There’s a murder (mystery!) at Kearney Mansion. Plus other spooky season fun in Fresno
In an alternative timeline, Fresno’s Kearney Mansion has been renovated into a hotel.
Guests have been invited to the historic home for a grand opening celebration; a bit of food and frivolity.
It’s an event fitting the moment.
“And it’s destroyed by murder,” says Elizabeth Laval, president of the Fresno County Historical Society, which hosts its second annual Mystery Dinner series starting Oct. 27.
“Of course, we’re going to do it around the spookiest holiday of the year.”
The fictionalized murder plays out like a live-action game of Clue. There’s a dead body and no police or detective on site. The visitors, sequestered into groups of five or six people, must move from room to room, questioning suspects (played by local actors well-rehearsed in their roles) and discovering clues to solve the case before the detective arrives.
At the same time, guests can enjoy some libations (read: cocktails) and a four-course grazing menu with a different course in each room.
But this is no easy solve, Laval says.
Of 235 guests at last year’s dinners, just one was able to figure out the motive, the means and the murderer.
The dinner fundraiser runs for five nights, with a Saturday matinee, beginning 6 p.m. Oct. 27. A final performance takes place on Halloween.
Tickets are $150 in advance only and available at valleyhistory.org until they are gone.
The event is one of several that have been created as a way to bring people out to the mansion, which was built in 1903 on 225 acres of parkland east of Fresno and originally owned by M. Theo. Kearney. The ideas is to have guests interact directly with with a piece of Fresno’s history, Laval says.
“We’re trying to bring history to life,” she says.
“It’s important to keep the mansion alive.”
Across town, the Meux Home is also gearing up for Halloween.
The Victorian mansion and museum is hosting a series of Candlelight Mourning tours from 6-9 p.m. Oct. 29. The museum, built in 1989 as the home of Thomas Richard Meux., is decorated as it would have been after the death of a family member to give visitors a sense of what it would have mourn a loved one when the house was in its original use.
Tours run every 20 minutes and are limited to 12 guests. Tickets are $20 and available online at meuxhomemuseum.org.
Halloween and adjacent events in Fresno
Arte Americas, Fresno’s Latinx cultural center, has its major seasonal offering noon to 5 p.m. Oct. 25. The Cala Gala is held in conjunction with the museum’s Día de los Muertos exhibit, La Anoranza (the Longing). The exhibit is up through Dec. 1.
The Fresno Chaffee Zoo is hosting its annual Zoo Boo on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights Oct. 14-29. This year’s event run 5-8 p.m. and features more than 1,000 pumpkins with more than 100 uniquely designed patterns and personalities. Tickets are $16-$22.
The Fossil Discovery Center, at 19450 Road 21½ Ave. in Chowchilla, is hosting a Haunted Night at the Museum, 6-9 p.m. Oct. 29. The flashlight tour of the fossils includes a candy giveaway, a haunted pond, a costume contest for ages 10 and under and an optional dinner with the Great Pumpkin. Tickets are $5 for those 2 and up.
The Air Lounge at Granite Park (4000 N. Cedar Avenue) is throwing a Freaky Friday Halloween Costume Party, 9:30 p.m. Oct. 28. The event is hosted by Marques Anthony and Richardo P, and features music from DJ Straws. Tickets are $20. This is an adults-only event, so 21+ please.
Two-tone ska legends English Beat headline an ’80s Halloween bash, 8 p.m. Oct. 29 at Strummer’s (833 E. Fern Avenue). Tickets are $28 and all ages.
Haunted attractions
Raisin Hell Ranch, the cornfield and maze just north of Fresno, is open 7-10 p.m. Wednesdays to Sundays through to (and including) Halloween. This year the ranch has two haunted attractions, plus Bloody Mary’s Beer Garden (a 21+ only area with ID and security wristband). Tickets are $25-$45, or $20-$35 on off-nights.
Out in Sanger, Hobbs Grove starts its haunting at dark. Attractions run Wednesdays to Sundays through Oct. 30 (and excluding Oct. 12) with a Monster Masquerade costume party Oct. 29 and a Hallow’s Eve party Oct. 30. That one features music from Dying Suns. Ticket combos are $45.50-$51.50 for adults depending on the date. Single attraction tickets are also available.
The Clovis Haunted Trail returns to Willow Avenue. The blocks-long outdoor, walking experience is filled with eerie music, fog and trees, spooky lighting, live (well, dead) zombies, creepy clowns, coffins, headstones, pumpkins, hay bales, witches, skeletons and creepy dolls. The trails runs nightly Oct. 28-30. Tickets are $14 for adults, $6 for children under 12 and available at clovishauntedtrail.com.
