Halloween Happenings: Celebrate Around Boston This Weekend

Looking for a different way to celebrate Halloween this weekend? Here are our suggestions, from a spooky story slam to haunted films (and even something for the Halloween averse). 

Thursday/Friday Oct. 31/Nov. 1 @ 8 p.m. | OBERON, Cambridge

“A macabre and tasteless night.”

ARTery editor Greg Cook suggests this Halloween twist on the Boston Circus Guild's old Vaudeville-style juggling, hula-hooping, balancing acts, flips, contortionists, burlesque and acrobatics on land and dangling from ropes in mid-air. Think circus stunts plus zombies, sociopaths, and torture with live musical accompaniment Thursday by Johnny Blazes and the Pretty Boys and Friday by Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band. Creative attire is encouraged. ($20-$35)

Thursday, Oct. 31 @ 8 p.m. | Puppet Showplace Theatre, Brookline

"Witness the darkside of traditional folklore" as professional storytellers from massmouth host a scary story showdown. Audience members will also be invited to share their own encounters with the supernatural. ($5-$10)

Thursday, Oct. 31 @ 7:30 p.m | Berklee Performance Center, Boston

Join the Berklee Musical Theater Ensemble and Orchestra for a "musical haunted house" as they perform classics like "Thriller" and "The Time Warp." ($8-$12)

Here's a look at what to expect:

Saturday, Nov. 2, 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. | Peabody Museum, Cambridge

Bring the whole family and learn about the Aztec origins of el Dia de los Muertos. Enjoy live music, crafts and tradition snacks in addition to the museum's permanent exhibit, which includes an ofrenda, or alter, and pieces of Mexican folk art. Be sure to catch a demonstration from master woodcarver Ventura Fabian, of Oaxaca. Check out the full program here. (Included in price of admission, free-$12)

Saturday, Nov. 2 at 7:30 p.m. | Regent Theater, Arlington

Catch "Vampyr," a 1932 silent German expressionist film set in a village outside of Paris that follows a traveler "obsessed with the supernatural and fascinated by the occult," alongside the 1925 silent horror film adaptation of Gaston Leroux's "The Phantom of the Opera." Both shows will feature a live score from the Andrew Alden Ensemble. ($12-$15)

While you're there, check out a temporary exhibit from the International Life Cast Museum featuring cast imprints of famous faces from Hollywood horror films like Alfred Hitchcock and Stephen King.

Friday, Nov. 1, doors @ 8:30 p.m. | TT the Bear's Place, Cambridge

Not much for itchy polyester costumes? Have a hard time sleeping after a horror flick? We've got you covered.

You Won't, a band consisting of Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri, two high school friends from Lexington, has a sound "founded on acoustic guitar and twinkling piano and Arnoudse's heart-on-his-sleeve vocals about longing and loss."

And Bombadil, from North Carolina, is "by turns witty and earnest, crafting artful arrangements around hummable hooks."