The North Quabbin region’s only Gilded Age mansion is on track to have a most festive October this year, with two murder mystery weekends and a festival to celebrate the season and all its aura.

The Revival Wheeler Mansion has scheduled a masquerade-themed murder mystery the weekend of Oct. 4 and a vampire-themed murder mystery the weekend of Oct. 11 before the third-annual Orange Pumpkin Festival on Oct. 26. Cynthia Butler, who bought the storied residence in July 2020, said she figured the events would be a great way to mark the spookiest time of the year.

“I’ve held a few private murder mysteries for companies that wanted team-building retreats, but this is the first time that I’ve offered it as a weekend package, where you stay at the mansion,” she said. “I kind of go all-out with decorations, and they’ll be vendors — we have about 20 vendors.”

Butler said she settled on masquerade and vampire themes because they tie in perfectly with October. As of noon on Sept. 24, the masquerade-themed event had one ticket remaining while the vampire-themed event had many.

Butler explained the weekend festivities start with breakfast on Saturday morning, after which guests are free to do whatever they want until the murder mystery game that night. She said attendees are assigned a character before they arrive and are given a game guide that generalizes what they should say, though they are allowed to adlib as much as they want. Butler essentially narrates the 20-character game, which lasts about two and a half hours.

“It’s like an adult game of Clue,” she said. “It makes for a nice, intimate group and game, which I think makes it a more fun night. You’re not overwhelmed by too many people.”

Butler said dinner is served during the murder mystery and the weekend’s meals are catered.

The Orange Pumpkin Festival is slated for 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Oct. 26. There will be a costume contest and pumpkin-carving contest, both with prizes and free to enter. There will also be ticketed children’s games, operated by the North Quabbin Chamber of Commerce, and a haunted house.

Butler said the previous two festivals were phenomenal, attracting at least 1,000 people each.

“I do see a lot of unfamiliar faces as well as a lot of familiar faces,” she said, adding that the property’s hedge maze will be open. “It’s a fun afternoon.”

The rain date is Oct. 27. More information is available at tinyurl.com/OrangeMansion and www.orangepumpkinfestival.com.

John W. Wheeler, who made his fortune manufacturing and selling sewing machines and served as president of the New Home Sewing Machine Co., built the 15,406-square-foot brick mansion at 75 East Main St. in 1902 and 1903 for his wife, Almira.

Wheeler died in the building in 1910 and he deeded his home to the Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic sisterhood. Then-Athol Daily News writer Allen Young reported the building was owned by the Eastern Star for much of the 20th century, serving as a home for its elderly members, who are said to have surrendered their wealth “in exchange for unparalleled comfort and care in their last days.” The Eastern Star closed the building in 1990, and Karen and Robert Anderson bought it from the Star Realty Trust for $240,000 in 1996, according to Young. The new owners had intended to open a bed-and-breakfast called Anderson Manor, but those plans never came to fruition.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.