Windsor has never been short of ghost stories, and this Halloween the Hawkesbury Regional Museum is inviting locals to decide for themselves whether any of them hold up.
The museum has put together two separate evenings at Howe House on Saturday 31 October, one for children and their families and one for those who would rather take their scares a little more seriously.
The family session comes first. Howe House will be turned into a gentle haunted house, with candlelit rooms to wander through, stories about what life was like in the 1800s, and Halloween treats to collect along the way. Sessions run for 30 minutes each, starting from 4pm and finishing at 7pm, and the experience is pitched at children aged 4 to 12. Tickets are $10 per child, and bookings are essential. Children and their grown-ups are encouraged to come in costume, whether that means a ghoul, a goblin, a superhero or a sorcerer.
Once the sun has gone down, the house changes character. Howe House After Dark runs from 8pm to 9pm, with museum staff leading small groups through the lantern-lit rooms of the 19th century building and telling stories from Windsor’s past.
Staff and visitors have long reported odd experiences inside the house, including footsteps with no obvious source and figures glimpsed at the edge of vision. Whether that adds up to a haunting is left for visitors to judge. This session costs $5 per person, is suitable for adults and teenagers aged 15 and over, and bookings are essential.
Both events are held at Hawkesbury Regional Museum, 8 Baker Street, Windsor. Entry to Howe House is via Thompson Square.
