On October 31, 2026, Stony Brook Village has something planned from 9 a.m. to midnight. The Stony Brook Fire Department starts its Monster Dash on Main Street that morning. The Ward Melville Heritage Organization runs its free Halloween Festival at Stony Brook Village Center from noon to 4 p.m. At 7 p.m., the Country House Restaurant opens its adults-only costume party, and the DJ plays until midnight. The restaurant sits at 1175 North Country Road. These events are run by a fire company, a heritage nonprofit and a restaurant, and they normally fall on different days of the week. A Saturday Halloween puts all three back to back.
The house where the evening ends also explains much of the earlier calendar. Most of the ghost stories in WMHO's October walking tour come from the Country House, and the tour stops on the last weekday before the party starts.
Saturday, October 31, in order
| Time | Event | Where | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9:00 a.m. | Monster Dash 1-mile fun run, untimed | Stony Brook Fire Department, 147 Main Street | $23.45 with processing fee |
| 9:30 a.m. | Monster Dash 5K run/walk | Same start | $38.98 at the current rate, fees included |
| Noon to 4 p.m. | Trick-or-treating in Village shops and eateries, games in the Inner Court | Stony Brook Village Center, 111 Main Street | Free |
| 1 to 3 p.m. | WalkFM and Walkie Bear | Village Center | Free |
| 2:00 p.m. | Scarecrow Competition awards | Village Center | Free |
| 7 to 10 p.m. | Three-course dinner with unlimited wine and beer | Country House Restaurant | $110 per person |
| 7 p.m. to midnight | DJ and costume party, adults only | Country House Restaurant | No charge for party-only guests |
The registration page for the Dash says the race runs rain or shine and encourages costumes. Runners who registered by October 1 were guaranteed a t-shirt. The early-bird 5K price of $33.80 ended on September 26, so anyone registering now pays the higher rate shown in the table.
Both morning races start at the firehouse on Main Street, and the festival is held at the Village Center on the same street a few hours later. A family that runs the fun run could be in costume for trick-or-treating before lunch ends. WMHO's festival schedule also lists a photo stop with Monster Merlin. The event is free, and the organization takes questions at 631-751-2244.
The 2 p.m. scarecrow announcement ends a contest that has been running in public all month. According to TBR News Media's Photo of the Week, more than 50 scarecrows are lined up along the Village Center walkways, and several of them are tributes to Dolly Parton.
The week that builds toward it
Saturday is the end of a schedule that starts two weeks earlier. Some of it is free and close to home, and some of it needs a ticket.
- Saturday, October 17, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The same firehouse that hosts the Dash holds a free Fire Prevention Day open house with demonstrations, emergency vehicles and vendors.
- Through Sunday, October 25. Scarecrow ballots are available at participating Village Center shops and restaurants, and a completed ballot can go back to any Village shop. The contest has three categories: past first-prize winners and professionals, adult-led individuals or families, and children's groups.
- Sunday, October 25, 1 to 4 p.m. The Long Island Museum's Halloween Family Fun Day is free and invites costumes. It includes pumpkin painting, crafts and a Mad Science show. The museum is also asking for non-perishable food donations for its fall food drive, which provides meals to food-insecure schoolchildren across Long Island.
- Thursday, October 29, and Friday, October 30. WMHO's Hidden Beneath the Floorboards walking tour costs $15 per person and starts at Stony Brook Village Center.
- Friday, October 30, 6:30 p.m. Staller Center's fall lineup at Stony Brook University includes "Coco" Live-to-Film.
- Friday, October 30, 7 to 8 p.m. Little Cheese Shop teaches a Halloween charcuterie workshop for $89 per person.
Halloween always falls on a weekday or a weekend, and in most years it lands on a weekday. The 2026 calendar gives a Thursday and Friday of ghost tours, a Friday night of film and cheese boards, and then the main day itself.
Why the night ends at a 1710 house
WMHO's description of the walking tour lists piracy, the Long Island witch trials, a link between spiritualism and the start of the Suffrage Movement, a pair of star-crossed lovers, and "the history behind the haunting at Country House Restaurant."
WMHO's village audio tour dates the house to 1710. It describes the building as a farmhouse, a town meeting place and a stagecoach stop, and says it likely quartered British troops during the occupation of Long Island from 1776 to 1783. The restaurant's own account traces the commercial names that followed. The property became the 1710 House in 1970, the Hadaway House in 1973, and the Country House Restaurant in 1978. TBR News Media describes 1175 North Country Road as a residence from 1710 until 1970.
The ghost at the center of the story is an unnamed woman in local legend, and the details change depending on who tells it. WMHO's audio tour recounts the legend. TBR's roundup of North Shore haunts reports alleged cries and flickering lights in the kitchen and stairways. The restaurant's version associates the story with what is now the Old Field Room. None of these sources offers archival proof that the woman lived or died there. The story survives as folklore, which suits the purpose of a ghost tour.
WMHO's audio account adds a second layer. It says visitors, particularly children, have reported sightings. It also says a séance pointed to a family cemetery. The same account connects the house to 19th-century spiritualist séances involving Thomas Hadaway and the painter William Sidney Mount.
The Village Center's party listing calls the restaurant "said to be the most active paranormal spot on Long Island" and adds that "you don't get to be three hundred years old, without a few ghosts in the attic." Reservations go through 631-751-3332.
The tour's other Halloween story has a harbor setting. According to TBR's guide to North Shore Halloween events, the star-crossed lovers are Mark and Sarah, who lived by the harbor in the 1800s. WMHO's tour page says the pair meet each year on Halloween. The sources give no fuller account. In 2026, the night those two are said to return is the same night the village's party schedule ends.
Details that change the plan
- Tour dates. The header on WMHO's event page says October 30 to 31, but the detailed schedule lists Thursday, October 29, at 3:30 p.m. and Friday, October 30, at 10:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. No tour is listed on Halloween itself, so it is a good idea to confirm with WMHO before planning around Saturday.
- Scarecrow numbering. WMHO calls this the 36th Annual Halloween Festival but says it will announce the winner of the 35th Scarecrow Competition. TBR and the Village Center call the contest the 36th. Either way, the awards are at 2 p.m.
- The Grist Mill. The Village Center's January 2026 listing said the Stony Brook Grist Mill was not accessible to visitors, so check its status before going. A free audio tour of its history is available at any time through January 1, 2027.
- Staller tickets. The university's season announcement gives dates and times for "Coco" and the rest of the fall lineup, but it does not list ticket prices.
- Food drive. The Long Island Museum's October 25 event is free, and visitors can bring a non-perishable food donation for the museum's fall food drive.
The Country House has stood on North Country Road since 1710. If you own an older Stony Brook home and want to know how its age, history and setting translate into market value, SERHANT. Port Jefferson can prepare a valuation from local sales data, starting with a walk through the rooms that make the house what it is. Get Your Home Valuation.
