Like New Year’s Eve, Halloween can be all build-up and high expectations, and then some serious potential for let-down. But at least there’s candy, and if you choose well, there is fun to be had, especially if you celebrate All Hallow’s Eve at one of these four fright-fests.
Halloween Boo-lesque (Oct. 29-31)
What’s not to like about zombie burlesque? The Clocktower Clockettes at Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret will dress — and undress — as the undead, vampires, black cats, witches and other goofy/great Halloween favorites, with juggling, magic and comedy thrown into the act. Show up in costume to compete for prizes. The show on Oct. 29 starts at 7 p.m.; the early shows on Oct. 30-31 are sold out (as is the 11 p.m. on Oct. 30), but there’s space left at 11 p.m. Oct. 31. Tickets are $25 for Oct. 29-30 and $40 for Oct. 31. Click here for details
Halloween Cannabis and Hemp Harvest Fest (Oct. 30-Nov. 1)
Consume in private areas (21 and over) and then camp near the ghost town of Carr, an hour and a half north of Denver, hosted by Greenfaith Ministry. Play pumpkin bocce and pumpkin bowling, see a spooky show and live acoustic music, vendors and kids’ activities (they have to stay in an area away from the consumption). Come for the day for $10, but you have to leave by 8 p.m.; overnighters (RV or tent, but no full hookups) cost $25 for the activities. Food and drink for an additional donation, or just BYO. Click here for details
Denver Halloween Costume Ball (Oct. 31)
If the dressing-up part is what jazzes you about Halloween, then this costume ball at the Sherman Street Event Center is a sure bet for finding kindred, um, spirits who also will be going all out to impress with their creativity. The historic building will be elaborately decorated, and your ticket nets an open bar, dancing to the sounds of Deejay Topshelf and DJ Spyda Tek in the Grand Ballroom, and a costume contest awards $1,000 to the best. The fun begins at 9 p.m.; tickets are $75 a person. Click here for details
Haunted Field of Screams (through Oct. 31)
Indulge in something that doesn’t make you paranoid – maybe some Strawberry Cough or Tahoe OG — and head to one of the scariest haunted offerings around. Three experiences are offered in a dirt field in Thornton. The main attraction, the Haunted Field of Screams itself, is a trail you walk through a thicket of 16-foot-high cornstalks as zombies and other deranged characters scare the bejesus out of you. Dean Man’s Night Maze is an actual corn maze that you have to negotiate properly in order to escape, while the zombies and monster try to make it harder for you to get out. And finally, Zombie Paintball Massacre puts you on a hayride (with ten people total each time) armed with a paintball gun to shoot at the swarms of zombies trying to “attack” you. Prices start at $22 for an individual attraction; all three cost $45. There are VIP options, as well, to avoid what will likely be long lines. Click here for details
Even more: There’s an incredible corn maze in the south metro. Get more info
