Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year, so you might have to pass on that trip to Transylvania, but that doesn't mean that you have to sit home and watch the Creek. There are plenty of creepy, crawly places just a rental car drive, train trip, or plane hop away that will get you in a Halloween mood.

One of the most popular Halloween destinations on the East Coast is Salem, MA, home of the witch trial hysteria you read about in high school. Besides the Witch Museum, you can visit Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of the Seven Gables, take a guided walking tour of the city's best haunts, have your fortune told, and check out various shops where you can purchase potions, crystals, spell books, and more. There's also a Pirate Museum. Arg!

For a truly terrifying trip, why not combine a graveyard adventure with vampires and voodoo down south in New Orleans? The above-ground tombs, built to prevent the dead from floating away when the water levels rise under this below sea-level city, are like nothing you've ever seen. If you escape the cemetery, you can lurk around Anne Rice's house and attend her annual Coven Ball, learn more about gris-gris and the voodoo priestess who made it famous (Marie Laveau), or visit Emeril Lagasse's restaurant, NOLA (Sure, the food is heavenly, but those prices? Yikes!). Catch some jazz in the French Quarter to mellow out afterward.

Out on the West Coast, there's nowhere eerier, and nowhere with a better view of San Francisco, than the former island prison of Alcatraz. Is that the Birdman I hear, or just some seagulls? Head south to L.A. for a visit to Knott's Scary Farm, and have a scream on their ghoulish roller coasters. You could also check out Fright Fest, a Halloween celebration going on at several Six Flags locations throughout October. Check to see if the park nearest you has one, and use your ISIC card for a reduced admission.

Want to find some hair-raising parties? Go straight to Key West and take part in Fantasy Fest, held from October 19 through 28. There will be street parties, costume balls, beach games, a pet parade, plus all the usual spring breakish activities, but you get to wear a mask.

If you just want a day trip, there are dozens of other pumpkin festivals and Halloween celebrations going on in smaller communities across the U.S. For more information on events near you, check with counciltravel.com.

Finally, if none of these suggestions work for you, well, you can just go to Hell. (It's in Michigan.)