Gutted and Set Afire: The Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor

October 9, 2019 — Pumpkin blazes are the Halloween equivalent of Christmas light shows, and it’s one of the most glorious traditions of the season. Thousands of real and fake pumpkins carved and lit and arranged in sculptures in the night makes it feel like you’re walking through the boughs of Ray Bradbury’s Halloween Tree.

In Croton-on-Hudson, New York, just ten miles north of Sleepy Hollow, the historic Van Cortlandt Manor puts on an annual Great Jack-O-Lantern Blaze. I’ve seen it three times. Once in 2007, again in 2012 (which I posted about here on OTIS), and this year makes thrice. Here are some photos that need no commentary. Also, “blaze” is a much cooler term than “light show.”