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By Erin Pittman
There is something particularly fun about discovering a place you have driven past approximately 4,000 times has a story you never knew.
Maybe someone once lived there who met an unfortunate end. Maybe soldiers camped there. Maybe generations of residents have passed along a story about unexplained footsteps, flickering lights, or a figure appearing where no figure should be.
October is the perfect month to stop just driving past and start investigating.
This year, instead of making every fall family outing about pumpkins, costumes, and candy, try becoming tourists in your own slightly scary hometown. Prince William has no shortage of mysteries, legends, and stories hiding practically in our backyard.
Create a Family “Creep Factor” Challenge
Start by giving everyone in the family a job. One person can be the researcher, another the navigator, someone can take photos, and someone should obviously be responsible for snacks.
Then create your own rating system for each stop.
Give points for things like:
Historical interest: Was the actual story good?
Creep factor: How quickly would you run from this place alone at midnight?
Atmosphere: Old trees, dark windows, creaky buildings earn bonus points.
Believability: Could something unexplained actually have happened here?
Would you return after dark?: Yes, no or absolutely not.
Keep the ratings in the Notes app on your phone or give everyone an inexpensive notebook to create a family “Paranormal Investigation Log.” Younger kids can draw what they imagine happened at each location, while older kids and teens can research the real history behind the stories.
And yes, dramatic flashlight-under-the-chin narration is encouraged.
Let Prince William Supply the Stories
Fortunately, local history is doing much of the work for us this October.
At Rippon Lodge Historic Site in Woodbridge, families with older children can explore the site’s mysteries, myths, haunts, and legends during special guided tours on Oct. 3. Prince William County’s Historic Preservation Division also hosts programs throughout the year at properties including Rippon Lodge, Ben Lomond Historic Site, Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre, and Bristoe Station Battlefield Heritage Park.
Bristoe Station offers an entirely different kind of nighttime experience on Oct. 17, when nearly 1,000 luminary candles will illuminate the battlefield in remembrance of soldiers who died there during the Civil War. This one isn’t designed as a haunted attraction, which may actually make it more powerful.
Then there is Brentsville Courthouse Historic Centre, which has the wonderfully unusual distinction of having appeared on the television series Ghost Hunters in 2009. On Oct. 23, families can bring blankets for a free outdoor screening of the episode at the actual location where it was filmed. A candlelight ghost tour follows for those who want to dig further into the site’s history and stories.
And just before Halloween, Ben Lomond Historic Site will host Campfire Ghost Stories on Oct. 30. Once used as a Civil War hospital and later as a farm and private residence, the site has accumulated plenty of stories about unexplained happenings over the years. Bring a chair, a flashlight, and a sense of adventure.
The Best Part Isn’t the Ghosts
One of the easiest traps of family activities is believing they have to be elaborate. We schedule the festival, buy the tickets, take the obligatory photo, and move on to the next thing.
But kids—even teenagers who occasionally appear allergic to organized family fun—can be surprisingly interested when there is a mystery to solve, something strange to debate, or a story that makes a familiar place suddenly look different.
That may be the real trick this October.
Look at the places you pass every day and ask one simple question:
I wonder what happened here?
You may discover a ghost story.
You may discover a piece of Prince William history.
Or you may just discover a new reason to pile everyone into the car together on a cool October night.
Either way, that’s a pretty good treat.
Erin Pittman is a contributing writer for Prince William Living.
