Screaming good time: Halloween events abound

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Halloween is just days away. Whether you’re looking for the fun of a kids’ costume parade or a scary night in a “haunted” house, you’ll find plenty of venues that offer a spooktacular experience this weekend.

 

Haunted houses

 

If you’re up for a seriously spooky time, be sure to check out some of these frightfully fun hauntings.

In Salem the historic Salem Courthouse has been completely transformed into a haunted building. The show culminates this weekend.

Organizer Rik Sassa said his company Fear This tries to provide something for all ages, with both scary and funny versions of the tour available, and they use the whole building and more, with all three floors in use — including the 1906 jail cells — as well as an outdoor maze. There’s also a kids’ coloring area outside of the haunted house, so very little people can stay occupied while older siblings treat themselves to a fright. Sassa also said there are a number of bail-outs along the route, in case it gets too intense for visitors.

While Sassa and Glenn Cruze do a lot of the setup, it takes a troupe of between 15 and 25 costumed characters to populate the courthouse of horrors. Expect to spend between 20 and 30 heart-pounding, palm-sweating minutes going through the tour.

The event is a nonprofit venture, with proceeds going to the courthouse itself.

Shows are Friday and Saturday evenings, Oct. 26 and 27 and the finale on Sunday, Oct. 28; 6 to 9:30 p.m. nightly. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children 13 and under, $5 for volunteer fire or rescue personnel with identification and $25 for families.

The show is handicap accessible and refreshments will be served. For more information, visit www.fearthis.org or call the Courthouse at 518-854-7053.

 

Middle Granville

Spooks and screams will abound this weekend at the firehouse in Middle Granville, where Nick Crouch has once again set up a haunted house. On several nights through the month of October, Crouch, with the assistance of some of his friends and several firemen has arranged and opened the haunted house.

This year, Crouch has added a hayride behind the firehouse. Money raised from attendance will go to the Middle Granville Fire Department.

There is a $4 admission fee. Children six and under get in for free. The attraction will be open weekend nights Oct. 26 and 27, and will start at 7 p.m. each night and continue until people stop showing up.

 

R. Stiles in Argyle

There’s scary fun to be had in the village of Argyle, where the R. Stiles Haunted House has been frightening people for the past 11 years.

Described as the area’s “most entertaining” haunted house, the R. Stiles House’s ghouls, ghosts and goblins will rise from their “final” resting places on Friday, Oct. 26 from 7 to 9 p.m., on Saturday, Oct. 27 from 6 to 8 p.m. and on Sunday, Oct. 28 from 6 to 8 p.m.

Every year the Haunted House is new and different, with unexpected chills and scares. This unique community event includes participation from the Argyle Science Honor Society and many other volunteers from all walks of life.

All ages are welcome, but parents should determine what is appropriate for their children.

Admission to the R. Stiles Haunted House is $10 for adults and $5 for children. All proceeds will benefit the future Argyle Community Center. For more information, call Cathi Radner at 638-8803 or email [email protected].

 

Haunted theater

In Fort Edward, the Little Theater on the Farm has been transformed for the Eighth Annual Haunted Barn. This year’s theme is “Haunted Theater.”

Along with dozens of volunteers, producers Jeremy Hammond and Sarabeth Oddy have created what is described as the “largest and best haunting in the area.” They warn those who dare to enter the barn to “watch out for Macbeth.” Guided tours will take palce from 6 to 9 p.m.

For this year’s Haunted Barn, the Little Theater has been chosen by Medusa Fright Works to test market its latest product, the Bloody Jiggler. The set piece, which allows people to appear as if they have only a head and torso, will be on display in the haunted barn. “The Jiggler will give our guests a new experience they have never seen before,” said Jeremy Hammond, co-producer of the event.

Admission to the Haunted Barn is $7 for adults and $5 for children. The Little Theater on the Farm is located at 27 Plum Road in Fort Edward. For more information, call 518-747-3421 or visit www.littletheater27.org.

 

Parties, parades and more

 

Whitehall Elks

 

It’s going to be a spooky good time on North Williams Street next Wednesday.

Whitehall Elks Lodge 1491 will host its Spooktacular children’s Halloween party from 6 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 31.

This annual event, which is held on the second floor of the lodge, will feature a number of Halloween-inspired activities.

There will be games, a jack-o-lantern contest, the always-popular ear piercing scream contest, and of course a costume contest. There will also be door prizes, candy, hot dogs and other food and refreshments.

Admission to the event is free and open to the public. For more information, call 499-1750.

 

 

Graveyard poets

Pompanuk Farm presents an evening of enchanting and ghoulishly fun entertainment with The Graveyard Poets at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.

Performing original material written by Peter Maine, the Poets’ music invokes the spirits of doom, death, heartbreak, sin and inevitable redemption, with lots of fun thrown in. The Graveyard Poets are Peter Maine, Bryan Mull and Deena Chappell.

Peter Maine is a long-time songwriter and musician who has released several CDs of his music. He also performs with The Woodshed Boys, the Roadside Blues Band and the Johnny Cash tribute band, The Cash Band.

On lead guitar and vocals, Bryan Mull, from the Glens Falls area, is a talented musician who performs with several bands including The Woodshed Boys. The group is rounded out by Deena Chappell on bass, mandolin and vocals, who has been performing professionally for many years. Her genres include rock and roll, bluegrass, swing, blues and even ancient Sanskrit chanting. She has released two albums of original material since 2009.

Pompanuk Farm is located at 494 Chestnut Hill Road in Cambridge. Tickets for the concert are $10 in advance and $12 at the door. They can be purchased online at www.pompanukfarm.blogspot.com or by calling 518-677-5552.

 

 

War of the Worlds

Just in time for Halloween, the Schuylerville Community Theater will present a staged reading of a new adaptation of “The War of the Worlds.”

Written by award-winning writer Darren Johnson and set in the village of Schuylerville, the play, based on the 1898 H.G. Wells novel, will be presented at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27, and at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28 in the Schuyler Room at the Town of Saratoga building on the corner of Routes 4 and 29 in Schuylerville.

The reading will be presented by new radio station WSCT, and features well-known local personality Joe Peck, village librarian Julie Martin, and Ralph Dimeglio as the announcer.

Originally written by Johnson in 2002 and set in Riverhead, Long Island, the playwright has updated the play to take place in Schuylerville, where a strange meteorite crashes near the Home Depot mall. Tension and humor increases as the characters realize that it wasn’t a meteorite, but actually a spaceship.

WSCT Station Manager Lorraine Thompson will warm up the radio station audience to ready them for the broadcast. Everyone is welcome to come and sit in the audience and be part of the show.

Tickets for the production are $7 per person or $5 for students and seniors. Proceeds will benefit the SCT Production Fund. To reserve, call 518-695-5480.

 

Around the region

When the lights go down on Friday, Oct. 26, Greenwich’s Elks Lodge 2223 Auxiliary will host its annual Halloween Dance for adults from 8 p.m. to midnight at the lodge on Route 40S in Greenwich. Dance to music will by the band, “Green,” and take a chance on winning some prizes and raffles. Cost of the dance is $10 at the door. Also, free taxi service will be provided within 10 miles from 11 p.m. to 1 a.m.  For more information, call 518-692-2347, or email [email protected].

In Cossayuna, a Halloween Party will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Cossayuna Fire Dept., corner of Bunker Hill and East Lake roads. Wear your spookiest costumer and enjoy music, food, candy, cider and surprises. Admission to the party is $5 and free for age 10 and younger.

Over at the Hudson Falls Free Library at 220 Main Street, the Hudson River Shakespeare Company will present “Murder, Mayhem, and the Macabre: A Halloween Reading” of spooky prose and poetry at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27.

Members of the theatre company will read poems and stories by Edgar Allen Poe, Geothe, and of course, Shakespeare. Admission is free and refreshments will be available. Join the company for an evening of creeps, chills and a few laughs. More information is available by calling 747-4418.

On Sunday, Oct. 28 at noon, the Cambridge Farmers’ Market will host a Halloween Parade and Costume Contest for children.

Kids are encouraged to bring along their parents to watch the fun, as the judges invent new and unusual costume categories designed so everyone wins a prize. Children 12 and under will receive a free pumpkin to take home. The event takes place rain or shine at the Cambridge Freight Yard, just off Main Street.

The Greater Greenwich Chamber of Commerce hosts its 21st Annual Halloween Parade and Costume Judging starting at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 28.

Participants should gather at 1 p.m. at the corner of Washington Street and Main Street. The parade will march along Main Street to Academy Street, and then to the Town of Greenwich building at 2 Academy Street, where judging will take place. All children should be accompanied by an adult.

Candy and a participant ribbon will be given to all participants. Judging will take place in five categories: The Best Dressed Pet, The Most Original, The Funniest, The Scariest, and The Best Group.

The Best in Parade will win a $100 prize, presented by the Greater Greenwich Chamber of Commerce. For more information, call 692-7979.

On Halloween, Wednesday, Oct. 31, Cambridge Connects will host the Annual Cambridge Halloween Parade and Costume Contest. Those wishing to participate should gather outside the Cambridge Guest Home at 5:15 p.m. for costume judging in five categories: Cutest, Scariest, Best Group, Most Creative and Best Pet.

The group will then parade to the Rice Mansion Inn for the awards presentation. Cambridge Connects is a community group that is sponsored by the village of Cambridge, and dedicated to providing free family-friendly events.

Also on Halloween, the Hoosic Valley Community Church invites area families to “Trunk-or-Treat,” a safe place to trick or treat at 2024 Route 40 in Schaghticoke. Participants are encouraged to come in costume and enjoy the decorated cars that will have trunks full of treats. Hot dogs, popcorn and other refreshments will be available to purchase, with proceeds to benefit Operation Christmas Child.