When it comes to Halloween in New York City, Manhattan usually gets all the boos.
There’s the Village Halloween Parade, where thousands of costumed New Yorkers descend on Sixth Avenue in a glorious spectacle of giant puppets, elaborate getups and questionable life choices.
There are Greenwich Village’s famously spooky streets, creepy historic buildings and ghost tours promising to make even the bravest New Yorker think twice about walking home alone.
But don’t let the island of Manhattan hog all the horror.
The city’s other four boroughs have their own bone-chilling histories, eerie landmarks and local legends — from Brooklyn neighborhoods hiding centuries-old secrets to Queens streets with sinister stories, a Bronx cottage tied to Edgar Allan Poe and Staten Island sites where the past may not be resting in peace.
Turns out, you don’t need to cross a bridge to cross paths with the paranormal. So this spooky season, skip the usual haunts and venture beyond Manhattan’s well-trodden paths.
The Post rounded up ghost tours across Gotham that promise a different kind of sightseeing — with haunted mansions, forgotten cemeteries and enough creepy lore to make you wonder whether that chill down your spine is just the October weather.
Haunted Bay Ridge: Brooklyn’s neighborhood of nightmares
Bay Ridge may be best known for its waterfront views and leafy residential streets, but after dark, this Brooklyn neighborhood has a more menacing side, as proven by this walking tour.
Led by local historian James Scully, this trek traces Bay Ridge’s eerie past, with tales of unsolved killings, secret societies and unexplained disappearances that still haven’t been solved.
Among the reported oddities: a faceless woman spotted late at night near a local church, army ghosts and disembodied sounds, plus the unsettling history of the neighborhood’s largest park.
The tour also digs into stories of an old spinster’s murder and a local kidnapping crew, serving up the sort of neighborhood lore that might make your next late-night stroll feel a little less relaxing.
The walk ends at a historic cemetery, because what better place to wrap up a ghost tour than among the dearly departed?
When: Upcoming dates listed include Oct. 24, 30 and 31, plus Nov. 8
Tickets: Start at $40.
Ghosts of Old Bensonhurst: Things that go bump in Brooklyn
Bensonhurst’s local population has changed plenty over the years, but according to its ghost stories, some former residents never got the memo to move on.
Scully also leads this walking tour through the neighborhood’s spookier history, exploring reported poltergeist activity, haunted railroad lore and relics of the past that remain tucked into the modern streetscape.
You might witness a ghost said to knock on walls, the spirit of a murdered lawyer, a shadowy figure watching a long-dead little boy and a spectre that haunts a local railroad.
The tour also explores the neighborhood’s oldest cemetery, offering a reminder that the Big Apple’s history is sometimes buried right beneath our feet.
It’s an especially fitting outing for anyone who prefers their Halloween chills with a side of local history — and doesn’t mind looking over their shoulder on the walk home.
When: Oct. 31
Tickets: Start at $40.
Haunted Brooklyn Heights: Brownstones with a dark side
Brooklyn Heights may have some of the borough’s most elegant brownstones, but even its stateliest homes have skeletons in the closet — and, in some cases, bones in the garden.
Macabre tour agency Boroughs of the Dead leads a research-driven walk through the neighborhood’s grisly past, uncovering Revolutionary-era remains, hidden cemeteries, tales of ghost trains and alleged poltergeist activity.
The route also honors the tragic Brooklyn Theatre Fire, some more fatal secrets of the Brooklyn Bridge and the haunted history beneath modern-day apartments and supermarkets.
Literary spooks get a cameo, too: Horror master H.P. Lovecraft once called the neighborhood home, while the ghost of preacher Henry Ward Beecher features in its local lore.
The two-hour tour covers about 1.3 miles, starting at the Beecher statue in Cadman Plaza near Johnson Street and ending near Clinton Street and Atlantic Avenue.
When: October dates listed include Oct. 23, 24 and 30
Tickets: $40 per adult
Spooky Snug Harbor: Staten Island’s after-dark fright
Snug Harbor is known as one of Staten Island’s most beautiful historic destinations. But once the sun goes down, paranormal activity goes up, according to many residents.
To learn more — if you dare — try a nighttime walking tour with Michael Pelczar, the founder of Spooky Staten Island. The ghostly stroll navigates the institution’s darker history, including the murder of 19th century nautical priest Chaplain Quinn and a 200-year-old disaster that rattled the harbor’s buildings.
Visitors will also learn about Captain Robert Randall, the 18th century seafarer whose fortune helped establish Snug Harbor.
Participants even get the chance to try ghost-hunting equipment and see whether they can make contact with the other side.
Whether you believe in spirits or just enjoy a good scare, it’s a chance to investigate these historic grounds after hours — flashlight and nerves recommended.
Regular sessions run from 7:30 to 9 p.m., with a special Halloween session scheduled for 9 to 10:30 p.m.
When: Oct. 23, 24 and 30, plus a Halloween special on Oct. 31 from 9 to 10:30 p.m.
Tickets: $30 general admission
Village Ghost Tours: Candlelit chills at Historic Richmond Town
Forget strobe lights and smoke machines. At Historic Richmond Town in Staten Island, the creep factor comes by candlelight.
Costumed historical interpreters lead visitors through the historic village and into old houses after hours, sharing colonial-era ghost stories, local folklore and unnerving accounts of Staten Islanders’ lives and deaths. The tour also delves into infamous defendants who stood trial at the Third County Courthouse, along with the interpreters’ own unexplained encounters in town.
The one-hour walk is more storytelling than ghost hunting — so don’t expect a paranormal investigation with gadgets and gizmos. Instead, you’ll lurk in atmospheric historic buildings, hear tales from centuries past and take a lantern-lit trip through Staten Island’s darker chapters.
The tour is recommended for ages 8 and up, and children must be accompanied by an adult. It runs rain or shine, except in severe or unusually cold weather.
When: Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 31, with some exceptions. Listed dates include Oct. 23, 24, 30 and 31. Tours begin at 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.
Where: Historic Richmond Town, Staten Island.
Duration: One hour.
Tickets: $12 per person. Advance booking is recommended.
Book it: Historic Richmond Town.
Secrets of the Kreischer Mansion: A haunted house with a real-life history
Some haunted houses are all fake blood and rubber knives.
The Kreischer Mansion has something far more unsettling: a history of family tragedy and a grisly criminal case that became a tabloid sensation.
The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce invites visitors to dig into the gruesome details with a special Halloween-season tour of the infamous mansion, led by Pelczar, the local history enthusiast who’s also behind Spooky Staten Island.
Visitors will learn about Balthasar Kreischer, the brick baron whose factories helped rebuild New York City after the Great Fire of 1835, and the company town he created around them. The tour centers around the 1894 death of his son Edward, a tragedy that fractured the family, as well as a 2005 mafia murder that brought renewed attention to the historic property.
The evening begins with light bites at Killmeyer’s Old Bavaria Inn before guests head up the street to the mansion for the tour. It’s a Halloween outing with a side of history — albeit one that might make you sleep with the lights on for a few nights.
When: Oct. 22. Light bites begin at 6:30 p.m. at Killmeyer’s Old Bavaria Inn, with the mansion tour starting shortly before 8 p.m.
Tickets: $35 for Chamber of Commerce members and $55 for nonmembers
Edgar Allan Poe Cottage: A date with the master of macabre
For a Halloween outing with cultural credentials, head to the Bronx and pay a visit to Edgar Allan Poe’s last permanent home. The poet behind some of literature’s most haunting tales spent his final years in a modest Bronx cottage, where he wrote beloved works including “Annabel Lee,” “The Bells,” “Ulalume” and “Eureka.”
On Oct. 24, the Bronx County Historical Society is opening the cottage for special tours as part of its Nevermore Literary Salon & Night Market — an evening dedicated to Poe and all things dark, romantic and gothic. The cottage tours run from 4 to 6 p.m.
Next door, the Poe Park Visitor Center opens at 5 p.m. for a night market featuring Poe-related books and merchandise, themed treats and other surprises from local vendors. At 6 p.m., the program continues with readings from “More Than Love: The Enduring Fascination of Edgar Allan Poe” and a live performance by metal singer Militia Vox.
Just beware if someone invites you into a booth for a cask of amontillado.
When: Saturday, Oct. 24. Cottage tours run from 4 to 6 p.m.; the night market opens at 5 p.m., followed by the program at 6 p.m.
Admission: Suggested donations are $5 for adults and $3 for children and seniors.
Bronx County Historical Society members receive free admission, and free entry is available to eligible library cardholders through Culture Pass NYC. (The organizers say “no one will be turned away.”)
Advance booking is available, with walk-up tickets offered at the cottage.
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