Ogden offers various activities to celebrate Halloween, from haunted houses and outlets for showing off costumes to things to do with children.
Haunted houses like Castle of Chaos and Haunted Hollow are located in Ogden. Each cost $20 a person.
“Haunted houses are the bomb,” said Weber State University student Daniel Wuthrich.
WSU student Tara Smith, however, said she does not like haunted houses.
“Personally, I think they’re a huge waste of money,” she said. Instead, she and her husband saw the Tim Burton movie Frankenweenie to celebrate Halloween, which is still playing in movie theaters.
For those more interested in going on actual “ghost hunts,” the Union Station has its Night at the Museum Paranormal Tours. It is $15 a person for a 45-minute tour in the dark throughout the musem’s upper floor and into the basement.
“You will be guided by professional paranormal investigators who have investigated the station,” reads the description online at www.theunionstation.org. “Guides will tell you their experiences, show you their methods and detection equipment in action as you go along on a real ghost hunt.”
For fans of horror and Halloween-themed films, the Weber County Main Library will be showing The Evil Dead (NR) on Oct. 23, The Woman in Black (PG-13) on Oct. 30 and The Nightmare Before Christmas (PG) on Oct. 27. Admission is free for all showings.
Those preparing Halloween costumes this year can save some cash by going to thrift stores like Bargain Center on Wall Avenue or Savers on Washington Boulevard. For those who want to create homemade costumes, Bennion Crafts & Frame on Harrison Boulevard has supplies.
“I want to be something cute, but my husband wants to be something funny . . . Costumes are like 50 bucks, though,” Smith said.
One place for those who dress up to show off their costumes is the Freakers Ball on Oct. 27 in the Ben Lomond Suites on Washington Boulevard. Admission is $10 through Smith’s Tix, and the ball is only for ages 21 and older. There will be a costume competition and a “Thriller” dance competition at the party.
For those celebrating Halloween with children, a more appropriate option could be Punkinaze, a corn maze just off of 25th St. It has slides, snacks and “spooks” who come out after 8 p.m. Admission is $7, but ages 3 and younger get in free, and family passes are available for $35.
On Oct. 20 at the Marshall White Center will be the Community Harvest Festival from 12-3 p.m. A spook alley, a costume contest for dogs, pumpkin carving and face painting will all be part of the festival. Admission is free.
For children ages 6-9 who love crafts, the Eccles Community Art Center will host the Monster’s Craft School on Oct. 23. It costs $10 a child to create a variety of monsters.
A big event in Ogden is WitchStock at the Union Station. It starts at 2 p.m. on Oct. 27, and admission is free. There will be live entertainment, vendors, palm readers, fortune-tellers, “cackle” contests, magicians, ghost tours and a costume contest.
Those who like to celebrate in athletic ways can join the Halloween Alley Cat Race — a scavenger hunt “bicycle style,” so participants should bring their bicycles. It’s on Oct. 20, starting at the Union Station at 6:30 p.m. There will be prizes and a party afterward. Admission is $5.
For walking instead of bicycling, the Zombie Crawl will be on Oct. 20 at 6 p.m., starting at the Union Station. Participants dress up like zombies and join the crowd to walk the streets in this event.
A full list of Halloween events in Ogden is available at www.indieogdenutah.com.
