When it comes to haunted Halloween destinations, the Nation’s oldest city, St. Augustine, Florida, is tough to beat. With centuries of history, narrow bricked streets, ancient cemeteries with graves dating back hundreds of years, a brooding Spanish fortress, and endless stories of roaming spirits, it’s the place to be for all things other-worldly.
Haunted Tours
For spooky fun throughout October, nightly tours delve into the spookier side of history, telling the stories of the past.
- Night Watchman Ghost Tours tells the stories of the past from the perspective of the Night Watchmen, who patrolled the darkened streets of St. Augustine.
- The Ghosts & Gravestones tour, on the other hand, welcomes visitors of all ages on board the Trolley of Doom to visit spooky sites throughout Historic Downtown.
- Other nightly tours include St. Augustine Dark History Tour, Ghost Tours of St. Augustine, Old Jail After Dark, Nightly Spirits Ghost Tours, A Ghostly Encounter, GhoSt Augustine, and After Dark Investigations.
Weekends are for the ghouls and ghosts!
- Haunted history comes to life on the water with Florida Water Tours’ Moonlit Mysteries: Haunted History Boat Tour, offered Thursdays through Saturdays.
- The Beetlejuice Pub Crawl with Tasting Tours on Fridays and Saturdays is a spine-chilling adventure led by The Tasting Tours’ resident ‘dead guy,’ who ferries visitors in electric vehicles to haunted venues where eerily delicious cocktails await.
- St. Augustine Haunted in Pink takes off October 30-November 2, ushering guests in glamorous pink carts while they hear chilling ghost stories.
- Every Friday and Saturday in October, the Ximenez-Fatio House Museum brings history to life with “Mortality & Mourning: Women in Black,” offering a powerful yet family-friendly look at how women coped with loss in 19th-century St. Augustine.
- The St. Augustine Lighthouse & Maritime Museum opens its haunted grounds after dark every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in October for the Dark of the Moon Ghost Experience. Beginning with spooky stories, guests can climb up the 219 steps to the top of the Lighthouse and explore the grounds.
- On October 18, Old St. Johns County Jail: A Haunting Experience throws open the doors of the historic prison, once home to Florida’s most dangerous criminals.
- The EstuSCARY Haunted Trail at GTM Research Reserve, on October 24-26, invites those who dare to explore the eerie South Beach Hammock Trail, filled with scares, surprises, and spooky fun.
- On October 25, meet ghosts from the past and discover the real history behind the tales of sharks in the moat at Castillo by Candlelight: Sharks in the Moat.
Frightening Festivities
- Packed with family-friendly fall fun, Sykes Family Farms Crop Maze is open every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, October 4-November 2. It features a massive corn maze, a you-pick sunflower field, hayrides, playgrounds, farm animals, and more.
- CROCtoberfest – Brew at the ZOO! is an adults-only event where guests can roam the zoo at night while sampling beer from local and regional breweries.
- Improv Spooktacular at Third Space Improv is a hauntedly hilarious improv comedy night where performers conjure spooky scenes from audience suggestions, with costumes encouraged. Performances are on Saturdays beginning October 18-November 1.
- “Dark and Stormy Night” at Limelight Theatre in St. Augustine invites you to an eerie evening of haunting storytelling by Tale Tellers of St. Augustine on October 22.
- The Jail Break 5K on October 25 is a charity run/walk, followed by a huge Halloween party and costume contest.
- For true horror fans, Scream City Con 2025 is a must-visit. This immersive horror convention, October 25-26, features autograph sessions, Q&A panels, interactive horror-themed events, cosplay contests, and a massive vendor marketplace.
- Scares pair with hair bands at the 9th Annual Headless Bangers Costume Ball on October 25. The costume contest recognizes the best, funniest, and most outrageous outfits, with food, dancing, candy, and live 80s and 90s rock music.
- Poets of all abilities can read their finished or in-progress works while in costume at the October 26 Poetry Open Mic at The Waterworks: The Ghost in You.
- Create intuitive art at Séance Sketches at St. Augustine Art Association, where an artist will lead a candlelit workshop that explores blind mark-making, pendulum movement, and automatic writing.
Trick or Treat While Traveling
- It’s all about the kids at the St. Alligator Farm Zoological Park’s Creatures of the Night, October 24-26. Trick-or-treating meets eerie bugs and beasts as kids journey through the darkened park collecting treats and creepy creature cards.
- Trick-or-Treating and Harvest Festival at Ximenez-Fatio House Museum on October 25, offers a safe space for daytime trick-or-treating, where families can explore the historic home while collecting candy at every turn.
- Tricks and Treats at the St. Augustine Beach Police Department on October 24 is a family-friendly trick-or-treat event featuring fire and police vehicles, games, popcorn, and more.
- On October 25, historic Hastings turns spooky with the Hastings Trunk or Treat & Movie in the Park.
- The 20th Annual St. George Street Trick or Treat turns the famous walking street into a candy-haven, with participating stores handing out treats to costumed revelers.
Located midway between Daytona Beach and Jacksonville, Florida’s Historic Coast includes historic St. Augustine, the outstanding golf and seaside elegance of Ponte Vedra, the rural beauty of Hastings, Elkton, St. Johns, and 42 miles of pristine Atlantic beaches. Visitor Information Centers are located at 10 Castillo Drive, St. Augustine; 200 Solana Rd. Suite B, Ponte Vedra Beach: and at the St. Johns County Beach Pier Park, 350 A1A Beach Blvd., St. Augustine Beach. For advance travel information, call 1.800.653.2489 or go to the Visitors and Convention Bureau website at www.FloridasHistoricCoast.com. Check us out on social media Instagram @FloridasHistoricCoast; @ViajaStAugustine, Facebook.com/OfficialStAugustine, and Facebook.com/ViajaStAugustine and Twitter @FlHistoricCoast
