The Tribune collected some of the best ways to get spooked this Halloweekend with tours of real-life Milwaukee hauntings, elaborate haunted houses and a few costume-friendly events around campus from pumpkin carvings and paranormal investigations to hay rides and carmel apples.
Ghost Tours
Milwaukee Ghosts
400 N. Water St., Milwaukee
The Historic Third Ward may be known for its fashionable shops and cafes, but Milwaukee Ghosts offers 90-minute tours of the ward known to paranormal enthusiasts as the “Bloody Third.” While participants should not expect ghoulish scares, they will learn about legendary hauntings, local fortean folklore and recent accounts of paranormal activity in the city. Milwaukee Ghosts also provides free historical investigations, so those experiencing paranormal activity on campus can banish that ghost from dorm bathrooms, pools and 13th floors at last.
Milwaukee’s Haunted Bar
422 S. 2nd St.
Milwaukee
There’s a reason why Shaker’s Cigar Bar calls itself Milwaukee’s most haunted location. The stories go that door knobs move by themselves, lights flicker ominously, and faucets turn on without warning. Whether you’re left convinced or skeptical by customer testimonials, Shaker’s gives intimate tours of its eerie facility. The otherworldly inhabitants scare away many a patron, but those willing to soldier on are able to have a stiff drink to calm the nerves during the tour.
Tour 2.0 takes ghost hunting to the next level, exposing the ugly truth behind the ghouls’ menacing presence. Those truly obsessed with the supernatural also have the opportunity to spend the night in Shaker’s haunted penthouse, where a girl was brutally murdered more than a century ago. Past guests claim to unknowingly capture pictures of ghosts, become physically ill and see dark figures move across the room – and always loving every minute of it.
Gothic Milwaukee
Departs at the corner of Jackson and Wells St.
Milwaukee
Anna Lardinois hardly looks intimidating in her 1800s maid apparel, but her ghost tour is sure to make your hair stand on end. Gothic Milwaukee walking tours explore some of downtown most unsuspecting haunts, like the Cathedral of St. John, the Riverwalk and Bradford Beach. Lardinois narrates the tours with tales of ghost sightings, paranormal legends and detailed and surprising history lessons at each stop. Add a few occasional spooks, and the walk is sure to entertain believers and nonbelievers alike.
(by Claire Nowak)
Haunted Houses
Mars Haunted House
734 W Historic Mitchell St.
Milwaukee
Mars Haunted House has the creepiest history of our selection.
This haunted house was the scene of a grisly murder back in the ’40s when a father lost his job and killed his family. According to the legend, items move around without explanation and prevent workers from making renovations. It has since been declared a site of paranormal activity.
Today actors recreate scenes from the building’s tortured past, perhaps aided by the mudered Milton family themselves.
Located downtown this relatively small haunted attraction is the city’s best haunted house tour to get to via the bus.
Hauntfest Wisconsin
Wisconsin State Fair ParkMilwaukeeFeaturing 13 disturbing haunted rooms and halloween rides, Hauntfest Wisconsin is in its 10th year of scaring the pants off people in West Allis.
But Hauntfest is a night’s full of Halloween-themed events, featuring a stationary possessed pumpkin ride, a “fly like a witch” zip line and “The Last Ride,” which lets you ride inside a coffin, just in case you’re interested in testing out a good model for your eventual demise.
Wisconsin Feargrounds
1000 Northview Road
Waukesha
Now in its 10th year, the Wisconsin Feargrounds features three different haunted houses populated with actors to scare the spit out of you: Morgan Manor, CarnEvil and Unstable.
In Morgan Manor, Morgana and her eight sisters terrify their guests and put on a show preying on fear.
In Unstable, Bezel and a Hillbilly Horde (yes, hillbillies) are out to get you to join the walking dead. Good luck getting through their labyrinth of “Deliverance” style horrors.
New this year to the Feargrounds, CarnEvil bills itself as a “freak show of fun” and features Morgana and her sisters possessing a new crop of minions on the hunt.
By Brian Keogh
Halloween on Campus Ghostbusters
Thursday night
The Varsity Theatre
Free admission, free popcorn and free Bill Murray greatness. The giant stay puff marshmellow man may still be the best Halloween villain out there.
Haunted Marquette
Friday night
Alumni Memorial Union
This Late Night Marquette event will feature testimonials from ghost hunter Allison Jornlin, a performance by mentalist Sean Bott and the chance to go on an official investigation with the Paranormal Investigators of Milwaukee. For those looking to be more crafty than creepy, this free event will end with pumpkin carving and painting, a photobooth and some festive snacks.
Fall Fest
Saturday night
Alumni Memorial Union
This MUSG event will include a hay ride, snacks like carmel apples and pie and a performance from a Nashville folk duo Tenasie. With less scares and more pumpkin-latte-style coziness, this is the perfect event for the Halloween-lover that’s into candy corn and, yes, more crafts than gore and ghosts.
By Erin Heffernan
