Halloween Weekend Happenings
Looking for a frightfully good time this Halloween weekend? Read on for info on Halloween-themed club nights, haunted houses, and eerie midnight movies to events for the little ones to don their costumes, collect candy and have a blast.
Who doesn't love a good ghost story? If you want to experience the sites of haunted tales in Detroit, check out the Haunted Detroit Tours, a bus ride that provides guests with ghost hunting gear and travels to the best ghostly sites in the area. (Tickets are $35-40).
Looking for a fun, safe, way to spend Halloween? The Detroit Recreation Department is hosting parties for all ages at various recreation centers, through October 31. Belle Isle's Halloween Extravaganza will take place Saturday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Oct. 31, from 6-9 p.m. The nominal $3 admission fee includes the tunnel of terror, hayride, and carnival games. For a party schedule, call (313) 224-1129 or visit www.detroitmi.gov/recreation.
There's still time to get in a good scare at a local haunted house! Check out some of these picks for ideas:
The Famous House: Erebus, a four-story haunted house in Pontiac, is a thrilling adventure from floor to floor. This year house boasts a terrifying buried-alive chamber in which guests are bombarded with objects, giving them the sensation that they are being buried alive. There are over 70 interactive actors. The Erebus experience can be too scary for many children, so the house advises adults and teens to come and get terrified. The house opens at 6 p.m. and closes at 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, 11 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $22 per person, learn more and buy tickets online here.
Combines Frights and Food: If you want to combine scary adventure with delicious treats look no further than Wiard's Orchards of Ypsilanti! The orchard grounds are said to be truly haunted. Be prepared to confront your fears at one or all of the Wiard chilling haunted attractions: the Ultimate Haunted Barn, the Asylum, the Mineshaft, Hayrides of the Lost, the Labyrinth and Alien Caged Clowns. After you have had your fill of terror, enjoy fall treats like cider, donuts, and caramel apples at the Wiard's Bakery. Tickets are $15 for a single event, $29 for all six events. Weekend hours are from 7p.m. to 11:30 p.m. Learn more here.
Horror with a Heart: This two-story paranormal-centered attraction inside the 127-year-old Cass Community Methodist Church delivers scares for a good cause. Brought to you by Cass Community Social Services, proceeds go to Social Services programs that support homeless mothers and children. This is the eighth season of scares at the haunted church, which features "the scariest dungeon in Detroit." Located on 3901 Cass, Detroit. Tickets are $10. $8 children 12 and under.
If scary flicks are your thing take in a spooky midnight movie show! Head to Royal Oak's Main Art Theatre to see Evil Dead October 29 or 30 at midnight (118 North Main Street). The Penn Theatre in Plymouth has a series of events called the Shock-tober Classics. Catch Poltergeist Saturday, Oct 30 at 7:00 & 9:10pm and Sunday, Oct 31 at 5:00 & 7:10pm, All seats $3.00.
Children will love to dress up in their costumes a few days early and head to some of the fun youth-oriented events around the area.
Nothing beats combining Halloween fun with animals! Dress up the kids and take them to go trick-or-treating along a festive trail and see their favorite zoo sites in a whole new way. Zoo Boo will be held rain or shine from 6-8 p.m. October 29-31. Be sure to check out the Haunted Reptile House, where friendly witches, vampires and other monsters have taken up residence for the Halloween season. In the Ghouly Games Tent there will be Halloween-themed games, prizes, arts and crafts and a hay maze. The popular live mini-musical "Zoo Boo Revue" will be performed in the Main Picnic Grove. New to Zoo Boo is the Zombie Zone, featuring ghastly games, spooky activities and pumpkin-carving demonstrations, and a costume contest. Advance tickets for Zoo Boo can be purchased at the Zoo or online . Tickets are $7 per person, ages 2 and up.
Another great place to take the kids is the DIA Museum Mystery Tour! Get into the Halloween mood and commune with the spirits of long-departed artists with a museum mystery tour of the American art galleries. Guides tell tales and secrets about the artists whose work haunts the DIA. You've never seen the galleries like this: eerie lighting and sounds in the dark, but we'll keep it fun and family friendly, so bring the kids (in costume or not), ages five and up. Tours leave from the Great Hall approximately every ten minutes. Finish the tour with a mask workshop where kids can create their own works of art!
Many Metro Detroit communities are having trick-or-treat events, and Halloween celebrations in their downtown areas!
Farmington: 10/30/10, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Halloween Fest, face painting, kids activities, a free movie, and trick or treating at downtown businesses.
Ferndale: 10/30/10, 4 to 6 p.m. Trick-or-treating at downtown businesses
Grosse Pointe: October 29th, 2010, 3:30 to 4:45 p.m. The Village hosts a Halloween Parade with trick-or-treating throughout stores.
Rochester: 10/30/10, 2 to 4 p.m. The Village of Rochester Hills presents a variation on a theme with its Trunk 'R Treat event. Rather than go store to store, kids will go car to car around Festival Park. There will also be games and prizes.
The Detroit Recreation Department is hosting parties for all ages at various recreation centers from October 22 through October 31. Parties for youth, ages 12 and under, will take place on Halloween at all neighborhood recreation centers. Activities include carnival games, costume contests, and traditional "treat" giveaways. Teens, ages 13-17, will have opportunities to visit haunted houses and participate in teen dances. The senior parties and harvest celebrations include luncheons, costume parties and games. All parties, including harvest celebrations, are free and open to the public.
Belle Isle's Halloween Extravaganza will take place Saturday, Oct. 30, through Sunday, Oct. 31, from 6-9 p.m. The nominal $3 admission fee includes the tunnel of terror, hayride, and carnival games.
The nightlife around Halloween is always a buzz.
Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 8pm the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit (MOCAD) hosts Blood 'n Kittens (Admission: $10 at the door, $20 without costume.) Blood 'n Kittens is the third annual Halloween dance party hosted by MOCAD's young professionals auxiliary committee, the New Wave, as a fundraiser for the Museum.
Royal Oak embraces the vampire craze with its True Blood Annual Vampire Ball October 29 from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m at the Sky Club (401 South Lafayette). Vampire attire is encouraged!
Continue the fang-themed fun Saturday October 30 with Natasha Alam, True Blood actress, who is hosting a Halloween party at V nightclub (1777 Third St.) in the MGM Grand Detroit. Music at a True Bloody Halloween by DJ Captn 20. Doors open at 10 p.m.
A NightMare on Hamilton Row: The Hamilton Room will be transformed into a Haunted Hell with glow-in-the-dark props, DJs (Donovate Tate and Surab Deb) dressed as devils, an Archangel drummer and more. 9 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 31, the Hamilton Room, 201 Hamilton Row, Birmingham, (248)593-6565. $10 pre-sale on neptix.com.
While you're out an about this weekend, remember to consider the special Halloween-weekend curfew in effect in Detroit. Details here.
