NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Spooky, isn't it? The Halloween costumes have already hit the shelves at the drugstore. An aisle of individually wrapped candies appeared overnight at the supermarket. And last weekend, your neighbors decorated their house with enough pumpkin cutouts and fake spider webs to make a diehard Halloween enthusiast pause.

Afraid you're going to get sick of Halloween before it's even time to pin up your paper skeletons?

Maybe you should try something different this year. Plenty of places across the country and abroad celebrate Halloween in unusual ways. Halloween is "San Francisco's unofficial Christmas," according to Lonely Planet's global travel editor, Don George.

Or head south, to Oaxaca, Mexico. Every year, the country erupts in joyous memory of deceased loved ones, with elaborate processions, altars, and masses, making it a top Halloween travel destination, said George.

Here are some other Halloween hot spots:

The Salem Witch Trials of 1692 remain Salem, Mass.'s biggest claim to fame, 310 years after the fact. Fourteen women and 5 men died after being found guilty of "witchcraft," considered consorting with the devil.

Salem itself is full of museums -- some about the trials, and others, like the House of Seven Gables, made famous by Nathaniel Hawthorne's eponymous novel, from colonial times.

Halloween is Salem's most important holiday, with celebrations beginning in early October. The House of the Seven Gables, the oldest surviving mansion in New England, offers special tours at night, where guests explore the house by the light of colonial lanterns. The Peabody-Essex Museum holds several "Eerie Events," where guests gather round bonfires for ghost stories told by professional actors.

For more information... • Hawthorne Hotel, Salem, Mass. • San Francisco Convention & Visitors' Bureau • San Francisco's Exotic Erotic Ball • New Orleans Haunted History Tours • Oaxaca's Tourist Guide • Discover Louisiana • Salem Office of Tourism

Kids eager to dress up can attend weekend costume brunches, where they decorate pumpkins and receive Halloween goodies. For similarly inclined grown-ups, the Hawthorne Hotel hosts a costume ball -- the Black Cat Bash, with live music, tricks and treats, and fierce costume contests.

"The ball is a huge attraction, with about 750 to 1,000 people. We've done it for about 15 years, and the costume competition is huge -- people start planning their costumes the night after the ball for the following year," said Juli Lederhaus, a spokesperson for the Hawthorne Hotel.

You might think a holiday that focuses on your deceased loved ones would be sad or mournful. Not in Mexico. In fact, it's a joyful time, when the spirits of the dead pay a visit to the land of the living. Families decorate their graves, cook meals with their favorite foods, and build festive altars to honor them.

The Day of the Dead begins on the old European All Hallows Eve (better known to most as Halloween) and continues on November 1 and 2. The holiday combines Aztec and pre-Hispanic elements, said Max Harris, author of Aztecs, Moors and Christians.

Oaxaca, in particular, is known for its Day of the Dead festivities, said Lonely Planet's George. Oaxaca, on the southwest coast of Mexico, is a colonial-style city and the folk art center of the country, said Melisse Gelula, an associate editor with Fodor's. Oaxaca is also a haven for foodies -- many Mexican foods, such as traditional mole sauces, are Oaxacan in origin, Gelula said.

Before the holiday, bazaars and markets begin to fill up with death-themed trinkets -- plastic skeletons and skulls that relatives sometimes emboss with the names of the deceased, marigolds, the old Aztec flower of the dead, and pan de muertos, or the bread of the dead, often with plastic skeletons baked into loaves.

"There are altars prepared at home and at the cemetery site, decorated with copal incense, flowers, food, and so on," Gelula said. "It's lovingly prepared, and abundance is key."

The first night is the night of the angelitos, or the children who died in infancy, said Harris, and the second night is for older friends and family who have passed away.

"It's not in the least bit creepy," Harris added. "It's packed with tourists, and I think what's so attractive to them is seeing real comfort with the idea of life and death. The atmosphere I found was one of real peace. And it's beautiful. It's elaborate, in that the entire acre of cemetery, every inch, is covered in candles and flowers."

Halloween is a natural time to promote tourism to New Orleans, said George. Voodoo, a combination of Roman Catholic and African beliefs with its roots in the former French colony of Haiti, has been a part of the city's history since its earliest days. Given Voodoo's use of what many might consider "spooky" imagery, Halloween is a natural time to explore that part of the city's heritage, he said.

Also in CNN/Money Travel • Great Autumn drives • Fall foliage train

"One good place to visit is New Orleans' Historic Voodoo Museum," said Gelula. "It's set up like an attraction, but it's really pretty earnest."

New Orleans also boasts many haunted houses (so they say), and several above-ground cemeteries, which you can visit as part of a tour for some interesting ghost history, Gelula said. Try one of New Orleans' Haunted History Tours.

The Haunted History Ghost Tour, for example, "explores the grim and ghastly deeds of the old French Quarter;" there's also a Voodoo and Cemetery Tour, among others. (You can even schedule a stay in a haunted room, hotel or bed & breakfast, if you're brave enough.)

"Last November, New Orleans was ripe with haunted tours, accentuating the city's spookier places," Gelula added.

And, of course, no Halloween night would be complete sans costume party -- New Orleans boasts an enormous one, held in the French Quarter of the city.

For a Halloween you'll never forget, you need look no further than Frisco. If you're serious about rocking a really elaborate costume, it's the only place to go.

"Halloween has pretty much become the civic holiday of San Francisco, especially in the Castro district, the traditionally gay district," said George. "The streets are full of revelers, people really dress flamboyantly, and the whole thing is done in a spirit of fun."

Some Halloween festivities are for grownups only. The Exotic Erotic Ball, on October 19, is the main one. It's the largest indoor masquerade ball in the world, complete with magicians, sword-swallowers, fire-eaters, ethnic dance troupes, and a costume competition, of course, according to the San Francisco Convention and Visitors' Bureau.

"It's the longest running, largest event of its kind; everyone from Chris Isaak to Madonna has come, but our motto is that everyone's a star," said Perry Mann, who started the San Francisco ball 22 years ago. "About 15,000 people come, and they let it all hang out for one night."

Other events have the kids in mind. Halloween Boo at the Zoo, at the San Francisco Zoo, is for the little ones, with games, rides, treats and "encounters with live animals." (They ask that kids wear costumes but no masks, so the animals don't get scared. Go figure.) And Halloween Heroes, at FAO Schwarz, gives kids a chance to meet the San Francisco Giants, who come dressed as themselves.