Top 10 places to get spooked on Halloween

6. Roswell
The year was 1947, the place was an unassuming desert town in New Mexico, and the event was perceived as so extraordinary that nearly 60 years later, Roswell remains a household name.

UFO enthusiasts today relish this tiny town as the UFO capital of the world, citing the “Roswell Incident,” in which a craft carrying four large-headed alien beings purportedly crashed, followed closely by an entourage of military and government personnel, who swooped in to collect the wreckage.

Conflicting newspaper reports came out in the days following the event — after releasing a statement confirming that they had indeed collected debris from a spaceship crash, the U.S. military later retracted it, and dismissed the flying object as nothing more than a downed weather balloon.

Decide where you stand on the issue with a visit to Roswell’s International UFO Museum and Research Center, where photos, documents, and dioramas shine some light on where conspiracy theorists got their ideas about government cover-ups and alien autopsies. You can also arrange to tour the crash site with a local guide for an out-of-this-world Halloween — just be sure to keep your eye on the sky.

7. Salem
Home to the ill-reputed witch trials of 1692, Salem, Mass., today is, according to legend, still haunted by the women executed as part of the hysteria. Every October, Salem milks its gruesome past with its annual month-long Haunted Happenings festival of ghost tours, street fairs, and costume balls.

Be sure to stop by The Witch House, one of the oldest buildings in Salem and the onetime home of Jonathan Corwin, the judge who ultimately sent 19 women to their doom. Also worth joining are the eerie tours led by Salem Historical Tours: one visits the local cemetery, thought to be the country's second oldest, while another heads out for a nightly stroll past haunted houses and more.

8. Savannah
There’s no way around it — a saunter through the southern city of Savannah is just plain spooky. Forget sightseeing: With dozens of tour groups dedicated to showcasing haunted Savannah, you’d best be prepared for some fright-seeing instead!

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Try strolling the cobblestone streets of Georgia’s oldest city on the nighttime Ghosts of Savannah walking tour, rolling around town with a narrated guide on Carriage Tours of Savannah, or opt for a Creepy Pub Crawl, if you wish to sample some spirits while you look for them.

So just what is it about this deceptively pretty city that makes it so ghoulishly grim? Believers cite a long history of violence and bloodshed dating back to the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, not to mention widespread diseases and fires here. As if that weren't sufficient, many parts of Savannah's historic section were built over old cemeteries, to boot.

You can literally eat and sleep with ghosts here — grab a bite to eat at the Pirate House, a popular centuries-old local restaurant with a ghostly clientele, then rest up (if you can!) at any number of haunted bed and breakfasts; a particularly creepy choice is the 1851 Marshall House that once served as a hospital for many Civil War soldiers and yellow-fever victims.

9. Stanley Hotel
Who hasn’t gotten the goose bumps from reading (or watching) Stephen King’s haunting thriller "The Shining"? Test your tolerance for the terrifying by spending a night in the place that inspired the novel, the Stanley Hotel.

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Built in 1909, the hotel is in fact a grand estate, with a spectacular Colorado mountainside location, old-fashioned rooms with impressive vistas, top-notch amenities, and an award-winning restaurant. What makes this place truly unique and a tad creepy, however, is the presence of otherworldly residents. Flora Stanley, the first owner’s long-deceased wife, can still be seen and heard, late at night, either tinkling the piano keys in the music room or wandering around the lobby. Plus, the entire fourth floor (once the servants’ quarters) teems with strange after-dark commotion: if you stay in room 418, you might hear children playing outside your door, but find nary a soul in the hallway.

For the ultimate scare (or inspiration), stay in room 217 — where King himself laid his head.

10. Transylvania
It’s hard to deny the fright factor of fanged, bloodsucking vampires who awake from coffins in the night to hunt their prey. So why not up the horror ante this Halloween and visit Transylvania, the alleged birthplace of these dark and fearsome creatures?

Indeed, this western province of Romania is considered to be the home of Count Dracula; to wit, you can even tour his alleged keep, the daunting Bran Castle (more commonly known as Dracula’s Castle), an eerie 14th-century bastion about 20 miles from Brasov, in the shadows of Mount Bucegi, that’s said to have briefly housed the Romanian prince on whom the great fictional vampire is based.

If that doesn’t leave your blood cold, head for the hills above the town of Miklósvár to explore bat-filled caves or, tour medieval villages in a horse-drawn sleigh.

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