From Spooky Haunts to Wicked Treats: How to Celebrate Halloween in Victoria

Stroll through the streets of downtown Victoria on a crisp fall evening, and it’s hard not to feel the Halloween spirit. Black cats with eerie, glowing eyes stake their claim on city streets. Images of fake bats cover the alleyways. The trees along Government Street have grown eyes that follow your every move. A witch flies over City Hall and the once familiar Bay Centre and Market Square have transformed into Bat Centre and Market Scare. Whether you believe in ghosts or not, there is no denying Victoria has a flair toward the supernatural. Get your scare on with these spooky activities.

Discover BC’s Haunted Capital

Spooky sights are not new to Victoria. The quaint town has long been home to a variety of apparitions and other-worldly visitors that go bump in the night. Follow the flickering yellow light of a lantern down the cobblestone alleys surrounding Bastion Square and Helmcken Alley, on the Victoria haunted tour. Look for a fleeting glimpse of a ghost leftover from the days when the now popular spots were the site of the city’s jail and first gallows.

Continue on and squeeze through the tight quarters of Chinatown’s Fan Tan Alley. The hair on your neck will raise as you feel an extra puff of air push past you. This slight breeze may be from a lingering spirit who has crept up from the secret tunnels that ran to hidden opium dens and gambling halls.

If learning about the city’s spooky history inspires you to seek other thrills, there are more than a few other places around Victoria that will cause a few chills. Perched on a hill high above Victoria, is the massive stone Craigdarroch Castle. With turrets and red tile capped roofs, the manor is built in the “Richardson Romanesque” style.

Venture inside the imposing structure and enter the dark, bat cave-esque lair of Arkenham Abbey. Step back in time to the Post-Edwardian era in this unique theatre performance. In the show, the inmates of the Suffolk country estate sanatorium for the unethically psychotic have taken over the asylum and the Feast of Fools is about to begin.

Head across town to Horror Escape and explore the city’s other creepy haunt – the Crimson Manor. Gain access to the oldest wing of the building, scrabble through the dimly lit stone hallways in search of clues to decipher. Find out whether the family’s two daughters really have been missing for the past six months or if the family is hiding a terrible secret before you escape the freaky manor.

Pay attention to where you run, however. You may happen across a parade of grisly, monstrous zombies as they walk or drag themselves from Centennial Square and the Parliament Building on Victoria’s annual Zombie Walk. If you’re not careful, you might find yourself “infected” and showing off your own creatively gruesome makeup and extraordinary costume.

Delight in Pumpkin Art

Awash in a sea of orange hues, the streets of Oak Bay are magically transformed as pumpkins take over everything from streetlights to shop windows in the quaint village. Look closely at these golden globes and you’ll see the familiar faces of Canadian Idols, cartoon characters, prime ministers, presidents and The Royal Family that have been carved into the pumpkins peering back at you. Check out even more impressive carving as divers swim to the depths of Saxe Point to test their skills at artfully carving their own pumpkins underwater.

Celebrate the Harvest Season

Known as the “Provence” of Vancouver Island, the pastoral farms of North Saanich are the place to slow down and appreciate the serene and scenic landscape.

Get lost for a few hours in the veritable-jungle of Vancouver Island’s largest corn maze (just be sure to bring a flashlight if you come after dark) at Pendray Farms. Wind your way through twists and turns, as you make your way through 14-acres of leafy stalks. Planted in a secret shape, the rows of corn create an image of something important to the Vancouver community. No spoilers here, you have to travel to the center of the maze and climb up the steep steps of the watchtower to get a bird-eye’s look at the design. While  in the tower, snap a few shots to prove you made it through the maze.

Give your feet a rest and drive up the road to refuel at the newly renovated bistro and outdoor patio at the Roost Farm Centre. Dine on a delicious, hot and cheesy farm-to-table pizza cooked to perfection in their new pizza oven. Still hungry? Give in to your sweet-tooth and share a decadent made-from-scratch carrot cake or Roost’s signature Bluebarb pie with your friends. Laze at a picnic bench, look out over the farmland and watch the amber stalks of wheat wave in the afternoon breeze.

Burn off the calories by giving yourself enough time to stop and play a round of bocce ball, visit the farm animals and check out massive 1,000-pound pumpkin. This massive squash has been transformed into a working go-kart for a shot to get into The Guinness Book of World Records.

With an abundance of ghostly walks, spooky mansions and plenty of creepy celebrations, there is nothing like Halloween in Victoria. Venture to this haunted capital this October and prepare to get lost in the city for a few fall days.