Tour an eerie landmark by flashlight in honor of ‘Halfway to Halloween'

A PARASOL, A BROOCH, A LACE COLLAR: There are many articles of clothing or items that a person might be wearing or holding when they visit the Winchester Mystery House, a San Jose attraction that has long been called one of the Golden State's more ghostly landmarks. If you're rocking a contemporary look while visiting, you might have a fanny pack or purse on you; if you're costumed in Victorian wear, as a tribute to the massive mansion's first chatelaine, Sarah Winchester, you could be wearing a brooch or lace.

SOMETHING YOU DON'T HAVE... while taking most tours of the colossal house? You're not holding a flashlight... usually. Sometimes, though, on a rare and much-anticipated night tour, flashlights are distributed to guests, all to give people the chance to explore the unusual abode in a low-lit environment. The destination's popular "Flashlight Tours" do flicker at various points of the calendar — you're apt to find them adding glow to any Friday the 13th — so keeping an eye out for these popular events is recommended, if they're on your must-do list. And coming up in late April and early May, four nights of flashlight-centered exploration will glow as the Winchester Mystery House celebrates "Halfway to Halloween."

APRIL 19... is the first of the four 2025 "Halfway to Halloween" flashlight nights — April 26, May 3, and May 10 will follow — and tickets are available now. The after-hours events head "... into areas that are off-limits on the Mansion Tour, offering access to more spaces where guests and mediums have reported paranormal activity." And there are a lot of spaces inside the structure, along with doors that open onto walls, stairways that lead to nowhere, and odes to the number 13, a favorite of Sarah Winchester. For details on the tours, which mark the point in the year when Oct. 31 is six months out, point your flashlight in this direction.