Looking for something Halloween-y to do this month? We’ve pulled together a long list of all sorts of events — from not-so-scary trick-or-treating for the little ones to full-blown haunted house experiences and costumed cocktail parties for adults.
The Bangor Historical Society has upped its game when it comes to the spookier side of its historical tours of Bangor. In addition to its popular “Ghostly Bangor” tour, a ghost tour that happens in downtown Bangor at 7 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays through the end of October, the historical society will also offer “Darker Mount Hope,” an evening tour of Mount Hope Cemetery with visits to the graves of some former Bangor denizens who died under tragic or mysterious circumstances. There are three “Darker Mount Hope” tours planned for this month, all set for 7 p.m. Oct. 13, 19 and 27. For more information, visit the Bangor Historical Society Facebook page. Tickets are $10.
Bucksport goes all out when it comes to Halloween. Almost everybody already knows about Fright at the Fort, the largest Halloween event in Maine, which annually attracts thousands of people to Fort Knox State Historic Site across the bridge in Prospect for some seriously scary haunted house fun. This year’s event celebrates the Fright’s 20th anniversary, and there are five nights, set for Oct. 12, 18-19 and 25-26. And in downtown Bucksport on Oct. 19, there’s the annual Ghostport event, which features a children’s parade, a pumpkin trebuchet, lots of food and vendors, and Jonathan Buck’s Race to the Grave, in which participants race a self-built coffin down Main Street. For more information, visit the Bucksport Bay Chamber website.
Two worlds collide in downtown Bangor on the weekend before actual Halloween. From 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, there’s the annual Downtown Bangor Trick or Treat, where businesses all across town offer up candy to young witches and wizards. Simultaneously, the Bangor Zombie Walk is set for 3 p.m. on the Bangor Waterfront — hundreds of people dressed as zombies will lurch, crawl and stumble toward downtown, with suggested donations to participate benefiting the Wounded Warriors Foundation.
Prefer to get your Halloween kicks indoors, in a comfy theater? There are several options to see a show that will tickle your scary bone. This weekend at the Criterion Theatre in Bar Harbor, there’s the classic farce, “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” at 7 p.m. Oct 11-13, with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee. In Bangor on Oct. 17, the Penobscot Theater Company opens “Gaslight,” a Victorian melodrama running Wednesdays-Saturdays through Nov. 3 at the Bangor Opera House. And in Orono, Some Theatre Company reprises its ridiculously bloody production of “Evil Dead: The Musical,” Oct. 31-Nov. 3 and Nov. 7-9 at the Keith Anderson Community Center.
Got some little kids for whom some Halloween stuff is just a little too scary? There are plenty of not-so-scary events for young ones, such as United Cerebral Palsy of Maine’s annual Pumpkins in the Park, set for noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 20, at the Anah Shrine Temple at 1404 Broadway in Bangor. Admission is $10 per family. Treworgy Family Orchards in Levant offers a Family Night Maze from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 18 and 19 and Oct. 25 and 26, with donuts, cider and a hay ride included in admission ($12 per person). And in Orono, the University of Maine’s Witter Farm in Old Town hosts its annual Trick or Trot from 6 to 8 p.m. Oct. 25, featuring a scavenger hunt, games, baked goods, and an opportunity to meet and have photos taken with the farm’s horses, cows and sheep.
Nothing says Halloween like a scary movie — and there are plenty to watch in the next few weeks. On Sunday, Oct. 27, the Maine Discovery Museum and Queen City Cinema Club will co-host movies on the Bangor Waterfront, with “Garfield’s Halloween Adventure” followed by “Hocus Pocus,” beginning at 5:30 p.m. At Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville, the theater will show “Damnationland X,” the yearly short film festival of Maine-made horror, at 7:15 p.m. Oct. 28, and horror classic “The Evil Dead” at 9:30 p.m. Oct. 31. And on Halloween itself, Oct. 31, the Grand Theatre in Ellsworth will show “Edward Scissorhands” at 7 p.m., with admission just $1.
The Jesup Memorial Library in Bar Habor will hold its annual “Murder by the Book” event Oct. 18 and 19, featuring a dozen mystery and thriller authors giving talks and signing books. This year’s keynote speaker is Maine author Linda Greenlaw, whose mystery novels are set on the fictional Maine island of Green Haven. The weekend kicks off on Friday, Oct. 18, with a ticketed wine reception with the authors, set for 6 to 8 p.m. On Saturday there will be a daylong celebration of mystery and thriller novels that is free and open to the public.
Do we even have to explain anymore that Halloween isn’t just for kids? Adults love it just as much — sometimes more — than children. There are several fun Halloween parties for adults happening around the Bangor area, including a Halloween drag show set for 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 12, at Bangor Inn & Suites, featuring 11 Maine drag queens. Later on in the month, there’s the MDM After Dark party, set for 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, at the Maine Discovery Museum, with proceeds from the $10 admission benefiting the museum’s programming and outreach. There’s also the Monster Ball Costume Party, set for 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, at Top of the Nine on Central Street in downtown Bangor. And out in Hermon, Morgan Hill Event Center will host a Costumes & Cocktails event, benefiting the Courageous Steps Project, set for 8 p.m. to midnight Oct. 26. Admission is $30 for individuals or $50 for a couple.
