Diamond Hill Park Goes Quiet This October. Here's Where Cumberland's Halloween Went.

From 2002 through last fall, Cumberland's October had a fixed center. Every year a haunted attraction filled the back of Diamond Hill Park, and it drew thousands of visitors. This year the park is quiet. 13th World held its last Cumberland season in 2025, and the town's Parks and Recreation Director, Mike Crawley, told The Valley Breeze that no other Halloween event is planned at the park this year.

Cumberland still has a Halloween season. It's just spread out now. A farm stand, a garden center, a vineyard, two parishes and the public library each host something, and most of them chose the same day. Saturday, October 24 now does the job one park used to do across several weekends.

A Haunt That Outgrew Its Park

13th World started in town. Co-founder Rich Vaillant grew up in Cumberland. He was in his early 20s when he and former town Recreation Director Craig Letourneau worked out the idea for an adult Halloween attraction. Zeke Fortier of Woonsocket joined that first year, and a volunteer crew built nine sets at the back of the park.

By its 10th year, the event was bringing in about $70,000 a year. By 2015, it was running as Cumberland's Haunted Hill, with a crew of 60 local ghouls, support from the recreation department and up to 8,000 visitors. In 2017 the town handed the event over to Vaillant and Fortier, who renamed it 13th World. In 2022, its 20th season, the team bought a 30-acre property in Palmer, Mass., about an hour away, and built a permanent fright park there.

The Palmer park has about three times the staff the Cumberland attraction had. Vaillant said the short setup window at Diamond Hill limited what the Cumberland show could become:

"Our Cumberland attraction had a very limited amount of time to develop, and because of that, it simply never had the opportunity to become what 13th World is in Palmer."

He also said there's no immediate plan for another fright park in Rhode Island, though he "wouldn't rule out a second location someday."

So Diamond Hill Park's October draw is gone, and nothing is scheduled to replace it at the park. The rest of the town picked up the slack in a different way.

One Saturday, Six Hosts

The old haunt filled the park over several October weekends. This year Cumberland's events mostly land on a single date. Here is Saturday, October 24, in order by start time:

Three of these are on Diamond Hill Road, so one road now holds much of the town's Halloween. The events also cover different ages and times of day. That matters because the haunt that left was built for adults. 13th World started as an adult Halloween attraction.

Before planning around the table, a few details:

• Trunk or Eek has a rain date of Sunday, October 25. Northland's Facebook announcement, linked from the RhodyOutings trunk-or-treat guide, calls it their first-ever trunk-or-treat. It includes music, refreshments, raffles, games and a costume contest.
• St. Aidan–St. Patrick is collecting donated candy, individual snacks and juice boxes ahead of the event, and asks donors to avoid nuts and red dye 40. Guests can also grab a snack in the parish hall.
• St. John the Baptist Mary Vianney hadn't posted a time when the guide went out. The listing says to call the parish office for details.
• Diamond Hill Vineyards calls its party an annual event. This year's version adds vendors and a tarot reader to a set of darker, atmospheric vinyl, and all-black or Halloween costumes are "highly recommended."

The Monastery Takes Over the Scares

For anyone who misses the scary part of the old haunt, the closest thing in town this year is at the library. The Cumberland Public Library's Haunted Monastery is in its third year. To mark the library's 50th anniversary, this year's haunted house is themed on horror films of the 1970s and '80s.

The library's event page says plainly that it's meant to be scary. It includes total darkness, flashing lights, loud noises and jump scares, and it isn't recommended for children under 14. The standard route has stairs, and an accessible route is available on request. Admission is free, there's no registration, and entry is first come, first served, so expect a wait at busy times.

The 6 p.m. start lines up with the St. Aidan–St. Patrick trunk-or-treat at 6:30. That allows a split evening, with younger kids at the parish hall and older kids and adults at the Monastery.

The library's teen calendar starts the season two weeks earlier:

1. Thursday, October 8: Hocus Pocus movie night in the Teen Center, 5 to 7:30 p.m., ages 12 to 18.
2. Friday, October 9: A Ghost Hunt Lock-In in the Community Room, 9 to 11:55 p.m., with a signed permission slip required. The page shows registration as full.
3. Thursday, October 15: Disco Skulls in the Community Room, 6 to 7 p.m., grades 6 to 12.

Several adult craft programs this month, including a Halloween decorations Crafternoon on October 17, were already listed with no open seats at last check. Waitlists were still available for some of them.

Phantom Farms Closes Its Season the Same Day

The other big October draw has been building for the past few weeks on Diamond Hill Road. Phantom Farms started its third annual Fall Fest on Saturday, September 12, and has run it every Saturday and Sunday since, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Three weekends are left: October 10–11, 17–18 and 24–25. That means the last Fall Fest weekend falls on the same Saturday as the trunk-or-treats and the Monastery.

Returning visitors will find some changes this season, according to The Valley Breeze's preview:

• A new orchard overlook, built with concrete and stone to the right of the greenhouse, with a three-season tent planned
• New railings on the back deck, replacing the old wooden ones
• "Phantom Mobiles," decorated golf carts playing music that carry guests from an expanded back parking area on busy weekends
• A new hayride wagon to go with a new tractor
• Beer and cider service, now approved for the festival

The bakery offers 10 to 20 pumpkin and apple pastries, including a pumpkin maple whoopie pie and a new caramel apple cheesecake. The new drink this year is the Phantom Phreeze, a frozen cider with English toffee syrup, house-made butterscotch whip and a cider donut on top. The farm has also announced plans to make and serve its own cider and wine.

For a quieter evening there before the 24th, Phantom Farms hosts a Fall Sip & Paint on Wednesday, October 14, from 6 to 8 p.m. Tickets are $50 per person, include supplies, instruction, coffee and pastries, and must be bought in advance. The farm notes that all Fall Fest activities depend on the weather, so it's worth checking the Phantom Farms calendar before heading out on the final weekend.

Two Ways to Spend the 24th

With six things on one date, the schedule sorts itself mostly by age. Two routes fit the posted times:

With younger kids: Start at Phantom Farms in the late morning for the hayride and hay bale maze. Head to Northland's Trunk or Eek on Pine Swamp Road when it opens at 2. After an early dinner, finish at St. Aidan–St. Patrick at 6:30 with a canned good for the blessing box.

With teens or a group of adults: Arrive at Diamond Hill Vineyards in costume when the party starts at 2. Get in line at the Monastery soon after 6, since entry is first come, first served and busy stretches mean a wait.

Both routes stay within Cumberland, and neither goes near Diamond Hill Park, which has no Halloween event scheduled for the first time in 24 Octobers.

If you're mapping out October 24, or wondering how other parts of Cumberland's year come together, Baker 21 Realty is always glad to talk Cumberland, the Halloween calendar included. Reach out any time. We'll answer quickly and happily.