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Drive the New 'Shawshank Trail' in Mansfield, Ohio

Mansfield, Ohio, the town where the 1994 cult classic The Shawshank Redemption was filmed, is still hoping to cash in on the 15 minutes of fame it experienced nearly 20 years ago.

Mansfield has recently developed The Shawshank Trail, a "drive-it-yourself" tour of the sites used in the movie, like the "Shawshank Oak Tree", the woodshop where the prisoners worked, the county courthouse, and the stretch of road where Red rode the bus after being released from prison.

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London Travel / London Tours / Historical Travel / Haunted Travel / London / → All Tags

Mind the Gap While Touring London's Historic and Haunted Underground

"Mind the Gap" t-shirts and color-coded maps of London's famed Underground system are all-too-common souvenirs for tourists who trek to the UK. But few know much about the historic transport network, other than that it's hellishly busy during rush hour.

Insider London is offering Underground-themed tours for train aficionados, or those who've stopped by quintessential city landmarks and are looking to see London through fresh eyes. If its cocktail hour factoids you want, then you'll certainly get them, from learning about the man behind the "Mind the Gap" voice to the Central Line's ghost station.

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Halloween / Haunted Travel / Parades / → All Tags

Ghost Snakes and Zombie Dancing at the 2008 Village Halloween Parade

New York has a parade for just about every holiday save Arbor Day, but the one that seems to suit the city best is the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. This year, a confluence of factors made the parade a bit weirder than usual, creating a timely diversion from regular life so that people such as your correspondent could get out of their heads for a while and appreciate the lengths many New Yorkers go through just to entertain. For starters (and to paraphrase a classic rap track), this year Halloween fell on a weekend, making a traditional party night even more of one. Add to that a highly-charged election with easily-caricatured candidates, an economy in free fall, and the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller, and you've got the makings of a major Halloween spectacle. Being slightly past whoo-hoo! age, we avoided the six-deep crowd on the sidewalk and enjoyed the parade from a friend's apartment overlooking Sixth Avenue, and while it made for lousy photographs, the elevated perspective highlighted the effort and energy that goes into New York's freakiest mass happening of the year.

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Halloween / Haunted Travel / Death / → All Tags

And So It Is Written: The Halloween Season Shall Begin in Early September

In the eyes of most retailers, the Christmas season begins on Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving - when, unless you hate America, you're supposed to go shopping. The Thanksgiving season, meanwhile, kicks off on November 1, just as the Halloween decorations are put away for another year. But when does the Halloween season begin? It is a big enough holiday to spread out over an entire month, or perhaps longer? We don't think so, but plenty of people in the tourism industry do.

As the AP points out, the latest "tourism trend" involves Halloween-related events starting on the heels of Labor Day, giving consumers nearly eight weeks to visit haunted houses, attend costume balls, and even quaff a few Halloween beers.

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Haunted Travel / Halloween / → All Tags

Haunted Travel: The Real Haunted House

This time of year it seems everyone's running a haunted house. But what about visiting the real thing? For that, there's Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California.

The 160-room mansion was built in 1884 by a rich widow named Sarah Winchester. Unlike most of the homes constructed at the time, the Winchester Mystery House had modern heating and sewer systems, as well as three working elevators and 47 fireplaces. It also had a slew of paranormal activity after the death of Sarah's husband and daughter. Carpenters worked on the house for 38 continuous years because Sarah thought their noise would quiet the ghosts.

Although the Mystery House is open year round, only during the Halloween season can you take the hour-long flashlight tour. Travelers will experience the mysterious mansion by moonlight (and flashlight), which makes this already creepy place even spookier.

Related Stories:
· Winchester Mystery House [Official Site]
· Haunted Travel coverage [Jaunted]