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5 Places to Get Totally Creeped Out for Halloween

By Serena Solomon | October 17, 2014 7:37am
 Here are some beautiful, reflective, historical or just plain creepy places to visit this Halloween.
Spooky Places to Give You the Chills
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NEW YORK CITY — There are many creepy places in New York City — not just dark alleys and sketchy bars.

Instead of getting lost in the crowds of Greenwich Village's Halloween parade, there are plenty of historic yet freaky sites to check out this Halloween.

Here are a few:

Morris-Jumel Mansion in Washington Heights

In Washington Heights sits the eerie Morris-Jumel Mansion, the oldest house in Manhattan that counts George Washington as a former resident. Eliza Jumel, the 19th century owner of the home, also lived there and still may according to a group of school children who claimed they were shushed for being rowdy by her ghost in the 1960s. There are also rumors of a clock with sex appeal that lures men, paintings that come to life and the tale of a heartbroken maid who committed suicide by flinging herself from the second-story balcony.

Morris-Jumel Mansion is open Tuesday to Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and guided tours take place on Saturday and Sunday. Admission is $5 for adults.

Green-Wood Cemetery in South Park Slope

At Green-Wood Cemetery you can take a leisurely stroll through 478 acres of graves, tombs and statues that date back to 1838. All this is dissected by winding paths, manicured lawns and ponds that attract plenty of birds. Within the grounds of Green-Wood lay some famous residents including Tammany Hall's William Magear “Boss” Tweed and artist Jean-Michel Basquiat.

During October, Green-Wood is open from 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. and there is no admittance charge. Free maps are available to visitors.

Fort Totten Water Battery in Bayside

It's hard to imagine this long-ago decommissioned Civil War fort in Queens as a hive of activity when it was one of New York City's first lines of defense against a Confederate Army that never came. While the structure is in good condition, nature is reclaiming lost territory with overgrown vegetation framing parts of the fort's ghostly white walls.

Those creepy and lonely sensations daytime visitors may feel can only be amplified at night during a "Haunted Lantern Tour." The tours, run by the Urban Park Rangers, are scheduled for Oct. 24 and 25 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

The Morbid Anatomy Museum in Gowanus

A celebration of death and beauty, the Morbid Anatomy Museum is one of the city’s newest museums — it opened in June. Browse its collection of medical moulages, taxidermy specimens and embryo models made from wax as well as quirky artwork on the subject of death. The museum also hosts a lecture series with guest academics, artists and morticians. Workshops hosted by Morbid Anatomy teach on topics such as how to make insect shadowboxes and Victorian mourning jewelry.

Neighborhood Cemeteries in Greenwich Village, the East Village and Chelsea

Taking your own walking tour is the way to become acquainted with these historic and somewhat-hidden cemeteries in downtown Manhattan. Start in Chelsea on West 21st Street and Sixth Avenue with the cemetery of the Spanish and Jewish synagogue of Congregation Shearith Israel, the final resting place for some of the city's earliest Jewish immigrants. Further down Sixth Avenue at 76 W. 11th St. is the synagogue's other cemetery, a tiny triangle nestled amongst multi-million dollar townhouses. In the East Village, the New York City Marble Cemetery stretches along a good portion of East 2nd Street between First and Second avenues.

Congregation Shearith Israel's cemeteries are not open to the public and the New York City Marble Cemetery holds open days occasionally.