This article has been updated with new information.
Can we just do away with this whole pretense that Halloween is on the last day of October? It has pretty much become an every-day-in-October holiday. And with early birds putting their inflatable ghosts, corn-stalk-stuffed scarecrows and bigger-than-life-sized skeletons on their lawns as soon as the post-Labor Day cool breezes arrive, Halloween is now more or less one sprawling fall festival.
Sure, there’s the risk of overdosing on scary stuff when it lasts half the season. A big upside is that arts-and-entertainment events turn just a little darker. With the days taking that exact same turn away from the light, the confluence of the atmospheric and artistic shadows creates its own evocative magic.
These Halloween-y arts-and-entertainment events in Vermont might just lure you over to the dark side. The season is brimming over so much the fun overlaps into September and November.
‘Darkness Falls’ on Queen City Ghost Walk
7 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Oct. 26, plus Wednesday, Oct. 30 and Thursday, Oct. 31, Thea Lewis resumes her Queen City Ghost Walk “ Darkness Falls ” tours that, as the event’s website says, features “some of Burlington's most infamous characters and intriguing haunts; theater ghosts, smugglers, serial killers, and more.” $25. www.queencityghostwalk.com
‘The Woman in Black’ comes to Weston
7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2 through 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, the Weston Theater Company presents the ghost story “ The Woman in Black ,” Walker Farm, Weston. $25-$79. www.westontheater.org
Lamoille County Players do musical comedy
7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 3 through 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, the Lamoille County Players stage “ The Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein ” (it’s pronounced “Frahnk-en-steen”), Hyde Park Opera House. $10-$20. www.lcplayers.com
Doctor Gasp visits Radio Bean
7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, New England folk musician Dan Blakeslee becomes Doctor Gasp this time of year and pays his annual visit to perform spooky tunes at Radio Bean, Burlington. $10. www.radiobean.com
Nightmare Vermont turns 20
7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17 through 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, the interactive haunted-house destination Nightmare Vermont marks its 20 th anniversary while scaring visitors with multiple performances Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, Champlain Valley Exposition, Essex Junction. $18. www.nightmarevermont.org
VYO has ‘Terror and Triumph’
3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, the Vermont Youth Orchestra ’s concert titled “ Terror and Triumph ” offers what it calls “spooky and sublime” music including “Dance Macabre” by Saint-Saens, “A Night on Bald Mountain” by Mussorgsky and Tchaikovsky’s “Symphony No. 2,” the Flynn, Burlington. $20-$23. www.vyo.org
Ali T throws Halloween bash
6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, Vermont musician Ali T performs her annual Halloween show (costumes encouraged), Standing Stone Wines, Winooski. $10. www.sheisalit.com
Halloween parade in Rutland
6:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, the renowned Rutland Halloween Parade sends superheroes and scary spirits marching through downtown with trophies awarded for most original, best in parade and most creative. Free. www.rutlandrec.com
Rough Francis leads Halloween bill
7 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, “ Rewind or Die: Night of the Living Tape ” is a Halloween-themed night of local music featuring rockers Rough Francis, Hammydown and Greaseface , Foam Brewers, Burlington. $30. www.foambrewers.com
‘Rocky Horror’ in the shadows
8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, screenings of “ The Rocky Horror Picture Show ” increase exponentially around Halloween, and this one includes a “shadow cast” of local performers acting out scenes in-house as the movie plays on the big screen, The Opera House at Enosburg Falls. $10 suggested donation. www.enosburgoperahouse.com
‘Hot Butter’ for Halloween
9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, “ Hot Butter Halloween ,” in partnership with GayVermont, features local drag queens Rhedd Rhumm and Sasha Sriracha and music from DJ Gaybar for a night inspired by “Dante’s Inferno,” FlynnSpace. $10. www.flynnvt.org
Middlebury experiences 'Rocky Horror'
8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, it's another chance to take part in a screening of " The Rocky Horror Picture Show, " this time at the Town Hall Theater , Middlebury. $15-$20 admission includes "audience participation kit." www.townhalltheater.org
Comedians get possessed
7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Halloween-night shenanigans featuring Vermont standup comedians impersonating more-famous standup comedians (both living and dead) in a night titled “ Possessed! ” at the Vermont Comedy Club, Burlington. $10. www.vermontcomedyclub.com
Mal Maiz celebrates 'Day of the Dead'
7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Burlington-via-Costa-Rica act Mal Maiz celebrates Day of the Dead with a concert at the Town Hall Theater, Middlebury. $20. www.townhalltheater.org
‘Ins-and-Outs of Writing Horror’
1:45 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, the second and final day of the Green Mountain Book Festival offers a post-Halloween panel discussion titled “ Spooky Season: The Ins-and-Outs of Writing Horror ” with moderator Daniel Mills and panelists Margot Harrison, Brian Staveley and Kristin Dearborn , Fletcher Free Library, Burlington. Free. www.greenmountainbookfestival.org
Contact Brent Hallenbeck at bhallenbeck@freepressmedia.com .
This article originally appeared on Burlington Free Press: Celebrate Halloween day - Halloween month, really - with Vermont entertainment events
Local News
Comments / 0