Fort Stanton Flashlight Tour
October 30
Over the years, Fort Stanton has been a military fort, a tuberculosis hospital, a prison, and a rehab center. While guests can normally only visit seven of the 85 buildings, on the last Friday of the month, the 120-minute guided Flashlight Tour also explores the nurses’ ward, two floors of the hospital, and private rooms featured in a 2019 episode of Ghost Hunters. “There’s so much history,” says Amy Hoffman, an interpretive ranger at Fort Stanton and Lincoln Historic Sites.
Spirits of New Mexico, La Ciénega
October 23–24
The Spirits of New Mexico event in La Ciénega is all about vibes. Spend an October evening wandering El Rancho de las Golondrinas, illuminated by flickering candles, as costumed interpreters dressed like La Llorona and Billy the Kid tell tales of New Mexican legends and lore. “Embracing a paranormal, ghostly realm is embracing the past and acknowledging its influence on the present,” says special events manager JC Gonzalez.
Ghost Stories in the Old Prison Yard, Las Cruces
October 11 and 25
In 1951, Mary Waters was brought into the Old Doña Ana County Courthouse in Las Cruces—and within minutes, the guards heard a scream. When they found her deceased, her face was frozen in horror. Waters and the spirits of seven others are said to haunt the courthouse. Over the years, visitors have heard cell doors slam and sensed that something was watching. Southwest Expeditions provides ghost tours of the 1937 courthouse and jail that include refreshments and campfire stories.