MCCOLL— American author Washington Irving’s Headless Horseman gallops into McColl this Halloween, as the “Legend of Sleepy Hollow” marries with the hauntingly true 16th century Salem, Mass. witch trials inside Steven and Julie Downs’ annual Haunted Manor located on East Tatum Avenue.
While one is fiction and the other non, both tales endure in the American psyche as any truly worthwhile ghost story should, and the Downs family capitalize on this collective national haunting guiding guests through a memorable tour back in time.
Opening night for the Downs family backyard haunted house is October 2, 2026, will run Fridays and Saturdays starting at 7 p.m. during the month of October, requires only a $5 donation for adults while children may enter the lair of nightmares free of charge.
This year the Downs promise if you wander off and get lost in the dark, you will not leave the manor’s grounds the same, for a witch you shall forever be. And Stephen Downs points out witches are eternally cursed, citing the Bible verse from Exodus 22:18: “Thou shall not suffer a witch to live.”
Combining creativity and raw artistic talent, the Downs pour their flair for provoking fear into developing and designing sets geared towards horrifying guests. This year, Downs’ Manor features roughly thirty sets of visually arresting haunts that weave the Sleepy Hollow and witch trial themes throughout, building a seamless tale perfectly crafted to prey on nerves.
An impressive display of “scare” talent, the Downs family works together every summer to produce the kind of professional frights in October that linger though out the year. Assisted by local volunteers, you don’t want to miss out on this uniquely terrifying local treasure!