Sleepy Hollow Country's Four Biggest Halloween Experiences Expand

By popular demand, Historic Hudson Valley is expanding its Halloween themed portfolio of special events, which drew more than 100,000 visitors last year.

Kicking off Oct. 1 and continuing on 21 selected evenings through Nov. 6, The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze is the tri-state area's biggest all-ages Halloween extravaganza. An ancient Grece scene with mythological creatures, a pasture with ‘roaming' skeletal sheep, and King Kong perched high on a building are some of the new jack o'lantern installations included in this massive display of Halloween-inspired creativity. A small team of artists come together to carve more than 4,000 jacks, many fused together in enormous and elaborate constructions, all lit up throughout the wooded walkways, orchards, and gardens of historic Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y.

Washington Irving's macabre tale The Legend of Sleepy Hollow inspires Horseman's Hollow, an interactive haunted attraction at Philipsburg Manor recommended for ages 12 and up. Stocked with professional actors and state-of-the-art special effects, Horseman's Hollow has a high fear factor and is not for the faint of heart.

Irving's ‘Legend,' recommended for ages 10 and up, brings the master storyteller Jonathan Kruk into the historic, candlelit interior of the circa-1685 Old Dutch Church, where he offers a dramatic re-telling of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow accompanied by live organ music.

Legend Celebration at Washington Irving's Sunnyside is a daytime prelude to these evening events. Storytellers and magicians are just some of the colorful characters that perform for all ages, and visitors are encouraged to come in costume.

All events are held rain or shine. Proceeds support Historic Hudson Valley, the Tarrytown-based private non-profit educational organization which owns and operates the historic sites that host these events. Historic Hudson Valley is using Twitter, Facebook, Flickr (HHValley) and YouTube (InTheValley1) to connect with fans.

Ticket and date information

For Blaze, Horseman's Hollow, and Irving's ‘Legend,' all admissions are by advance purchase timed ticket.
Blaze dates are Oct. 1-2, 7-10, 14-16, 20-23, 27-31, and Nov. 4-6. The first reservation is 7 p.m. on Oct. 1-2 and 7-10, and 6:30 p.m. for the other dates. Tickets are $16 for adults ($20 on Saturdays), $12 for children 5-17 ($16 on Saturdays), and free for children under 5.

Horseman's Hollow dates are Oct. 8-9, 14-16, 21-23, and 27-30, with the first reservation at 7 p.m. Tickets are $20 ($25 on Saturdays).

Irving's ‘Legend' dates are Oct. 8-9, 14-16, 21-23, and 27-30. Seating is very limited, and there are three performances each evening on the hour (four on Saturday), beginning at either 5pm or 6pm, depending on the evening. Tickets are $16 for adults, $12 for children under 18.

Legend Celebration dates are Oct. 8-9, 15-16, 22-23, and 29-30, from 10-4 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $6 for children 5-17, and free for those under 5.

Buy tickets online at www.hudsonvalley.org or by calling 914-631-8200 ($2 per ticket surcharge for phone orders).

Horseman's Hollow

Horseman's Hollow, a haunted experience in the heart of Sleepy Hollow, takes the tale of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow to its darkest extremes. For 12 October evenings, historic Philipsburg Manor transforms into a terrifying landscape ruled by the undead, the evil, and the insane, all serving the Headless Horseman himself.

Haunted house professional Lance Hallowell leads a crew of award-winning makeup and costume designers and a 40-member-strong cast of experienced actors to create an immersive, interactive, pleasantly terrifying experience, with state-of-the-spooky-art special effects. Visitors walk a haunted trail, stumbling upon scary scenes of a town driven mad by the Headless Horseman. The Hollow's unfortunate inhabitants are all too ready to keep visitors from ever leaving.
Creatures, some human and some not, lurk in The Shadows and in the interior spaces visitors encounter along the trail. Lighting is by Emmy award-winning designer Deke Hazirjian of New York City Lites.

Custom built set pieces and period-correct costumes help orient the experience in Philipsburg Manor's traditional time period of the mid-1700s. This event drew national media attention in its 2010, its debut year.

Philipsburg Manor is at 381 North Broadway (Route 9) in Sleepy Hollow.

The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze

The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze, which drew 80,000 visitors last year, features thousands of hand-carved jack o'lanterns - everything from your standard funny face to elaborate abstractions and huge multi-pumpkin constructions - lit up throughout the landscape of Van Cortlandt Manor in various conceptual arrangements such as mythological Greece, a ghost sheep pasture, the Undersea Aquarium, Pirates' Cove, life-sized dinosaurs in Jurassic Park, "Pumpkinhenge," (a riff on Stonehenge), a giant "cornfield," an enormous spider web, Celtic knots, a graveyard, and more.

All new professional lighting by designer Jay Woods will help bring movement to certain installations and a spooky aural soundscape of original music and noises help create a complete all-senses immersion.

Scores of Blaze videos uploaded by fans can be found on YouTube.

Describing the event as an art installation, Creative Director Michael Natiello, who also coordinates the music, said Van Cortlandt Manor itself is the ultimate inspiration for Blaze. The jack o'lantern arrangements are meant to complement and draw attention to the site's architecture, Revolutionary-era history, and landscape.

Natiello leads a small team of Historic Hudson Valley staff and local artists who carve the pumpkins. In addition, more than 1,000 volunteers help scoop and light the pumpkins, including teams from Westchester and Putnam ARC, New York Life Insurance Company, Girl Scout troops, and many schoolchildren.

Blaze artists will be carving on site during the event, with their finished products available for purchase. In addition, the Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze Shop will offer a full bounty of Blaze-specific merchandise including hats, notepads, games, T-shirts, magnets, caps, mugs, and jewelry. Café Blazé, by Geordane's of Irvington, will offer culinary treats including soup, veggie chili, muffins, pumpkin cookies, and cider.

Blaze Title Sponsor is Entergy; Blaze Media Sponsor is 100.7 WHUD.

Van Cortlandt Manor is at 525 South Riverside Avenue, just off Route 9 in Croton-on-Hudson.

Irving's ‘Legend'

Master storyteller Jonathan Kruk offers a dramatic re-telling of Washington Irving's classic tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, featuring the Headless Horseman, Ichabod Crane, Brom Bones, and Katrina Van Tassel. Flavored with live spooky organ music by Jim Keyes, Kruk's storytelling will take place in the historic, candlelit setting of the Old Dutch Church. The 1685 stone church is across the street from Philipsburg Manor, where visitors will park, and performances last about 45 minutes.

Legend Celebration

This daytime prelude to the area's evening activities features colorful characters who will delight all ages, including magicians, storytellers, puppeteers, live musicians, and a spooky mime. Children can take part in old-fashioned games and hands-on activities such as scarecrow making. Perennially popular with children, this event takes place at Sunnyside, the Romantic-era homestead of Washington Irving, who wrote The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Sunnyside is at 89 West Sunnyside Lane, off Route 9 in Tarrytown.

To post a comment, you must register and login.