> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.tawnymagazine.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Best Halloween Trips Based On Your Favorite Halloween Movie - URL: https://www.tawnymagazine.com/the-best-halloween-trips-based-on-your-favorite-halloween-movie/ - Published: 2026-10-08T19:19:53.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-08T19:19:53.000Z - Description: While some of us are watching horror movies through the gaps between our fingers, the other ones of us are investigating the mysterious noises coming from our dark basements (me). I love all things Halloween, horror and spooky season, so why not plan a whole trip around it? - Author: Gentry Hale - Tags: Halloween, Travel, All Lifestyle I am going to help you decide where you should travel this October, fully based on your favorite Halloween movie. Maybe you want to roam Salem in a velvet cape and drink midnight margaritas?Maybe you want to relax in a family-friendly pumpkin patch? Or even recover from a masked murderer with a very large glass of pinot noir? There is a spooky-season destination for every level of Halloween enthusiasm. --- ## If Your Favorite Halloween Movie Is *Hocus Pocus*: Salem, Massachusetts Let me tell ya, Salem knows how to commit to the bit. The Massachusetts city spends October in a monthlong state of cobweb-covered chaos known as[ Salem Haunted Happenings](https://www.hauntedhappenings.org/?ref=tawnymagazine.com). I’m talking costume parties, psychic fairs, haunted tours, night markets, and witch hats EVERYWHERE. This is also where much of my childhood chokehold, *Hocus Pocus,* was filmed. Start your Sanderson sisters pilgrimage at the Ropes Mansion, which played Allison’s extremely casual teenage residence. Then stop by Old Town Hall, the setting for the Halloween party where Winifred performs “I Put a Spell on You.” Pioneer Village appears in the movie’s opening scenes and Max and Dani’s house still stands on Ocean Avenue. Once you finish chasing filming locations, browse the witchy shops along Essex Street, attend *Hocus Pocus* trivia or end the night on a candlelit ghost tour. Personally, I would book a psychic reading because if you're already in Salem wearing a velvet cape, you might as well find out when you’re going to become rich. Salem is crowded in October because everyone wants to run amok, amok, amok. Book accommodations and ticketed attractions *early*. ## If Your Favorite Halloween Movie Is *Practical Magic*: Whidbey Island, Washington This one is for the girls NOT interested in towns that turn themselves into Halloween theme parks. If you'd rather be wearing chunky sweaters in seaside cottages while listening to Stevie Nicks, head to Whidbey Island. Although *Practical Magic* is set in Massachusetts, much of it was filmed in Coupeville, a small waterfront town on the island. Walk along Front Street to find several recognizable locations, including the historic building transformed into Verbena Botanicals and Toby’s Tavern, which became the Catch and Fry. Unfortunately, the Owens house never really existed. It was a shell built for the movie and torn down afterward. Dumb. But Coupeville can give you everything the movie promised: historic storefronts, foggy water, old houses, and *herbs*. Spend the afternoon shopping along Front Street, eat Penn Cove mussels, and walk the coastal bluff trail at Ebey’s Landing. Then gather your closest friends, buy the ingredients for midnight margaritas and book a waterfront inn where you can stare at the moody sea. It is less “haunted attraction” and more “women in beautiful kitchens wearing long skirts and solving problems through sisterhood and light witchcraft” type vibes. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/5d/7f/5d7fd442-71ad-4570-8922-dc1cc32e7d8e/content/images/2026/10/econaturalist-com-8sYeoGjlLkw-unsplash.jpg) Photo by Econaturalist.com / Unsplash ## If Your Favorite Halloween Movie Is *Halloweentown*: St. Helens, Oregon I'm here to tell you that Halloweentown really exists. St. Helens in Oregon served as one of the primary filming locations for the 1998 Disney Channel classic *Halloweentown*. Every fall, downtown St. Helens transforms for the[ Spirit of Halloweentown](https://spiritofhalloweentown.com/?ref=tawnymagazine.com). They do it right, with a giant pumpkin in the plaza and costumed characters wandering the streets. Start at the courthouse plaza, which played the town square in the movie and remains the center of the celebration. From there, explore the decorated Old Town district, take photos with the giant jack-o’-lantern and buy something shaped like a bat. This is the destination for Halloween nostalgia-maxxing without any actual terror–where adults dress up and live out their childhood fantasies, and it does not disappoint. ## If Your Favorite Halloween Movie Is *Casper*: Newport, Rhode Island Okay, ghost girlies, I see you. I, too, wanted a Casper of my own growing up. A sweet, live-in best friend who could pass through walls, never ask me to split the rent and potentially inherit an enormous mansion? Still sounds ideal. In Newport, spend the day touring the city’s Gilded Age mansions, which all have gigantic ballrooms (for what?). Not a single surface is safe from gold leaf. Then walk the Cliff Walk, where these over-the-top estates sit above a craggy Atlantic shoreline. On an overcast October afternoon, you’re going to feel one transparent child away from becoming a live-action *Casper* reboot. Newport also leans into its haunted history during spooky season with lantern-lit ghost walks, Halloween parties inside historic mansions and seasonal events at places like Rough Point, the former home of heiress Doris Duke. Channel your inner wealthy Victorian woman and end the night with dinner at a historic inn or cocktails inside a converted mansion. If a chandelier moves on its own, don’t freak out. ## If Your Favorite Halloween Movie Is *Scream*: Sonoma County, California If you like your horror movies with self-aware jokes, ’90s nostalgia, and extremely attractive suspects, head to Sonoma County. Much of the original *Scream* was filmed around the region, which became the fictional town of Woodsboro. You can visit the Sonoma Community Center (Woodsboro High), then stop at Healdsburg Plaza, another recognizable filming location. The house used for Stu Macher’s infamous party scene is also in the area, but it is private property. Do not show up unannounced. Have we learned *nothing* from these movies? Here is my ideal Sonoma *Scream* itinerary: Spend the morning visiting filming locations. Spend the afternoon wine tasting. Spend the evening explaining to the girls why Randy was the only person in Woodsboro with any survival instincts. In 2026, Sonoma is going even harder with a Woodsboro High Class of ’96 reunion fan event on October 30\. You can also hit a masquerade ball and a haunted cocktail pop-up, if you want. Just remember, if an unknown caller asks what your favorite scary movie is, let it go to voicemail. **You are on vacation.**