An evening of ghoulish good times awaits this October as Night at the Boo Bash returns to the Indiana State Museum.
Happening from 6-8 p.m. on Oct. 11, Night at the Boo Bash is a fall favorite for families as well as the museum’s signature Halloween-themed event. It is also just one of the many spooky season programs visitors of all ages and scare levels can enjoy at Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites locations in central Indiana and beyond.
As the sun sets, the museum will come alive with engaging activities across all three floors, led by a cast of quirky characters inspired by iconic museum artifacts. Starting on the first floor, families can stop by Dr. Rose’s Mad Science Lab to watch cool chemical reactions and make their own ghostly shaped fizzy bath bombs to take home. With a spin of Dunky’s candy wheel, visitors can win Halloween treats. Children will love using Cricket’s critter catapults to launch plastic insects and see how many they can land on the webs. At Ross the Sloth’s Giggle Graveyard, guests can use a UV flashlight to illuminate whimsical epitaphs that are sure to tickle a funny bone. And visitors can step inside the scream booth to measure the sound of their shrieks, all as Fred the Mastodon looks on.
Elsewhere in the museum, visitors can get as close as they dare to live, crawling critters at the bug barn. Everyone is encouraged to come in their favorite Halloween outfits and compete for prizes in the costume contest before hitting the dance floor to twist and shout to the sounds of monster music.
Good Night Forest, the museum’s popular seasonal experience, will also be open late during Night at the Boo Bash, inviting families to explore the darkness and discover what animals emerge after the sun goes down. Featuring colorful critters hand-drawn by local artist Penelope Dullaghan along with fascinating specimens from the museum’s biological collection, Good Night Forest is perfect for adventures during spooky season.
Tickets for Night at the Boo Bash are $12 per person.
The museum’s haunted happenings continue Wednesdays and Fridays from Oct 16-25 with Twilight Tales. Each evening will feature two tour opportunities, the Strange Encounters tour at 7 p.m. is designed especially for families while the Beyond the Grave tour at 8:30 p.m. will be ideal for adults. These after-hours experiences invite visitors to explore the museum’s galleries by flashlight to find out what’s hiding in the shadows. Tickets are $20 per person.
There are more spooky stories to share at T.C. Steele State Historic Site in Nashville. At Ghost Stories Under the October Sky, from 7-9 p.m. on Oct. 18, visitors can pack a flashlight, blankets and a picnic to enjoy as they sit by the site’s cemetery and hear haunted tales from the Bloomington Storytellers Guild. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth.
These locations as well as the museum system’s other nearby historic sites — Levi and Catharine Coffin State Historic Site in Fountain City and Whitewater Canal State Historic Site in Metamora — would make an easy day trip from anywhere in central Indiana, offering visitors the opportunity to take in the incredible colors of the autumn foliage as they travel.
For most spooky season programs at the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, members will receive a 25% discount and advance registration is required. Guests can visit IndianaMuseum.org to purchase tickets and find more information about all the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites events and locations.
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