A Victorian funeral becomes the focus of an unusual after-hours experience at Marietta’s William Root House on Friday and Saturday, October 23–24, 2026.

The Victorian Funeral Flashlight Tour runs from 5 to 9 p.m. and invites visitors to explore darkened rooms arranged around the customs of death and mourning in the 19th century.

Unlike a conventional haunted-house attraction, the experience draws its atmosphere from real historical practices and objects.

Guests can encounter period-related artifacts including embalming equipment, mourning jewelry made with human hair and a death mask.

The effect is eerie, but the history behind it is what gives the evening its real weight.

The tour is self-guided, allowing visitors to move through the house and examine displays at their own pace.

The William Root House is itself a historic setting, so the architecture and rooms add a layer of authenticity that a modern event venue could not reproduce.

October naturally brings a flood of fictional scares, costumes and haunted attractions, but this event takes a different route by looking at how earlier generations actually responded to death.

Victorian mourning could involve elaborate rituals, clothing, keepsakes and household practices that may seem strange to modern visitors.

Seeing those customs inside a historic home turns abstract history into something much more immediate.

The event is scheduled late enough to benefit from the darker evening atmosphere, with tours available during the four-hour window.

Admission is $10 per person in advance or $15 at the door, with no coupons or discounts, according to the museum.

Because the displays include death-related artifacts and themes, families should consider whether the material is appropriate for younger children before attending.

The Root House is located at 80 North Marietta Parkway NW, close to the larger historic downtown area.

That location makes the flashlight tour easy to combine with dinner or another stop around Marietta Square.

For history-minded visitors, the appeal is not manufactured fright but the uncomfortable familiarity of real customs from another era.

The event also fits naturally into Marietta’s broader October calendar, which ranges from large outdoor festivals to theater, art and smaller specialty programs.

Those smaller experiences can be especially rewarding for residents who have already attended the city’s better-known seasonal festivals.

The flashlight format encourages visitors to notice details that might be overlooked during an ordinary daytime tour.

Darkened rooms, period objects and the funeral setting create a deliberate sense of intimacy around a subject Victorians treated with extensive ceremony.

Friday, October 23 is the date to remember, with the special tour scheduled from 5 until 9 p.m.

Visitors should check current admission and arrival information before heading out because special-event procedures may differ from standard museum hours.

For locals who want their Halloween-season outing to include genuine history, the Victorian Funeral Flashlight Tour offers one of Marietta’s most distinctive October evenings.

It is spooky because the past is real, not because someone is waiting behind a curtain to jump out.

Arrival and a separate October exhibit

The museum’s funeral page recommends arrival no later than 8:30 p.m. and says space is limited. Its daytime Victorian Funeral exhibit runs October 1–31 under regular museum admission; that is different from the ticketed evening flashlight experience. Consult the museum’s visitor page for ordinary visiting arrangements and accessibility questions.

For another seasonal outing, our Phantom screening guide covers October 25 at The Strand, while our HarvestFest guide covers October 17. Facts were checked October 3, 2026. Confirm tickets for the correct night before travel and allow time to reach the house before the recommended latest arrival.