Prospect Park's Zombie Hotel, Then Caribbean Dinner at MangoSeed

The Haunted Hotel is the centerpiece of the Fall Festival at the LeFrak Center at Lakeside in Prospect Park, running through November 1. Built by Abracadabra NYC, it is a 7,680 square foot walkthrough with live scare actors and controlled effects, moving through a lobby, guest corridors, a kitchen, a blackout hall, a boiler room and a honeymoon suite. This weekend the hotel opens Saturday from 4 PM to 11 PM and Sunday from 4 PM to 10 PM.

Tickets cover a 30 minute arrival window rather than a fixed time. Groups go in with up to eight guests, and smaller parties join others from the same window. Weekend entry costs 35 dollars a ticket, with walk-ups sold as space allows, though advance windows are recommended. The route includes blackout corridors, sudden scares and live actors in close quarters, and the hotel is recommended for ages 13 and up. Parts of the route run through open air courtyards and rooftop sections, and windows after sundown are the most intense.

MangoSeed sits at 755 Flatbush Avenue, east of the park. After dark, leave Lakeside on the Ocean Avenue side and continue on lit city streets to Flatbush rather than cutting back through the park. The dinner menu leans Caribbean American, with braised oxtail over rice and peas and jerk salmon over plantains and cabbage. The restaurant lists Saturday hours until midnight and Sunday dinner from 5 PM to 10 PM, though the last order time is worth confirming by phone before booking a late hotel window. Ruth at 665 Flatbush is a closer stop for a cocktail by the fireplace.