but this theater has always been very dead the few times I’ve gone in the past couple months, and they are a small independent chain that has been taking the pandemic very seriously.
Kubrick's
218 N Main St, St. Charles, MO
Kubrick’s, a Stanley Kubrick-themed bar, is a hidden gem located on historic Main Street in St. Charles. The walls are decorated with murals dedicated to Kubrick’s films, a The Shining poster, the iconic Overlook Hotel rug designed on wallpaper adorned behind the bar, a Korova Milk Bar (from A Clockwork Orange), and even a door leading to Room 237 (don’t go in!). If only they had a bartender named Lloyd, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
Bellefontaine Cemetery
4947 W Florissant Ave, St. Louis MO
Bellefontaine is a huge cemetery with some genuinely creepy statues, and you can see the graves of St. Louis’ own Busch family (of Anheuser-Busch), as well as a bit of a horror connection with the grave of WIlliam S. Burroughs, who wrote Naked Lunch, later adapted by the great David Cronenberg. It’s a great place to take a walk on a fall day while listening to John Carpenter themes on your headphones.
And our top pick…
1 Six Flags Hallowfest
4900 Six Flags Rd, Eureka, MO
Weekends, Oct 3 – Nov 1, 2:00-10:00 PM
Sure, Hallowfest isn’t exclusive to Saint Louis, but any town that offers this as an option deserves to be highlighted. “Hallowfest”, which until this recently was known as “Fright Fest” (a perfectly fine name that they changed for who knows why), absolutely delivers every year. With haunted houses, actors roaming the park, an excellent Halloween playlist rocking the park, and 2018’s perfect addition of the Blood Bank Vampire Bar, where you can order cocktails in novelty blood bags and get local seasonal favorites such as Schlafly Pumpkin Ale and Oktoberfest on draft in light-up skull mugs. Hallowfest is all outdoors this year and fairly spread out as well, making it one of the safer activities to do this year.
There’s just something about roaming the park with my light-up skull mug filled with a pumpkin beer, walking in the spooky mist and basking in the green and purple lights, and the comforting sound of screams and roller coasters in the distance and occasionally hearing “Cry Little Sister” on the park speakers that gives me the warm and fuzzies. It is the place to be every October.
If you want to attend this year, you will have to make a reservation in addition to buying a ticket or using your Season Pass as they are monitoring attendance numbers to properly allocate social distancing.
Then of course there are our own Destroy The Brain events every October. There is a possibility of the return of Late Nite Grindhouse at Marcus Des Peres where you can check out a classic horror film or two on the big screen, and Horror Trivia at The Heavy Anchor.
Given the state of things right now, neither of those events are guaranteed, but keep your eye here on the site or on our Facebook page for further confirmation.
Happy Halloween!
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Comments
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Patrick
I didn't get to make it to that last year but some day I would love to!
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AlanMorlock
Not clear of any of it is going to happen this year, but in non. Plague years, Urban chestnut launches it's seasonal Count Orlocl best with a screening of Nosferatu with live score accompaniment from Rats and People Motion picture Orchestra. The Chase theater has had live scorings of Phantom of the Opera and last year the Incredible Czars came through town and scored the Cabinet of Dr Caligati out at the Webster U theater. Hopefully next year, St Louis can resume it's habit of oddly frequent silent film events.