After hiking in Hocking Hills State Park, my boyfriend and I planned to spend Halloween in a secluded cabin in the woods watching scary movies (but not Evil Dead or Blair Witch or Friday the 13th or Cabin in the Woods or…you get it.) Cabins by the Caves were nice enough to offer accommodations just a short drive away.
Checking in
After some delicate maneuvering to get my soccer mom van all the way up the steep hill (I need it for all of my illegitimate children!) we finally pulled into the gravel road leading to our log cabin, The Jackson. The atmosphere was perfect. The space had a grill, a picnic table, a fire pit, a hammock strung between two trees, and a hot tub. Check-in was simple. The lock code and instructions were sent by email before my visit, so we just entered the code, retrieved the key, and went inside.
The Jackson Cabin
It was adorably cozy inside, with a small kitchen, spacious living room, fireplace, and two bedrooms, one of which we used as luggage space. We were exhausted and starving, so I kicked back in the hot tub while Boyfriend catered to my whims and cooked up some burgers. We watched The Omen as the sky grew dark, and by the time the ominous Latin chorus blared over the credits, it was pitch black. At that point, we watched Shaun of the Dead because I was too much of a baby for anything else (I like scary movies, but I get too scared. It is a conundrum.)
I was very taken with our accommodations, though the wooden cabin creaked and settled quite a bit, and the animals scurrying across the porch in the night did not help. Combined with my crippling anxiety, a head full of horror movie tropes, and the conviction that Michael Myers was just outside waiting to murder us all, it made for a restless night. In the morning, however (in the obvious safety of daylight), I was once again enamored of the place. I highly recommend visiting in the fall. Waking up to sunlight flickering through autumn leaves was lovely. But maybe don’t watch any horror movies…especially cabin-based ones…
Special thanks to Cabins by the Caves for sponsoring my visit—all opinions, as always, are my own.
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