Franklin Castle has stood on the same Cleveland street since 1881. The family who built it went through enough hard luck there to give the place a lasting haunted reputation, and today you can book an overnight stay to see it for yourself. Two hours away in Delaware, locals say a spirit called the “Lady in Blue” still watches Old New Castle from an upstairs window.
Cleveland and Wilmington rarely show up on the same travel list, especially for Halloween. This fall, both cities lean on real local history instead of built-for-tourists scares. Wilmington’s ghost stories go back to the 1700s, and Cleveland’s most famous haunted house has outlasted Prohibition and two world wars.
A Season Full of Dated Events
Between the two cities, more than a dozen dated Halloween events are on the calendar this year. They range from a costume parade aboard a real 17th-century tall ship to a lantern-lit walk through a 74-acre estate. HalloWeekends at Cedar Point opened for the season on Sept. 17, and Fort Delaware’s paranormal tours start today, Oct. 2. Most of the rest run later this month.
Cleveland’s Haunted Lineup
Cedar Point is Cleveland’s only confirmed date, and it’s already underway. The city’s other haunted spots follow their usual yearly schedule.
- HalloWeekends at Cedar Point: The event has been running since Sept. 17 and continues most nights through Nov. 1. Daytime hours bring family activities, while the park switches to scare zones after dark.
- Franklin Castle: Banker Hannes Tiedemann built the mansion in 1881. It later passed through several owners, including Judy Garland’s last husband, Michael DeVinko, and today it books overnight stays year-round.
- The Haunted House Restaurant: This restaurant typically runs a month of Halloween events, including trivia nights and a costume contest.
- Buckland Museum of Witchcraft Magick & Occult: This museum stays open year-round, with a collection that includes items connected to the Salem witch trials and pieces from ancient Egypt.
- Cleveland Curiosities & Oddities: This year-round shop sells antiques and oddities, including taxidermy and vintage medical items.
Wilmington’s Haunted Lineup
Colonists founded Old New Castle, a small town along the Delaware River, in the 1650s, and it hosts several of the confirmed events below, including tours through its oldest haunted house. Venues across the Brandywine Valley have locked in six dates so far, with one still pending.
- Boo at the Zoo at Brandywine Zoo: This event runs Oct. 16 through 18 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Costumes are welcome, and kids can trick-or-treat among the animals.
- The Revisionists: A Haunted Gothic Walk at Rockwood: Rockwood has scheduled its lamplight tours for Oct. 17-18 and 24-25, moving through the estate’s gardens with staged scenes based on its history.
- Halloween at Hagley: Kids can trick-or-treat through the museum’s historic powder yard on Oct. 24, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Tram & Treat at Winterthur: A tram carries visitors between candy and craft stops across the garden on Oct. 31, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Fort Delaware paranormal tours: Tours began today, Oct. 2, and continue Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 24, covering ghost investigations on Pea Patch Island.
- Hauntings in History walking tour: These walking tours run Oct. 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 29 and 30, going inside the 18th-century Amstel House, where local lore places a spirit called the “Lady in Blue.”
- Halloween Ghost Ship aboard Kalmar Nyckel: This tall ship usually hosts a free costume event in October, with deck tours and ghost stories.
Fort Delaware’s tours started today, and Cedar Point’s HalloWeekends has been running since mid-September. Most of the remaining Wilmington-area events fall later in October. The Haunted House Restaurant and the Kalmar Nyckel Foundation hadn’t released their 2026 schedules at the time of writing, so anyone interested in either should check directly with the venue.