Lantern light will flicker across tombstones dating back to 1790 when West Hartford Hauntings returns to Old North Cemetery for five nights this October. The tours depart every 15 minutes starting at 6 p.m. and run about 45 minutes apiece, guiding visitors through real local history dressed up in a scary setting.
The tours are set for October 22, 23, 24, 29 and 30, 2026, according to the event listing on noahwebster.yapsody.com. They take place at Old North Cemetery, located at 80 North Main Street in West Hartford, Connecticut, with a ghostly guide leading each group along the same path. The Noah Webster House & West Hartford Historical Society hosts the event, per halloweennewengland.com.
Graves Dating to 1790 Set the Scene
Old North Cemetery itself dates back to 1790, according to the same halloweennewengland.com listing. The burial ground has long drawn attention for who rests there, and the site's annual spooky and theatrical cemetery tour has become a fixture each October, as We-Ha | West Hartford News has reported. Characters portraying real people from West Hartford's past lead guests through the grounds, according to that same report.
Among the figures whose history is woven into the tour is Bristow, who by the 1770s was enslaved to Thomas Hart and Sarah Whitman Hooker on their farm in Hartford's West Division, according to the Noah Webster House. Bristow bought his freedom from the Hookers on May 9, 1775, and by the time of his death in 1814 he was a free African-American, the museum's past-exhibits page states.
Planning a Visit
Organizers advise that guests be no younger than 10 years old, since portions of the tour may be frightening for younger children, and any child under 16 must be accompanied by an adult, according to the yapsody.com ticket page. Tickets must be reserved in advance, and the tours are scheduled to go on rain, shine or snow, per the same listing.
Admission for nonmember adults and teens is listed at $26.03 including fees on halloweennewengland.com. Noah Webster House Museum members save 20 percent, and groups of 10 or more can save 10 percent during the first weekend of tours, according to the ticket page.
