Happy haunting

Remember being scared of vampires and werewolves and, like, Freddy Krueger and other cool monsters instead of pretty much every facet of daily life? Nowadays, Halloween is perhaps the most relaxing time of the year, so let’s pumpkin spice it up. Here’s a lucky 13 or so fun-sounding goings-on going on in the metro this month. If you’re scared we left something out, visit our online events calendar at okgazette.com/community for even more occult options or to add an event of your own.

Do you like scary movies?

See films ranging from spooky fun to genuinely terrifying screens around town, including perhaps the silliest movie inspired by the Salem witch trials, 1993’s Hocus Pocus at Outdoor Movie Night, starting at sunset on Friday, Oct. 17 at Lion’s Park, 450 S. Flood Ave., in Norman. Admission is free. 

Oklahoma Film Exchange, 701 W. Sheridan Ave., is screening seasonally appropriate selections all month long, including D(e)AD on Saturday Oct. 11, Night Hunter on Friday, Oct. 17 and The Night of the Living Dead on Friday Oct. 31. Visit oklahomafilmexchange.com for a full list. Most screenings start at 7 p.m., and admission is pay what you can. 

Flix Brewhouse, 8590 Broadway Extension, is also screening holiday classics including The Lost Boys on Saturday, Oct. 11 a classic Dracula and Frankenstein double feature on Monday, Oct. 27 and, appropriately enough, Halloween on Friday, Oct. 31. Dates have multiple screening times, and tickets are $9.49. Visit flixbrewhouse.com for a full schedule.

They(’re) live

If you prefer to get your goosebumps from live performers, you can do “The Time Warp” again at the recently resurrected Rocky Horror Show at Lyric Theatre, 1725 NW 16 St., through Nov. 1. Tickets are $32-$88, available at lyrictheatreokc.com. For more creepy choreography, sink your figurative teeth into Oklahoma City Ballet’s production of David Nixon’s Dracula at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17, and Saturday, Oct. 18, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19 at Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N. Walker Ave. Tickets are $39-$130 and available at okcballet.org. 

Skeletons aren’t complete without funny bones, so take some time to laugh at death before it laughs at you. At Murder Night in Blood Forest, the latest touring live production from the podcast Welcome to Nightvale, where “murder” means “a gathering of crows,” but also the other kind of murder, at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24 at Tower Theatre. Tickets are $39.12-$51.99, available at towertheatreokc.com. Haunt to Go!, meanwhile, offers “An Occult Cocktail Experience” with paranormal investigators, possessed artifacts, psychic mediums and other Halloween treats for fans of interactive sketch comedy at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 25 at Holiday Inn & Suites, 6200 N. Robinson Ave. Tickets are $40-$60 and available at hahamuseum.com. We’re also classifying The Operating Theatre as comedy because we wouldn’t know where else to put it. Part of the Theatre Crude Fringe Festival, the production promises a “part-game show, part-choose your own autopsy” that hearkens back to a time when “surgeries and dissections used to be attended by paying audience members.” Remaining showtimes are 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 8 and 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 10 at 3rd Act Theatre Company, 12000 N. May Ave. Tickets are $15, available at theatrecrude.org. 

Local artists will stretch the meaning of “live music” by performing songs from no-longer-living legends including Leonard Cohen and Freddy Mercury at Night of the Singing Dead at The Depot, 200 S. Jones Ave., in Norman at 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 26. Admission is pay-what-you-can. Visit normandepot.org for more information. 

Beloved local ’90s tribute act My So-Called Band will play its annual Halloween show at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Tower Theatre, but believe it or not, some of the original artists who played those songs way back before the turn of the century are still alive today. Tickets are $21.09-$43.49, available at towertheatreokc.com. And you can keep the spirit of the season alive through the Day of the Dead at the Costume Party Creep Show at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 51st Street Speakeasy, 1114 NW 51st St., where Keathley, Coat and Major Good are scheduled to perform. Admission is $5 at the door. All three shows mentioned in this paragraph will have costume contests because it’s the actual most wonderful time of the year.

Mad monster parties

Speaking of costumes, Mix-Tape After Hours will give adults 18 and older a chance to get their own Halloween get-ups together with provided crafting supplies at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, at Factory Obscura, 25 NW Ninth St. Tickets are $24, available at factoryobscura.com. But where do you show off your diabolical DIY duds? You can head back to Factory Obscura on Friday, Oct. 31 to join the Hallow’s Eve Procession, departing at 7 p.m. Admission to this outdoor event is free, but tickets to the Halloween Concert and Dance Party inside are $18-$20, available at factoryobscura.com.

You can party like it’s 1925 at the Halloween Jazz Masquerade starting at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 at Uncanny Art House, 106 E. Main St., in Norman, where you can don Roaring-’20s-inspired attire, listen to live jazz by Butter and the Genre, drink cocktails from Scratch Kitchen & Cocktails, and check out the art in the gallery’s immersive exhibition In the Company of Paintings. Tickets are $10-$15 and available at uncannyarthouse.com.

For more sophisticated spoopiness, hit the opening of the goth-inspired exhibition Dark Hearts at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Mycelium Gallery, 2816 N. Pennsylvania Ave., where you can enjoy local art, live music and, of course, a costume contest. Tickets are $10 and available at myceliumgallery.com.

Frighteningly family friendly

Most of the events we’ve mentioned so far are pretty adult-oriented, but we’re told children also enjoy Halloween. Gourd-enthusiasts of all ages will want to take a trip to Pumpkinville, open through Sunday, Oct. 26 at Myriad Botanical Gardens, 301 W. Reno Ave., which boasts a bustling pumpkin population artfully arranged in murals and other museum-inspired displays. Tickets are free-$10, available at myriadgardens.org.

On Saturdays and Sundays throughout October, Haunt the Zoo at the Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place, offers trick-or-treating and seasonal photo ops alongside the animals, who may or may not think it’s any weirder that the people gawking at them are dressed as Labubus or whatever for a few weekends. Tickets are $9-$10, available at okczoo.org.

Boot-scootin’ boogeypeople will want to giddy up to HalloWest at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 23 at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum, 1700 NE 63rd St., where they can trick-or-treat in the museum’s model town, Prosperity Junction, and enjoy crafts, face-painting and a Halloween hoedown. Tickets are $20, available at nationalcowboymuseum.org, but admission is free for children age 12 or younger. 

And finally, you can find something for the whole family (if your family is cool) at Paranormal Fest 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 18 at Ronald J. Norick Downtown Library, 300 Park Ave., where you can watch movies, shop vendor booths and learn about cryptids, tarot cards and local hauntings from guest experts. Admission is free, but registration is required at metrolibrary.org.

This article appears in Celebrate the season across OKC.