FAMILY FUN
KID-FRIENDLY HAUNTED HOUSES
THE BEST
IN THE DMV AREA
BY HEATHER M. ROSS
It’s officially spooky season. So get ready for
jack-o-lanterns, cobwebs, cauldrons and hauntings!
Kids can enjoy the scares too with these local and
family-friendly haunted experiences.

OCT. 1-31
Head out to the Halloween-themed
carnival for some frightening games:
bloody axe throwing, a zombie
brain smash, a crypt ring toss onto
skeleton arms and a bean bag toss
into scary jack-o-lanterns while the
teens of the crew ages 14 and older
explore two terrifying haunts.

screams.org Laurel’s House
of Horror
OCT. 1 – NOV. 5
Laurel’s House of Horror boasts
being Maryland, D.C. and Virginia’s
largest indoor haunted house. Kids
10 and older will be comfortable in
the main scare, and there are two
10 Washington FAMILY OCTOBER 2022
less-scary escape rooms for younger
siblings. The haunted house
experience promises new, chilling
and unique exhibits, and is not
recommended for children who have
sensory difficulties.

laurelhaunt.com/haunted-house Haunted Nightmares
Haunted House
OCT. 1– 31
Wekends during October, this
haunted house in Winchester, Va.,
just 40 minutes from Leesburg, is
open from 1-5 p.m. for a younger
audience with fewer scares. Haunted
Nightmares also has five different
family-friendly escape rooms. After
the haunt, pick a small pumpkin on
the non-haunted moonlit hayride or
explore one of the area’s largest corn
mazes. hauntednightmares.net
Legends of the Fog
OCT. 7 - NOV. 5
There’s a scare for everyone at
Legends of the Fog. Explore their
world of scares including a haunted
hayride, haunted hotel, haunted
maze and their newest attraction,
the walkthrough slaughterhouse.

Children under 14 must have an adult
chaperone and this experience is not
recommended for children under 10
years old.

legendsofthefog.com D.C. Ghosts Tour
YEAR-ROUND Visit up to 12 spooky landmarks
across a 1.5-mile walk over the
course of 90 minutes. This family-
friendly experience is the perfect
way to experience the history of the
capital city this Halloween season.

dcghosts.com DIGITALVISION VECTORS / FUNNYBANK
Carnival Games at
Field of Screams
Maryland



DIY
D•I•Y HALLOWEEN MASKS
Dinosaurs and fairies
and scaries, oh my!
BY HEATHER M. ROSS
HALLOWEEN IS COMING
and costumes line the shelves of every
supermarket and Halloween store, but
sometimes the best costumes need a
personal touch. Here are our instructions
for how you can make a spectacular
and captivating Halloween mask with
your child.

YOU’LL NEED:
• A child-sized plain
masquerade mask
• Paint (tempera)
• Solid tempera paint markers (the
washable kind!) or a permanent marker
• A foam brush or sponge
• Optional: Stick-on gems or glitter.

STEP 1:
Choose a design. For ours, we chose dino-
saur and fairy themes, but these steps will
work for any simple design.

Tip: Be sure to involve your child in this
process! Children tend to enjoy things much
more when they feel they have a part in it.

STEP 2:
Remove the thread from the mask before
you begin decorating. This will make the
mask easier to handle and keep the elastic in
good shape.

pink around the eyes for the fairy mask and
speckled in the upper right and left corners.

For the dinosaur mask, we created blocky,
natural shapes to look like dinosaur skin.

Wait for these marks to dry.

STEP 3:
Apply the paint and create texture. Simply
painting it on with the foam brush like a tra-
ditional paintbrush will leave streaks that
might look unnatural. Instead, gently dab
the paint on. For the dinosaur mask, we used
a plastic grocery bag dipped in paint to cre-
ate a rough texture for the base of the mask.

We used swooping brush strokes with the
foam brush for the fairy mask, making lay-
ered curves. Wait for this layer to dry.

Note: The textured look will take longer to dry,
but it will be worth it!
STEP 5: (FAIRY MASK ONLY)
Make little dots of glue around the speckles
of paint in the upper right and left corners.

Then, apply glitter of your choice gener-
ously. After a minute or two, shake the excess
glitter off and allow the glue to dry fully.

STEP 6: (FAIRY MASK ONLY)
Apply the stick-on gems to the center of
the forehead area. We used three but feel
free to do as many or as few as you’d like.

Then, add a few around the eyes.

STEP 7:
Tip: Don’t check for dryness with your fingers.

Re-thread the masks.

Wait until the paint no longer looks shiny or wet.

Tip: You can allow your child to apply the
glitter, but supervise them closely to ensure
STEP 4:
glitter doesn’t end up on everything else.

Next, we’ll create highlights on the masks
using the tempera paint markers. We used
Enjoy your masks! T
PHOTOS BY HEATHER M. ROSS
Tip: Buy
one child-sized
mask and one
adult-sized mask to
do this craft along
with your child!
11 Washington FAMILY OCTOBER 2022