Here is a look at the Dayton Daily News guides to events happening this month:
🎃Need a pumpkin for the front porch? Here’s where to grab one
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, more than 1 billion pounds of pumpkin was harvested in 2022. While states like California, Indiana and Virginia produce more pumpkins than Ohio, that doesn’t mean the state is lacking in the fruit. Across the Dayton area alone, there are several patches producing thousands of pumpkins for families to bring home. Here is a guide.
👻 Guide: Family friendly Halloween activities in the Dayton area
Halloween is celebrated by adults and children alike. There are many events geared specifically for adults, being too intense for children. Here is our list of places to check out with the little ones.
🌽Corn mazes in Dayton: Where to get lost this fall
Exporting $771 million of corn in 2022, Ohio is the eighth largest state for the crop, according to the U.S. government. In fact, corn is only behind soybeans as Ohio’s largest agricultural export. So when fall arrives, local farmers find new revenue in their fields by adding twists and turns via corn mazes and invite people to come get lost in them, and make their ways out. Southwest Ohio is home to many corn mazes; here is a guide to some of those.
💀Guide: Haunted houses and attractions in the region
From Springfield to Middletown, the region boasts nine haunted attractions ready to give you bone-chilling scares. Here’s what to expect.
🍁What to know about leaf peeping this season
Rich reds, vibrant yellows and dull browns — fall colors might look a bit different this year. Fall color is typically at its peak around the third week of October, but statewide drought conditions have caused the trees significant stress. While color will likely be earlier and more sporadic, than most years, there are still ways to get your fall fix. In this article, writer Debbie Juniewicz explains how to do that.
🍎List: Local places to visit for cider, pumpkins, shopping and activities
We have a larger comprehensive guide to the orechards, the farms and other places welcoming guests for fall-related fun. Check it out here.
🍂Where to go on a hayride
A popular agritourism attraction in the fall are hayrides, where guests jump into the back of a tractor-drawn wagon filled with hay for seating. These can be family friendly or frightening. Here is our list of hayrides in this region.
🔗Check out the Secret Chamber House of Oddities and Artwork
We’re fortunate to have this peculiar gem in the region: The Secret Chamber House of Oddities and Artwork in Fairborn is a shop dedicated to the horror genre. Whether it’s ghosts, aliens or true crime, the store has it all. Opening in 2017, the shop has a sizeable following. It has more than 10,000 followers for its Facebook page. Lifestyles Reporter Alex Cutler recently made his way to downtown Fairborn to check it out, and this is what he saw.
🦇One of the region’s biggest events: Halloween Haunt at Kings Island
WHen we ask our reporters who wants to spend a day at Kings Island checking out the annual Halloween Haunt, they all raise their hands. This year, Lifestyles Reporter Alex Cutler took one for the team and enjoyed his time in Mason. He wrote an article highlighting what he experienced and what visitors may expect.
🍭Kings Island also offers family friendly activities
Kings Island has often had events for the younger amusement park patrons during its Halloween Haunt season. This year, the park has Tricks-and-Treats, a new family friendly Halloween celebration. This event runs 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Nov. 3.
🍎Where to go apple picking in the Dayton region
Gala, Cortland, McIntosh, Honeycrisp, Golden and Red Delicious, just to name a few — many local orchards offer more than 20 varieties of apples over the course of the picking season. So, whether you are looking for sweet or tart, baking apples or a healthy snack, tasty options are plentiful. Here is our guide on where to go.
🕺🏽Be part of a giant ‘Thriller’ dance
Thrill The World 2024 is a simultaneous global dance that is coming to Hamilton one day in October, and community members are invited to participate. At 6 p.m. sharp on Oct. 26 at Hanover Winery in Hamilton, the Amvets Post 1983 Auxiliary “Zombie Crüe” will participate in the 18th annual worldwide simultaneous dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller.” There is no cost to participate. Read more on how to get involved.
🚂 Jack-O-Lantern Junction is open one final time
Family friendly ghosts and goblins will gather for a final time during one of the region’s popular Halloween celebrations — Jack-O-Lantern Junction at EnterTRAINment Junction in West Chester Twp. The attraction is open through Oct. 31. The Halloween fun at Jack-O-Lantern Junction features an indoor, no-scare walk-through maze featuring kid-friendly ghosts, skeletons, cobwebs and multiple treat stations offering children free trick-or-treat candy. This will be the final kids’ Halloween event at EnterTRAINment Junction as the popular family attraction is closing its doors in January 2025.
🦈Sea creatures made of glowing pumpkins showing now at Newport Aquarium
The Newport Aquarium is celebrating the fall season with Pumpkin GLOW, an underwater, glowing exhibition, featuring larger-than-life pumpkin sculptures of some of the aquarium’s favorite animals. It is open now through Nov. 3. Here’s how to see it.
🚶🏽♀️➡️Join the Dayton Hikers on some scenic treks
Scenic wooded trails and historical urban sites, brisk heart-pumping hikes and slow-paced beginner-friendly adventures — the Dayton Hikers group has been a mainstay for outdoor enthusiasts of all ages and ability levels for 15 years. Read more on how to join here.
Other Halloween content from the Dayton Daily News
WATCH: Our reporter scared guests at the Riverside Jaycees Haunted Castle of Carnage & Trail
Musical murder mystery event themed for ‘Hocus Pocus’ movie, includes trivia
WATCH: Reporter goes to scariest haunted house in the region
How to go to the Apple Butter Festival near Miami University in Oxford
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