Wondering how to celebrate Halloween in Ottawa or within a few hours’ drive of Canada’s capital? Look no further! This post has links to every haunted house, ghost walk, paranormal investigation and trick-or-treat party I could find. Whether you’re seeking cute events for toddlers or terrifying destinations for teens (or yourself), there’s a ghostly event here for just about everyone. You can even join a Victorian-style seance or carve a pumpkin underwater.
NOTE: Many of these attractions require advance ticket purchase, and dates and times vary greatly. Also, some attractions have separate scary and non-scary versions. So be sure to read the linked websites carefully before hopping in the car. Happy haunting!
The Haunted Walk of Ottawa offers all sorts of ghostly tales in October (and the rest of the year). In Ottawa, you can take the original tour or specialized walks at the Chateau Laurier, Billings Estate National Historic Site, the Cumberland Heritage Village Museum, Beechwood Cemetery or the Bytown Museum.
The Glebe Halloween Village (Saturday, October 18) is a safe, accessible trick-or-treating event for children (and adults) with mobility, sensory or intellectual disabilities. It’s taking place on Glebe Avenue between Lyon and Bank streets from 11am to 2pm. Rain date is Sunday, October 19.
On Saturday, October 25, kids can trick-or-treat with the mayorat Ottawa City Hall (5pm to 8pm). Attractions include treats and roaming costumed entertainers. The City encourages non-perishable donations (such as cash, diapers, formula or baby food) to the Ottawa Food Bank’s Baby Basics Program. Note that you’ll need to go through asecurity screening and that the lineup will be outdoors (so dress accordingly). Also, bring your own treat bag.
A spooky barn, storytime, pumpkins, crafts, family movies and more are in store for families during Amazing Autumn Weekends at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum (weekends, October 11 to October 26).
Photo of kids enjoying a past Halloween event courtesy of the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum.
The Billings Estate National Historic Site is hosting an event called Halloween Heist aimed at children 10 and younger (October 25 and 26). Kids explore clues throughout the museum, and costumes are encouraged. Advance registration required.
On October 25 and 26 (11am to 5pm), you can check out the Ottawa Mystic Market at the Next Door Market and Event Space (955a Gladstone Avenue). Browse for crystals, tarot cards and other mystical items, or consult a psychic.
The Cumberland Heritage Village Museum is hosting a Halloween Hijinks day for families on October 25 and 26. Costumes are encouraged, treats will be available, and entertainers such as a stilt walker and a magician will keep things fun. Advance reservations required.
Pumpkin Fest is a huge Halloween playground at Proulx Farm in Cumberland, open weekends (and weekdays with advance reservation) from September 27 to October 31. Also open Thanksgiving Monday (October 13).
Proulx Farm is also home to sKreamers, a terrifying-looking haunted house experience organized by the Kiwanis Club of Orleans. It runs on Friday and Saturday nights (and Thursday, October 30) from September 27 until October 31. Buy tickets online or onsite.
Photo courtesy of the Log Farm.
The Log Farm on Cedarview Road in Nepean is offering wagon rides, a corn maze, loot bags, a hay mountain, a pumpkin patch and lots of animals to pet during the Halloween Barnyard Bash from October 23 to 26 and October 30 and 31. Advance ticket purchase required; no tickets will be sold at the door.
Stittsville Haunted Heritage Tours are offered on Friday and Saturday nights from September 26 to November 8. The 90-minute walk along Stittsville Main Street features six ghost stories and is suitable for most children over the age of 7. You can also purchase the tour’s book of ghost stories.
Saunders Farm in Munster is once again staging FrightFest (various days, September 20 to November 1, 6pm to 10pm or 11pm). This super-popular Halloween attraction features seven haunted attractions designed to scare teens and adults silly, along with a zipline, food booths, street theatre and more. FrightFest is too intense for kids under 12, but Saunders also offers a tamer daytime event called PumpkinFest (Saturdays and Sundays, September 20 to November 1, 10am to 5pm). Families can explore hedge mazes, take a gently scary haunted wagon ride, see a puppet show and more.
At the Diefenbunker, the Toddlers’ Halloween Hunt is back! From 9am to 12:30pm on October 30 and 31, little ones can hunt for treats, make crafts and enjoy special activities in the decommissioned Cold War bunker. Admission is by timed ticket, and advance ticket purchase is strongly recommended.
Day of the Dead celebrations will be happening throughout the weekend (October 31 to November 1) of Halloween in Ottawa’s ByWard Market. The packed schedule will include a Day of the Dead procession, live music, salsa-dancing classes, Mexican cultural shows and presentations, a kids’ zone, and an artisans’ market.
The Horticulture Building at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa will also host a Day of the Dead event on Saturday, November 1, from 3pm to 9pm. Highlights include face painting, live performances and an exhibition of altars. You can nosh on tacos, tamales and churros, too.
Halloween in the Outaouais and Tremblant
The Ottawa Haunted Walk offers eerie tours of the Mackenzie King Estate in Gatineau Park.
Mont Tremblant is offering free Halloween fun for families, including music and treats, on Sunday, October 26.
Halloween in Leeds-Grenville
Little ones can trick-or-treat their way around downtown Kemptville businesses during Kreepy Kemptville on Saturday, October 25, from 10am to 12pm. The scary fun includes games, treats and a dance party.
Happy Little Farmstead in Spencerville is hosting Fright Nights on October 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26 and 30. You’ll take a wagon ride through a scary adventure—suitable for small children from 6pm to 7:30pm and much scarier for older visitors from 7:30pm to 9pm. You can also visit a Boo Barn.
Spencerville is also home to the impossible-to-classify Diablo Manor, where guests can enjoy an “evening of Victorian hedonism and Bizarre performances steeped in the realm of the Supernatural” on select nights from October 10 to November 30. The evening starts with a manor tour and a meal, and ends with a seance.
In Brockville, you can check out the House of Horrors at 26 King Street East on select nights in October. Note that this replaces the Tunnel of Terror attraction that used to run in the Brockville Railway Tunnel each fall.
Fulford Place, a historic mansion in Brockville, is running ghost tours on select evenings throughout October.
Also in Brockville is Spook the Street (Saturday, October 25), a downtown trick-or-treating event and costume contest that runs from 10am to 1pm.
You can channel your inner ghostbuster during a paranormal investigation at the Mill of Kintail in Almonte on October 17 and 18.
There’s lots going on in Perth for Halloween, including a Perth Ghost Walk led by historian Susan Code McDougall (nightly, October 24, 25, 29 and 30); a Victorian mourning experience at the Perth Museum (October 4, October 18 and November 1); trick-or-treating in downtown Perth (Saturday, October 25); and a haunted house at Blueberry Creek Forest and Nature Centre (October 18).
Maple Key Day Camp in Perth plans to scare visitors with a Haunted Woods on October 24 and 25, animated by live actors. There will be a spooky woods, too. Advance online registration is encouraged, but you can also buy tickets (with cash) at the door.
At your convenience, you can take a self-guided tour of haunted spots in Carleton Place.
The Smiths Falls Heritage House Museum is transforming itself into a haunted house on October 10, 17, 18, 24 and 25, from 7pm to 9pm. You can pre-book tickets online (online sales close 1 hour before each event) or take your chances and get tickets at the door. The museum is also hosting ghost walks in early October.
Also in Smiths Falls, you can check out Hawley’s Haunted Farm on October 18, 25 and 26. Live actors will provide lots of scary fun. Admission is $15 (cash only) and the farm is also collecting donations for the local food bank.
And there’s a Mystic Market in Smiths Falls on Saturday, October 18. From 5pm to 9pm on Russell Street East in downtown Smiths Falls, you can shop for crystals, handmade items, tarot cards, vintage finds and more.
Halloween in Cornwall and Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry
Pumpkinferno at Upper Canada Village. Photo by Laura Paquet, Ottawa Road Trips.
Near Crysler, the frightening fun at Acres of Terror at Cannamore Orchard includes a spooky wagon ride, a fog maze, a House of Terror and a spooky village. It’s open various days and evenings from September 26 through October 31; check the website for details. Advance ticket purchase required.
The always-spectacular Pumpkinferno is back at Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg on select nights between October 3 and November 1. Stroll around the outdoor living history museum to see thousands of carved artificial pumpkins combined into fantastical shapes with an eerie musical backdrop. Here’s my take on what it’s like. Advance tickets required.
In Chesterville, you can get a good scare at Extreme Fear Hauntings (Fridays and Saturdays, and select other days, from September 19 to November 1). This haunted attraction includes cemetery, hospital, morgue and other scenarios, enlivened (is that the right word?) by costumed actors. Not advised for children 12 and under; they can still come, but they must be accompanied by an adult. (There’s also a “lights on/no jump scares” matinee on Sunday, October 19.) The attraction is wheelchair accessible, and advance booking is recommended. A portion of the proceeds will support Camp Quality, a camp for children with cancer and blood disorders.
A 3.5-hour paranormal investigation is taking place at the Historic SDG Jail in Cornwall on October 24, 25 and 30, and November 1.
On select dates from October 9 to 30, you can join the Ghost Walk for Charity in Cornwall. Afternoons are reserved for little ones (and their parents), while evening ghost walks amp up the fear factor.
Pumpkinferno photo courtesy of the St. Lawrence Parks Commission.
For those who like their Halloween celebrations on the mystical side, there’s a Halloween Bazaar at Cornerstone Organics in Long Sault on Saturday, October 25, starting at 2pm, where you can meet fortune tellers, mediums and healers, shop for candles and crystals, enjoy live music and food truck goodies, and more.
The Optimist Club of Lancaster and the Raisin River Conservation Authority are hosting a Haunted Drive-Thru at Charlottenburgh Park in Lancaster on Saturday, October 25. The first hour (5pm to 6pm) is for young children; the experience is scarier from 6:30pm to 10pm. Tickets are $20 per vehicle, payable at the gate. Cash only.
And for something completely different, a company called SCUBA Finatics has organized an underwater pumpkin-carving event on Saturday, October 25, in the St. Lawrence River offshore from Ingleside.
Halloween in Prescott-Russell
In Hammond, the Hammond Hill Haunted Forest (October 23 to 26) is a creepy 25-minute walk through a frightening woods. The admission fee covers a group of up to five thrill seekers. Children under 13 are not allowed.
At the L’Orignal Jail, the Haunted Walk of Ottawa is offering a three-hour paranormal investigation on November 7 and 8.
Halloween in Renfrew County
The Arnprior Witch Walk is a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt on Saturday, October 25. For a donation of money or non-perishable food for local food banks, you’ll receive a passport that you can get stamped at various downtown businesses to be eligible for prizes. The event runs from 1pm to 4pm.
Also on Saturday, October 25, Pumpkin Treats Downtown Pembroke will feature trick-or-treating at downtown businesses, a trunk-or-treat event, a haunted library and more.
In Petawawa, Haunting on Selkirk runs from October 17 to 31, with gentle scares on select afternoons and more frightening fun (with animatronics and live actors) in the evenings. Bring a donation for the Petawawa Food Pantry.
In Kingston, you can take an evening Ghost and Mystery Trolley Tour daily until November 2. It’s recommended for guests aged 13 and up, due to the sensitive/scary nature of the stories told on board.
Also in K’town, the Haunted Walk of Kingston offers a wide range of ghostly tours, including its original tour, a spooky tour of the SS Keewatin and a ghost walk at Queen’s University, on dates throughout October and November.
Fort Fright (October 3 until November 1) is one of Kingston’s best-known Halloween attractions. The scary installation sees Fort Henry transformed into a giant haunted house, complete with animatronics, professional actors and ghoulish special effects. On select Thursday night, you can explore it by flashlight for added chills. The fort is also screening horror movies on Wednesday evenings.
At Wynn Farms in Bath, the fall fun includes a Pumpkin Festival (October 18 and 19), a moonlight corn maze (select evenings until November 8), a Haunted HalloWYNN event (October 24 and 25), and a kids’ Halloween party on Sunday, October 26.
A Trunk-or-Treats event at the Odessa Fairgrounds on Sunday, October 26, will see costumed kids trick-or-treating from parked car to parked car.
The small community of Enterprise is hosting a Zombie Walk on Saturday, October 18. The following Saturday (October 25), there are separate Halloween parties for kids and adults.
Prince Edward County is holding its Pumpkinfest on Saturday, October 18, in Wellington. One of the highlights is a giant pumpkin weigh-off.
On Friday, October 31, Waring House restaurant in Picton is hosting a Halloween Haunt party, with a costume contest, a haunted house, Halloween-themed food and drink, and live music.
Terror at Macaulay is an immersive Halloween adventure at Macaulay Heritage Park in Picton. This year, the theme is Echoes of the Sisters, conjuring up the stories of Kate, Maggie and Leah Fox. The three Victorian sisters, born in Prince Edward County, were accused of witchcraft in the 1840s. You can choose from family-friendly or super-scary areas of the museum. The attraction is open on October 24, 25 and 31.
Halloween in Montreal
Photo by Susan Moss courtesy of Tourism Montreal.
Throughout October, the Montreal Botanical Garden is hosting Halloween Shivers, a multi-faceted event that includes all sorts of spooky fun. Learn about scary plants, visit a Sorcerer’s Haven and more.
Here’s one for readers who were teenagers in the 1980s: Do you miss the days when you could really let your hair down in a theatre while watching The Rocky Horror Picture Show? Well, you’re in luck. Two cinemas in Montreal are holding very interactive screenings of the 1975 cult classic. It will be at the Rialto Theatre on October 29 and 30, and at the Decarie Theatre on October 31 and November 1. Costumes, squirt guns, light sticks and spontaneous amateur performances of the Time Warp are all encouraged (but leave the rice at home—it’s banned because it’s a pain in the neck to clean up).
As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.
