With the weather finally cooling down, we can now start to enjoy the month of October. Besides locking yourself in your dorm and watching every single scary movie you possibly can on Netflix, October is a great time to embrace the supernatural elements of the month. Lots of attractions around Louisiana are specifically catered to scare you so bad you cry, and this is a list of some of my personal favorites. As I am a college student, as well, I’m going to keep affordability in mind.

The 13th Gate is the popular attraction located in Baton Rouge. It’s also been voted one of the most terrifying haunted house attractions in the country by MTV, USA Today and Haunted Attraction Magazine. It’s one of my favorites because it constantly changes, so it’s a new experience for me every year. If you bring a Dr. Pepper can, you get five dollars off, and they’re open Thursdays through Sundays until the end of October, from 6:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Going with a big group is just as fun, but I scream like a child no matter how many people are there or how many times I go.

Nicholls has plenty of haunted spots to visit, as well, if you’re already on campus and don’t want to spend any money. Ellender Hall is supposed to be haunted by multiple ghosts, including Helen Ellender, who the building is named after. According to a student in this story, footsteps can be heard running across the hall and items are never in the places you remember leaving them. If you know anybody in Ellender, crash there one night, as I can’t imagine a better place to watch scary movies than a haunted building that is on our campus. 

Speaking of a haunting on campus, I personally believe that Babington Hall is haunted. I was delivering magazines there last semester, and the door was locked. Before I could get my keys out, I asked a woman inside to open the door. She stared at me and walked around a corner. When I finally got in, I walked around the corner to see if she had walked into an abandoned room. Nothing was there, and I didn’t see how she got out. After that, I won’t even drive by Babington anymore.

The last free thing to experience this Halloween in Thibodaux is the city itself. Take a drive down the back roads of Thibodaux and tell me you don’t feel spirits in the air. We have train tracks, churches, graveyards and woods that all feel absolutely haunting at night. With the right friends, exploring the town is the most fun you can have. 

There are many other haunted attractions around Louisiana, but I understand, as a college student, money is tight. This list was made keeping in mind what Halloween as a college kid is about, which is scaring yourself ghost white with your friends. The day that stops being free is the day I stop celebrating it.