For one afternoon each October, a boys' summer camp in East Madison stops being a summer camp. The cabins go dark, the paths get lantern-lit, and roughly two dozen of those cabins are handed over to volunteers who dress them up as a neighborhood — a place where kids can do the thing that has become increasingly rare in modern Halloween: walk from door to door, in the open air, and knock.
That is Halloween Town, which returns for its 15th year on Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, on the grounds of Camp Tohkomeupog, next to King Pine Ski Area. Gates open at 3 p.m. and the event runs until 8 p.m. It is free to enter, and it happens rain or shine.
The premise is simple and, by the standards of contemporary Halloween, almost old-fashioned. Rather than a trunk-or-treat in a parking lot or a ticketed haunted house, Halloween Town builds a half-mile, atmospherically lit pathway through the camp that connects approximately 24 rustic cabins, each transformed by volunteer "gHosts" into a themed haunt. The event's own organizers describe the goal plainly: to offer kids what some of us remember from childhood — a traditional Halloween, the ability to walk around a neighborhood and visit houses in trick-or-treat style.
For the youngest visitors, or for anyone who would rather not be scared, there is the Halloweenie Walk, a stretch of four cabins decorated with a theme of fun rather than fright. Under the big tent, a Kid Carnival runs the full five hours with carnival games — some just for fun, others for small prizes — staffed in part by the Key Club at Kennett High School. Food vendors are set up under tents as well, which is part of how the event holds up in bad weather: most of the haunted areas are inside cabins, and the games and food are covered.
The origin story is a camp reunion that got out of hand in the best way. Halloween Town was first established on the grounds of Tohkomeupog in October 2009, motivated by the idea of getting Tohko alumni together to do something special for the benefit of others. That first year, about 300 people turned out to explore the haunted pathways and visit the theatrically transformed cabins in search of treats and adventure. Since then it has grown into a highly anticipated regional event attracting thousands of visitors each year, and it now draws on hundreds of volunteers — alumni of Tohkomeupog, friends of Purity Spring Resort, and community members — to build and staff it.
The beneficiary has been the same since the beginning: the Laura Foundation for Autism and Epilepsy. The foundation was created after the death of Laura (Hoyt) Mahoney in April 2008, when her family decided to keep her memory alive through a charitable organization built around a cause she believed in whole-heartedly. One of her grandchildren has both epilepsy and autism, and she knew firsthand how devastating the two disorders could be for the people living with them and for the families caring for them.
The foundation's mission is to fund and support therapeutic recreation and educational programs that enrich the lives of people with autism and seizure disorders. Construction on an adaptive recreation facility began in 2009 — the same year as the first Halloween Town — and the Laura Center in Madison has been built in three phases. As phases were completed, programs grew: today the center offers therapeutic horseback riding, indoor rock climbing, adaptive bike riding, social skills training, and life skills training, year-round, and thanks to donations, event fundraisers, and grants, all activities are free to participants. Halloween Town is one of the fundraisers that keeps it that way.
There is no admission fee, and the money flows through the small stuff: donations, food purchases, souvenir sales, and amusement ride tickets all go directly to the foundation. That structure is deliberate — it keeps the barrier to entry at zero for local families while still functioning as a fundraiser.
Logistically, visitors should know that there is no parking on-site. Cars go to the King Pine Ski Area lots, and free van shuttles provided by Purity Spring Resort run between the lots and the event; walking from the lots is also permitted. Handicapped parking is available on-site for those who need extra assistance, and parking along East Madison Road is not allowed. Pedestrian road crossings are monitored by volunteers at marked crosswalks, Madison Police and Madison Rescue maintain a presence throughout the event, and lost children can be reunited with their families at a designated spot.
The setting itself carries some history. Tohkomeupog sits on Purity Lake in the Mount Washington Valley, part of the landscape long associated with the Hoyt family and Purity Spring Resort; the camp was founded in the early 1930s and has been a fixture of East Madison summers ever since, with campers who now include fourth-generation families. For one evening in October, that same ground gets repurposed for a very different kind of neighborhood — one where the doors are cabin doors, the sidewalks are woodland paths, and the whole point is to let a kid in a costume walk up and knock.
Halloween Town runs Saturday, Oct. 24, 2026, from 3 to 8 p.m. at Camp Tohkomeupog, 2151 East Madison Road in Madison, N.H., near the junction of Eaton Road (Route 153) and next to King Pine Ski Area. It is free, family-friendly, and rain or shine.