"Spirits in October is not a scary ghost tour." Historic Riverside Cemetery Conservancy put that line in its own event listing for this year's tour, which starts tomorrow, October 1. Two weeks later, about a mile down the same road, Rose Hill Cemetery will lead lantern tours. On those same nights, groups will be ghost hunting at Fort Hawkins starting at 9 p.m.
Taken together, Macon's October ranks itself by how dark you want the evening to get. Along the way, much of the money changes hands for the benefit of the old places these stories come from. Visit Macon groups the season under its "Macon Beyond" campaign, a guide and video series about the city's haunts, history and local legends. This fall the group also includes an event that hasn't been held here before.
Starting Gently on Riverside Drive
This year's Spirits in October is called "6 Degrees of Macon." The idea is that people from different generations who never met turn out to be only six connections apart, and each stop on the walk shows one of those links. Costumed actors play figures from Macon's past. The conservancy calls the cemetery "an underground museum," home to more than 18,000 individual histories.
Here's how it works:
- Dates: October 1 through 4 and October 9 through 11, 2026
- Departures: Every 15 minutes from the Gatehouse, starting at 6:00 p.m., with the last tour leaving at 7:30 p.m.
- Arrival: 15 minutes before your tour time
- Price: $20 general admission, free for children 5 and under, with group rates available
- Finish: Inside the Macon Public Mausoleum, with light refreshments
All proceeds go to the conservancy's 501(c)(3), and every ticket sale is final. Tickets and details are on the Riverside Cemetery & Conservancy event page, and the cemetery is at 1301 Riverside Dr.
Friday Evenings at the Palace of the South
Hay House goes one step darker. Its after-hours Legends & Lore tour covers reports of footsteps, flickering lights and ghost sightings inside a mansion that Architectural Digest included among the "13 Most Beautiful Haunted Destinations Around the World."
The tour runs every Friday in October: October 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30, at $50 per ticket. The tickets list a 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. window, and the start time is fixed. From 5:30 to 6:00, guests get a complimentary wine, beer or soda and can look around the ground floor. The guided tour starts promptly at 6:00 and lasts about 90 minutes. You can park in the small lot behind the house, entering at the corner of Georgia Avenue and Spring Street, or on the street out front at 934 Georgia Ave. When we checked the Hay House ticket page, seven tickets were left for the October 2 tour.
That October 2 tour falls on First Friday, when NewTown Macon's lineup includes Downtown Goes Disney and gallery programming at the Macon Arts Alliance at 486 1st St., 567 Center at 456 1st St., and McEachern Art Center at 332 2nd St. Spirits in October is also running that night. So the first weekend of the month gives you three choices at different levels of spookiness, all on one evening.
The Weekend Paranor-Macon Adds
Paranor-Macon 2026, presented by the Paranormal Society of Savannah, is the new addition this year. It's a two-day convention on October 16 and 17 at the Macon Marriott City Center, with talks and workshops on haunted history, psychic phenomena, UFOs and cryptids from Bigfoot to Mothman. Sessions include "Paranormal Investigating 101" and "How to Hunt for Bigfoot." General admission starts at $10. Children 12 and under, military personnel, first responders and teachers get in free.
The convention matters most for what happens after the doors close each evening. Here's how the Friday of that weekend lines up:
- 6:00 p.m., Hay House. The third Legends & Lore tour of the month.
- 6:00 p.m., Rose Hill Cemetery. The Friday Lantern Tour at 1071 Riverside Dr. costs $35 base, or $40.50 with listed tax and processing fees, and benefits Rose Hill Preservation.
- 9:00 p.m., Fort Hawkins. The Friday Ghost Hunt off Emery Highway costs $35 base, or $40.50 with fees, and benefits Fort Hawkins Foundation, Inc.
The 6 p.m. lantern tour and the 9 p.m. hunt are three hours apart, so you can book both on the same Friday. On Saturday, October 17, Fort Hawkins runs a second Ghost Hunt at 9:00 p.m. at the same price. Rose Hill also sells a Saturday lantern tour ticket at the same price, but its description repeats the Friday wording. Check your confirmation for the Saturday start time before you plan dinner.
That same Saturday, the Piedmont Grand Opera House at 651 Mulberry St. hosts "Macon Beyond: Spirits & Song," from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. You can buy it in three ways: $30 for the investigation only, $50 for dinner and the concert, or $80 for everything, plus taxes and fees. Details for the convention and its after-dark events are at Paranor-Macon.com.
Where the Ticket Money Goes
Visit Macon's release on Paranor-Macon says proceeds from both after-dark events "will directly benefit Fort Hawkins and Rose Hill Cemetery." Put that next to the Riverside tour and the Witches Float on the Ocmulgee, and a large share of October's ticket money stays with local nonprofits:
| Event | Date | Price | Who It Benefits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spirits in October, Riverside Cemetery | Oct 1–4, 9–11 | $20 | Historic Riverside Cemetery Conservancy's 501(c)(3) |
| Witches Float, Amerson River Park | Oct 10 | Raffle tickets or donation | Macon Periods Easier |
| Lantern Tour, Rose Hill Cemetery | Oct 16–17 | $35 base | Rose Hill Preservation |
| Ghost Hunt, Fort Hawkins | Oct 16–17, 9 p.m. | $35 base | Fort Hawkins Foundation, Inc. |
The Witches Float is the lightest event on the list, and it's outdoors. Check-in at Amerson River Park's Porter Pavilion, 2551 Pierce Dr., runs from noon to 1:00 p.m. on October 10. After the raffle drawing, shuttles take paddlers to the put-in ramp, and everyone floats the river bend back to where they started. Any non-motorized boat works, and Ocmulgee Outdoor Expeditions rents them if you don't have one. To enter the raffle, buy a ticket or bring a feminine product donation for Macon Periods Easier, a women-led nonprofit working on period poverty in Middle Georgia. Prizes include a paddle excursion worth $120. A guest judge also gives a $100 Visit Macon gift card for Best Dressed, so costumes and decorated boats are encouraged.
The Last Two Nights Belong to the Grand
At the end of the month, the walking tours move indoors to the opera house. Rock Candy Tours runs Macon Macabre, and its limited "Behind the Curtain" dates are Thursday, October 22, Friday, October 23, and Thursday, October 29. The $35 ticket includes the walking tour plus a small-group tour of the Grand. The October 23 walk runs from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m. The meeting point is sent by email, so watch your inbox after you book.
On Friday, October 30, the Grand shows The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live shadow cast. Doors open at 7:00, the film starts at 9:00, and tickets are $20. A $50 Macon Macabre package adds the guided walk, a prop bag and a Grand tumbler. The last Hay House Legends & Lore tour runs the same evening at 6:00 and lasts about 90 minutes, so it fits before the film's 9:00 start.
The month ends with something easy. On Halloween night, the Grand shows Hocus Pocus at 7:00 p.m., with tickets listed at $7 to $10. Macon Burger Week runs at the same time, from Friday, October 30 through Sunday, November 8, at restaurants across Bibb County. Disney on Ice is at the Macon Centreplex October 30 through November 1. For a hungry group, that weekend gives you a lot of options without leaving town.
Many of the people on our team at Alliance Home & Land Group live and work in Middle Georgia and follow these local traditions too. If you'd like to talk about the historic districts near Riverside Drive and downtown Macon, or about anything else in the area, we're happy to share what we know.
