This weekend, New York City ditches its cheerful, shiny, Big Apple persona to embrace its inner pumpkin — guts and all.
Keep it natural at the New York Botanical Garden or go down the rabbit hole to a psychological wonderland at Greenpoint Hospital or roll with the freaks in Coney Island – literally, on one of Luna Park’s amusement rides. Gotham’s Halloween festivities are as diverse as the city itself, whether you’re in the mood for a murder mystery or something more lively.
New York City’s 39th Annual Village Halloween Parade
Village Halloween Parade
Manhattan
Wed, Oct 31, 2012, 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Come see the nation's most wildly creative public participatory event in the world!
Third Rail Projects: Then She Fell
Arts@Renaissance
Brooklyn
Sat, Oct 06, 2012 - Sun, Nov 18, 2012
Former Greenpoint Hospital in Williamsburg becomes psychological wonderland in "Then She Fell." This immersive theater experience, based on the writings of Lewis Carroll, runs through November 18.
Halloween Murder Mystery
Mount Vernon Hotel Museum & Garden
Fri, Oct 26, 2012 - Sat, Oct 27, 2012
In this fictional mystery game, loosely based on an historic newspaper account, an unidentified skeleton has been discovered under the floorboards of the Mount Vernon Hotel. Who was killed? By ...
CADAVERT: Broadway’s Halloween Cabaret
54 Below
Manhattan
Wed, Oct 31, 2012, 11:00 pm
“Cadavaret” features some of Broadway's finest performers singing some devilish ditties from musicals with a “darker” theme, including Sweeney Todd, Little Shop of Horrors, Wicked, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Damn ...
Barbicide
Players Theatre
Manhattan
Thu, Oct 25, 2012, 8:00 pm
The Theatre Project presents Barbicide, A haunting reflection of the Sweeney Todd legend, with just a dash of Mafioso mythology. Barbicide is a noir-ish revenge play of interwoven monologues, ...
Oh! You Pretty Things: Phantom of the Rock Opera
Le Poisson Rouge
Manhattan
Wed, Oct 31, 2012, 9:00 pm
Oh! You Pretty Things returns with a Halloween spectacular in tribute to the horror-classic PHANTOM OF THE OPERA and camp-classic PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE featuring incendiary performances by Michael T ...
Big Dance Theater and Sibyl Kempson: Ich, Kurbisgeist
Chocolate Factory Theater
Queens
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 - Sat, Nov 10, 2012
Five absurdly fearful and doomed characters sing, dance, and harvest pumpkin seeds. Every word is semi-recognizable: an amalgam of English, Swedish, German – and Sid Ceasar. The language is as ...
Edvard Munch’s The Scream
Museum of Modern Art
Manhattan
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 - Mon, Apr 29, 2013
Edvard Munch's iconic "The Scream" (1895), among the most celebrated and recognized images in art history, will go on view at The Museum of Modern Art for a period of ...
Zorn Halloween Celebration
St. Paul's Chapel
Manhattan
Tue, Oct 30, 2012, 6:00 pm
An encore to last season’s packed-to-the-gills performance, John Zorn returns to St. Paul’s Chapel for another improvised performance on the beautiful Aeolian-Skinner organ.
Bats at Belvedere
Belvedere Castle
Manhattan
Fri, Oct 26, 2012, 5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
Get up close and personal with a few night flyers. Rob Mies, bat expert and director of the Organization for Bat Conservation, will introduce kids to a Big Brown bat, ...
The Haunted Pumpkin Garden
New York Botanical Garden
Bronx
Sat, Oct 06, 2012 - Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Through October, the Haunted Pumpkin Garden at the New York Botanical Garden will treat visitors to frightful Halloween fun. Experience the thrills and chills of the season with a garden ...
Halloween Extravaganza and Procession of Ghouls
Cathedral of Saint John the Divine
Manhattan
Fri, Oct 26, 2012, 7:00 pm
The evening begins with a silent horror film accompanied by eerie organ music, followed by a beautifully orchestrated parade of Halloween puppets as they march through the Cathedral. The early ...
La Fête
Company XIV
Brooklyn
Wed, Oct 31, 2012 - Sun, Dec 09, 2012
If Clue were set in a Brooklyn loft space inhabited by beings caught between the court of Louis XIV and the runways of New York Fashion Week, you might just ...
Manhattan’s Most Haunted House
Merchant's House Museum
Manhattan
Thu, Oct 25, 2012 - Wed, Oct 31, 2012
Come see the house The New York Times called “Manhattan’s Most Haunted” by flickering candlelight and hear about strange and inexplicable occurrences from the people who actually experienced them.
Coney Island: Nights of Horror
Luna Park—Coney Island
Brooklyn
Fri, Oct 12, 2012 - Sun, Oct 28, 2012
Big rides, huge thrills, extreme scares — can you handle Coney Island's scariest haunted house?
Murder Ballad
Manhattan Theatre Club
Manhattan
Tue, Oct 30, 2012 - Sun, Dec 02, 2012
A love triangle gone wrong, "Murder Ballad" centers on Sara, an Upper West Sider who seems to have it all, but whose downtown past lingers enticingly and dangerously in front ...
Day of the Dead: A Tribute to Mexican and Mexican American Women
St. Mark's Church-in-the-Bowery
Manhattan
Thu, Nov 01, 2012 - Sun, Nov 04, 2012
The 10th annual Day of the Dead (Día de muertos) celebration in New York City includes a variety of events and workshops in the churchyard of St. Mark’s in-the-Bowery, from ...
A Wake: Still Lives and Moving Images
Dumbo Arts Center (DAC)
Brooklyn
Thu, Nov 01, 2012 - Sun, Nov 25, 2012
"A Wake: Still Lives, Moving Images" combines, video, cinema and photography in a co-mingling of media which bring the still into motion, and the motion into emotion. In the tradition ...
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company: Día de los Muertos
Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace
Manhattan
Sat, Nov 03, 2012, 7:30 pm
The Calpulli Mexican Dance Company will perform its celebrated repertoire and the premiere of a Día de los Muertos suite, evoking the unending relationship between the living and the ...
Creepshow at the Freakshow: Dirty Work at the Wax Works
Coney Island USA
Brooklyn
Wed, Oct 24, 2012 - Wed, Oct 31, 2012
"Dirty Work at the Wax Works" is a demented story told by the 1970s Night Watchman of Coney Island's infamous Presidential Wax Works. If you take his after hours, crack ...
Haunted Historical Tour
Garibaldi-Meucci Museum
Staten Island
Fri, Oct 26, 2012, 7:30 pm
You are invited on a haunted historical tour hosted by the Staten Island Paranormal Society and the New York Paranormal Society. Each tour of the 160-year-old Gothic revival-style house and ...
Day of the Dead Celebration
National Museum of the American Indian‚ Smithsonian Institution
Manhattan
Sat, Oct 27, 2012, 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
The National Museum of the American Indian in New York celebrates Day of the Dead with a procession and performances by the renowned dance group Cetiliztli Nauhcampa (Mexica) and hands-on ...
Halloween Treats in NYC — Fun Events for the Whole Family
Rather than scaring kids silly, these late-October events engage young revelers in creative projects, hands-on crafts, costume-making and plain old fun. And for trick-or-treaters, young or old, here's hoping that ...