I married into a family with a very important October tradition:
Family vacation + October = find a haunted house. 👻
This started long before me. My husband grew up going to haunted houses with his family, and when I joined the family, I joined the tradition too.
Now, years later, we’re still doing it—and making new memories with our own family along the way.
Different states. Different road trips. Different seasons of life.
But when October rolls around, there’s always one question:
“What haunted houses are around there?” 😂
I recently started digging through old pictures and realized just how many haunted attractions we’ve visited since I joined the adventures.
This isn’t a review.
I’m not ranking them from best to worst.
This is simply a trip down memory lane—good times, family adventures and a whole lot of screaming.
So let’s go back to 2017…
🎃 2017 — My Haunt Adventures Begin
Warehouse 31 Unleashed
Netherworld
Howl-O-Scream at Busch Gardens
This is where my chapter of the family haunt tradition begins.
And apparently, we didn’t ease into it either—three haunted adventures in my first year! 😂
Little did I know we’d still be doing this nearly a decade later.
👻 2018 — Another October, Another Haunt
By year two, I was learning the family rules pretty quickly:
13th Floor is our hometown haunt. 👻 Since it’s right here in Jacksonville, it’s become one we find ourselves going back to almost every year. It may not make an appearance in every year’s list, but it’s definitely a regular part of our October tradition.
If there’s a haunted house nearby, we’re probably going. 😂
🎃 2019 — Back to Netherworld
Netherworld
Yep.
We went back. 👻
Some places are worth visiting twice—and sometimes returning to an old haunt becomes part of the memory itself.
👻 2020 — The Tradition Continues
Another October brought two more stops and a few more stories to tell.
🎃 2021 — Apparently One Wasn’t Enough
Halloween Horror Nights 30
Nightmare Dungeon
MadWorld
Three in one year.
At this point, we couldn’t even pretend haunted houses weren’t officially part of our family vacations anymore. 😂
👻 2022 — New Roads, New Haunts
Lake Hickory Haunts
Pinhead’s Graveyard
One of my favorite things about this tradition is that it gives us another reason to explore somewhere new.
New places.
New scares.
Same family.
🎃 2023 — Okay…We Got a Little Carried Away
Field of Screams
Fort Ritchie
Distorted Dreams
Kim’s Krypt Haunted Mill
13th Floor Haunted House — Jacksonville
FIVE.
😂
Apparently, 2023 was the year we decided one or two haunted houses simply weren’t going to cut it.
Looking back, though, that’s exactly why I love doing this.
Every name on this list brings back a different trip, picture, laugh or moment with family.
👻 2024 — And Then There Were More…
2024 looked a little different.
We welcomed our baby on September 20. ❤️
Then came October…
And you didn’t think the family tradition was disappearing, did you? 😂
Wicked South became our haunt for the year.
New baby.
New Pikes Mini Haunt.
New season of life.
Same October tradition.
🎃 2025 — Back on the Road
Halloween Horror Nights
Headless Horseman
Pure Terror Scream Park
By this point, I’m not sure an October adventure would feel complete without spending at least one night voluntarily walking into somewhere designed specifically to scare us.
And somehow…
we keep paying people to do it. 😂👻
🏚️ Then We Started Building Our Own…
Apparently, visiting haunted houses wasn’t enough.
We decided to bring some of the fun home. 😂
For the third year running, we’ve transformed our front yard into:
The Pikes Mini Haunt 👻
What started as Halloween fun at home has turned into another family tradition.
We build.
We paint.
We make props.
We change things.
We come up with ideas that sounded simple until we actually started building them. 😂
And then we get to stand back and watch the whole thing come together.
Each year we’ve learned a little more, added something new and made it a little more us.
So October in our family now has TWO rules:
Find a haunted house.
and…
Build one at home. 👻
Three years and counting…
🎃 2026 — We’re Not Done Yet…
2026 is officially in the books—or at least the first chapter is. 😂👻
We kicked off this year’s haunt adventures with Halloween Horror Nights, keeping the family tradition going for another year.
📸 [ADD 2026 HHN PHOTOS]
But we’re not finished yet…
Next up, we’re headed to Stone Mountain, Georgia for another family adventure.
And, of course, you already know the question:
“What haunted houses are around there?” 😂
We don’t know where we’ll end up yet, which is half the fun.
So 2026 gets a spot on the list…but we’re leaving a little room underneath it.
HHN ✅
Stone Mountain ⏳
Next haunt…??? 👻
Come back and see where the family ends up next.
To be continued… 🎃
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❤️ It’s Really About the Memories
Looking through all these pictures made me realize something.
I remember the haunted houses.
But I remember everything around them too.
The road trips.
The anticipation.
The family pictures before going inside.
The laughs.
The screams.
The conversations afterward when suddenly everybody claims:
“I wasn’t scared!” 😂
Those are the parts I treasure.
I joined a family tradition that started before me, and now I get to watch that tradition continue with our own family.
Maybe one day our kids will be grown, planning an October trip of their own, and somebody will ask:
“What haunted houses are around there?”
And just like that…
the tradition continues. ❤️👻
For now, we’re still making the memories ourselves.
Family vacation + October = find a haunted house.
🎃 2017 → 2026 → ???
To be continued… 👻
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