In October, Chattanooga transforms into ChattaBOOga! The fun and frights to be had are not of the typical haunted city. For the bravest of souls, test your nerves with an intense haunted experience crawling with terrifying creatures, chilling ghost tours of Chattanooga’s most haunted spots, or a race against time to stop a runaway train at an escape room. For more mild experiences, gather the family to enjoy trick-or-treating at the zoo or an aquarium visit starring weird creatures with abilities and behaviors that seem stranger than any legend or myth. ChattaBOOga! offers thrilling, chilling adventures you can’t experience anywhere else. 

Chattanooga Ghost Tours

Named one of the “Top 10 Ghost Tours in the U.S.” by TripAdvisor and USA Today, Chattanooga Ghost Tours takes you on a chilling adventure to the city’s most haunted spots. Be prepared to open Pandora’s Box of apparitions and hear stories of the city’s restless dead during the Murder & Mayhem Tour. Special ghost hunt tours use the SLS Ghost Viewer, Ovilus X, and the new Poltercom. Don’t forget to bring your camera as ghost orbs, mists & even fully formed figures occasionally appear in photos at some sites on the tour. Kids are welcome at parents own discretion. (Oct.)  

Dread Hollow

The town of Dread Hollow is a small farming community that would forever have its reputation darkened by one of its founding members, Mercy Harker. Mercy convinced the founding fathers that 13 of its young women were a coven of witches, which would lead the town into the depths of depravity and evil. The darkness is said to have spawned from Ruby Falls Haunted Cavern and terrified visitors for decades before seeping down to Dread Hollow. Dread Hollow was voted one of the top 5 “Fan Voted Must-See Haunts” in Tennessee and #1 fan-voted haunt in the nation on ScurryFace.com. Theme changes each year. Not recommended for children under 12 years old. (Thursday-Sunday nights in Oct.) 

Tennessee Aquarium's ODDtober

During ODDtober, the Tennessee Aquarium celebrates the weird and wonderful side of nature. Discover the strange abilities and behaviors of some of the planet’s most peculiar creatures on a self-guided QR code scavenger hunt to identify some of their strangest inhabitants. Plus, don’t be SHOCKED if you see Miguel Wattson, the Aquarium’s twitterfamous Electric Eel, triggering a lighted pumpkin display that flickers in time with his jolts of electricity. (Oct. 1-31) 

Boo In The Zoo

The Chattanooga Zoo’s Boo in the Zoo is a family-oriented Halloween celebration with some of the Zoo’s most lovable animals. Activities for children include photos with costumed characters, a scavenger hunt, animal enrichment activities, trick or treating, costume contest, games, haunted bounce house, ghost grab, Monster Smash, Mystery Maze, haunted hayrides, snacks and more. This non-scary Halloween event is sure to create lasting memories for the whole family! (Oct.) 

Escape Rooms

Several escape rooms in Chattanooga offer timebound immersive gaming experiences that test your teamwork skills, ability to solve puzzles, and just how great you are at investigating clues to find a cure or get out of a prison cell. Get in the Halloween spirit by trying the thrilling experiences like Runaway Train Transport, C-Block Prison Break, or Vaccine Search for the Cure at Escape Experience Chattanooga; The Hunted or the Awakening at Escape Mission Chattanooga; King Tut’s Tomb or Sabotage: Chattanooga 1944 at Time To Escape; or Do Not Disturb, The Kidnapping, or Mystery Mansion at Breakout Chattanooga. (Oct.)