Skip the craziness of the Village Halloween Parade in Manhattan and head to Sleepy Hollow Country for The Great Jack O’ Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor. The perfect way to get your Halloween fix.

A creative spin on the typical jack o'lantern

See more than 4,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o’ lanterns in this elaborate walk-through experience.  Meander through an 18th-century riverside landscape and discover a breathtaking display – all made of jack o’ lanterns! See slithering snakes, a giant spider web, an undersea aquarium, super-sized dinosaurs, pirates, ghosts, and a collection of creatures based on Greek and Roman mythology. Spot spooky sheep skeletons ‘roaming’ the Van Cortlandt grounds and gasp at a cemetery where huge headstones are created from three-foot-high pumpkins. Be awed by a mammoth jack o’ lantern ‘King Kong’ perched on a tall building high above!

Come gawk and gaze at more pumpkins than ever before. Tens of thousands of visitors experienced last year’s sold-out Blaze. Complete with original, atmospheric music, sound effects, and elaborate new synchronized lighting, this not-to-be-missed spectacle is the area’s most innovative Halloween happening.(http://www.hudsonvalley.org/events/blaze)

The entrance to Van Cortlandt Manor

Van Cortlandt version of The Great Lawn

Van Cortlandt Manor turns into one scary place

Just a few of the 4,000 carved pumpkins

Follow the illuminated path...

What a warm welcome...

A glowing Triceratops

Special thanks to Ryan Horvath for the spooky photos.  For more photos from The Blaze visit Traveling Olive’s Flickr album 

The Blaze is open until November 4th! Just remember you must buy your tickets in advance! Adults, $16; Children 5-17, $12  (Saturdays $20, $16) 

For more information on The Blaze visit:  http://www.hudsonvalley.org/events/blaze

To get there:

From Manhattan by MTA - Metro-North’s Hudson Line trains depart from Grand Central Terminal in Manhattan and stops at the Croton-Harmon station (under an hour from Manhattan). Grab a cab at the station and head to Van Cortlandt Manor which is just a 5-minute cab ride (I wouldn’t walk).

For driving directions from Westchester Country, Lower Connecticut, Rockland County and Manhattan visit Hudson Valley’s website

Nearby Attractions:

Kykuit: The Rockefeller Estate - explore John D. Rockefeller’s 40-room grand house

Washington Irving’s Sunnyside - visit the residence of Washington Irving,  America’s first internationally famous author, best remembered for The Legend of Sleepy Hollow 

Lyndhurst  - tour America’s finest Gothic Revival mansion and get lost in the 67-acre park