This year, the historical Avery House received a spooky makeover for their one-night-only Halloween tours. Pumpkins, cobwebs and flickering candles adorned the historic house.

Starting at 6 p.m. and continuing every 30 minutes until 8 p.m. on Oct. 26, a volunteer docent brought small groups of guests through the house while diving into the history of Halloween.

Groups started in the Carriage House just down the street. They were treated to hot apple cider and various sweet treats while they waited for their tour guide to arrive. Each tour group was led through the main floor of the house and then led upstairs, the tour eventually culminating in a special exhibit room dedicated to the history of fur.

“I fully admit that when I walk into the house, I say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Avery and tell them I’m there. I’ve had blinds go up by themselves and lights go on by themselves. The romantic in me wants to say it’s totally the Averys, but that little logical side says it’s also old wiring in the house and the blinds we have don’t stay down anyways.” -Sarah Tisdale, Poudre Landmarks Foundation president

Sarah Schiewe, an art history major in her senior year at CSU, described the differences between a regular tour of the Avery House and the Halloween-themed tour.

“When you do a regular Avery House tour, you get to learn about historical Fort Collins, the Averys themselves and the house and Victorian architecture,” Schiewe said. “But with the Halloween tours, we mainly focus on Halloween traditions that the Victorians would have shared.”

The tour discusses the origins of many beloved Halloween traditions such as bobbing for apples, Ouija boards and carving pumpkins, all while remaining family friendly.

“I’ve always loved haunted houses,” 9-year-old attendee Hawken said. “They showed us the crawl spaces and stuff on that one. But I liked this one better. I liked how they made it look like the Victorian era.”

While being family-friendly, the tour was still informative enough to appeal to adults as well. One guest, Carolyn Anderson, expressed interest in returning for another tour.

“I would definitely come again,”Anderson said. “Apparently they do a Valentine’s and Fourth of July tour, too. I would like to do the Valentine’s one.”

Built in 1879 by Franklin and Sara Avery, the house was bought from the City of Fort Collins by the Poudre Landmarks Foundation for preservation.

With such an extensive history, rumors about the house being haunted were bound to start circulating. Though the tour itself didn’t discuss any mentions of ghosts haunting the house, some still lean into the idea of the Averys remaining in the house. Sarah Tisdale, president of the Poudre Landmarks Foundation, said that she’s always felt comfortable being in the house alone and late at night.

“I fully admit that when I walk into the house, I say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Avery and tell them I’m there,” Tisdale said. “I’ve had blinds go up by themselves and lights go on by themselves. The romantic in me wants to say it’s totally the Averys, but that little logical side says it’s also old wiring in the house and the blinds we have don’t stay down anyways.”

The house is predominantly maintained by volunteers. All proceeds from tours go back directly into continued management of the house.

“The Avery House provides people with a hands-on experience of history,” Tisdale said. “All of the tour guides there are super excited and really invested in sharing that information. All of us have the little areas that we’re particularly interested in, so depending on who your tour guide is and what kinds of questions are asked, you’ll learn different things.”

Reach Em Barry at life@collegian.com or on Twitter @CSUCollegian.