20 Halloween events offering frights and fun across Oklahoma
After the COVID-19 pandemic took a Dracula-size bite out of last year’s Halloween festivities, the spooky season is making a comeback in 2021.
Although some events, venues and organizations still have pandemic precautions in place — and a few favorite festivities are still missing from the calendar — all signs point to this Halloween trending toward the good kind of scary. Here are 20 Halloween events offering fun and frights across Oklahoma:
1. Halloween on 9th Street
When: 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 31.
Where: Factory Obscura, 25 NW 9.
Information and tickets: https://www.factoryobscura.com.
The OKC artist collective Factory Obscura will open the final door in its fantastically spooky “Doorways” temporary exhibition, host an all-night social media costume contest and feature an immersive theatrical performance called “Unraveled” in its Mix-Tape attraction.
2. Frontier City’s Fright Fest
When: Through Oct. 31.
Where: Frontier City, 11501 N Interstate 35 Service Road.
Information and tickets: https://www.sixflags.com/frontiercity.
During the day, the OKC theme park offers family-friendly festivities like the Trick-or-Treat Trail, Timber Town Little Monster Maze, Día de Los Muertos Ofrenda and more. Haunting nighttime attractions include the new Garden of Evil, Cirkus Berzerkus, The Atomic Fellowship and more.
3. 38th Annual Haunt the Zoo for Halloween
When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through Oct. 31.
Where: Oklahoma City Zoo, 2000 Remington Place.
Information and tickets: https:// www.okczoo.org.
The OKC Zoo’s long-running trick-ortreating event offers 13 candy stations with contactless treat delivery, along with family-friendly themed booths to set the scene and a variety of theme crafts and activities. Plus, “Haunt the Zoo: All Grown Up,” will serve up Halloween fun for people ages 21 and older, including entertainment by Brothers Griiin and a 1920s speakeasy bar and karaoke tent, from 7 to 11 p.m. Oct. 29.
4. Scissortail Park’s Day of the Dead
When: Noon to 8 p.m. Oct. 31. Where: Love’s Travel Stop Stage and Great Lawn at Scissortail Park, 300 SW 7.
Information:
https://scissortailpark.org.
The Festival de Vida y Muerte festivities include colorful art, live music, traditional dances, authentic food, community ofrendas, a cultural market and more. The downtown OKC park also is hosting a Treat Trail from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 30, with music, costumed characters, food vendors and more.
5. Science Museum Oklahoma’s grown-up scares
When: Oct. 22 and 29.
Where: Science Museum Oklahoma, 2020 Remington Place.
See HALLOWEEN, Page 18A
Tickets: https://www.science museumok.org.
Science Museum Oklahoma is inviting grown-ups 21 and older to celebrate the season at two events: Learn “How to Escape a Horror Movie,” with topics ranging from chainsaw defense to organ dissection, from 6 to 10 p.m. Oct. 22. Adults can delve into “Secrets of SMO” — tales of strange noises, odd happenings and unusual sights collected over the museum’s six-decade history — at 7 p.m. Oct. 29.
6. ‘ Terror at Tenkiller’ at Circle Cinema
When: 9:30 p.m. Oct. 29.
Where: Circle Cinema, 10 S Lewis Ave, Tulsa.
Tickets: https://www.circlecinema. org.
Tulsa’s nonprofit theater will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the infamous slasher flick filmed at Ft. Gibson with a new 4K restoration.
7. Oklahoma Shakespeare in the Park’s ‘Macbeth’
When: 8 p.m. Thursdays-Sundays Oct. 28-Nov. 14.
Where: Shakespeare Gardens, 2920 Paseo.
Tickets: https:// www.okshakes.org. The venerable theater stages The Bard’s classic tragedy in its new outdoor performance space in the Paseo Arts District. For young theater lovers, Oklahoma Shakespeare will present a new event, the Children’s Halloween Festival, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 30, with mask painting, treats and “Classics for Kids” performances.
8. Philbrook’s Singalong Saturday: Halloween Edition!
When: 10 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 30.
Where: Philbrook Museum of Art, 2727 S Rockford Road, Tulsa.
Tickets and information: https://philbrook.org.
Families can wear their costumes and boogie down to a special Singalong Saturday, featuring treats, maybe some tricks and entertainment from Hot Toast Music Co. in the Philbrook gardens. The museum also is hosting “Philbrook 101: In
The Shadows,” with curators highlighting the hauntings, mysteries and horror in the Philbrook’s collection, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Oct. 29.
9. ‘Exhibition On Screen: Munch’
When: 5:30 p.m. Oct. 29, 2 and 5:30 p.m. Oct. 30 and 12:30 p.m. Oct. 31.
Where: Oklahoma City Museum of Art, 415 Couch Drive.
Tickets: https://www.okcmoa.com/ films.
Museum Films celebrates the spookiest weekend of the year with an immersive and atmospheric exploration of the art and life of expressionist painter Edvard Munch, creator of one of history’s most iconic images of horror, “The Scream.”
10. Gaslight Theatre’s ‘War of the Worlds’
When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 29-30 and 2 p.m. Oct. 31.
Where: Gaslight Theatre’s Turpin Room, 221 N Independence, Enid.
Tickets: https://www.gaslight theatre.org.
In October 1938, Orson Welles’ radio broadcast of H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” scared a nation, and Gaslight Theatre will tell the story and recreate the historic event in “War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast,” produced and directed by Chad Swanson.
11. Pumpkinville
When: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Oct. 24.
Where: Myriad Botanical Garden, 301 WReno.
Tickets: https://myriadgardens.org/ pumpkinville.
Pumpkinville features autumnal games, crafts, unlimited rides on Mo’s Carousel and creative displays crafted from haybales, mums, cornstalks and 30,000 pumpkins.
12. Duncan’s 13th Annual Simmons Center Family Fall Festival
When: Oct. 30
Where: Simmons Center, 800 Chisholm Trail Parkway, Duncan.
Tickets: http://www.simmons center.com.
The Family Fall Festival will include a carnival, children’s spook house, costume contest, bounce house and more from 2 to 6 p.m. After dark, the Witches
Coven Haunted House will haunt the Simmons Center from 7 to 11 p.m.
13. Seventh Annual Brick-or-Treat Halloween
When: 4 to 7 p.m. Oct. 25.
Where: Mickey Mantle Plaza at Bricktown Ballpark, 2 S Mickey Mantle Drive.
Information: https://welcometo bricktown.com/Brick-or-Treat.
Parents or guardians are invited to bring their costumed children to Bricktown for trick-or-treating at more than 35 participating businesses.
14. Castle of Muskogee’s Halloween Festival
When: 5:30 to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays in October.
Where: The Castle of Muskogee, 3400 W Fern Mountain Road, Muskogee. Tickets: https://www.okcastle.com. The 60-acre attraction offers an array of thrills for the entire family, from the Castle Train and Castleton’s Haunted Village to the Zombie Hunt and Haunted Hayride.
15. Arcadia Lake’s Storybook Forest
When: 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 23-30. Where: Spring Creek Park at Arcadia Lake, 7200 E 15, Edmond.
Tickets: http://storybookforestok. com.
The annual event provides youngsters with a chance to walk a well-lit path in the woods to collect candy and visit life-size scenes from classic storybooks. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be no hayride or carnival game area this year, and tickets must be purchased in advance and are limited to 400 per night.
16. Oklahoma Aquarium’s Hallowmarine
When: 6:30 to 9 p.m. Oct. 25-31. Last admission sold at 8 p.m.
Where: Oklahoma Aquarium, 300 Aquarium Drive, Jenks.
Information: https://www.okaquarium.org.
The annual indoor trick-or-treating event for children of all ages includes opportunities to explore mysterious marine creatures in the surrounding exhibits.
17. Oklahoma City Ballet’s ‘Alice (In Wonderland’)
When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 22-23 and 2 p.m. Oct. 24.
Where: Civic Center Music Hall, 201 N Walker.
Tickets: https://www.okcballet.org. Head down the rabbit hole with OKC Ballet’s production of Septime Webre’s adaptation of Lewis Carroll’s often-trippy stories.
18. Haunt the River
When: 8 p.m. Oct. 22-23 and 29-30. Where: Oklahoma River Exchange Landing, 1503 Exchange Ave.
Tickets: https://okrivercruises.com. Celebrants 21 and older can take a trip on the Oklahoma River on a decorated boat with haunted tunes, light appetizers and a cash bar. Passengers can get dressed up to enter the costume contest.
19. Rodeo Cinema’s Horrorpocalypse 2021
When: 9 p.m. Oct. 23-6 a.m. Oct. 24. Where: Rodeo Cinema Stockyards City, 2221 Exchange Ave.
Tickets: https://www.rodeocinema. org.
Rodeo Cinema is rounding up its first sleepover event, starting with 1987’s “The Lost Boys,” continuing with 1990’s “Child’s Play 2” and featuring more horror movies, plus trivia, prizes and more. The nonprofit theater’s Stockyards City location also is offering a free lobby showing of 1991’s “Ernest Scared Stupid” at 7 p.m. Oct. 27 and a 20th anniversary screening of 2001’s “Donnie Darko” at 7 p.m. Oct. 31. Plus, Rodeo Cinema on Film Row, 701 W Sheridan Ave., is continuing Oklahoma Film Society’s Horror Fest 2021 with free screenings at 7 p.m. Oct. 27-28 and planning an Oct. 30 midnight showing of 1986’s “Dead End Drive.”
20. ‘Outer Limits’ art show
When: Nov. 5-Dec. 23.
Where: Paseo Arts and Creativity Center, 3024 Paseo.
Information:
https://www.thepaseo.org.
Five Oklahoma artists — Brent Learned, Mark Rankin, George Levi, Rick Sinnett and Harvey Pratt — are showing paranormal art in a group exhibition opening during the November Paseo First Friday Gallery Walk, which is from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 5 in the Paseo Arts District.