Costume contests & parties

Ground Zero's Halloween Masquerade Ball (Saturday): Leave it to the goths to throw one of the Twin Cities' best Halloween parties. Ground Zero's annual ball is the signature event for the darksiders' club of choice. Expect attendees dressed in full dominatrix gear and a stage show at midnight.

First Avenue's Halloween Party and Costume Contest (Monday): First Ave hosts one of the biggest Halloween parties in town. Hosted by Ian Rans of "Drinking With Ian," the party offers more than $1,000 in cash prizes for best costumes, plus DJs Soviet Panda, Jake Rudh, Smitty and Roy Freedom.

MORE COSTUME CONTESTS & PARTIES

  • SINFULLY SEXY HALLOWEEN BALL VIII: Eighth annual party includes "Any Coin, Any Cocktail" drink special, DJs and $1,000 in cash and prizes. Hosted by Chris Castle.
  • FRIGHT NIGHT: Three rooms of music and dancing with DJs Strangelove, Justin Styles and more. $1,000 cash prize for best costume.
  • BACK FROM THE DEAD: Party and costume contest with more than $4,000 in cash and prizes.
  • THE ENK! PRESENTS PRE-HALLOWEEN COSTUME PARTY: Two dance rooms playing Top 40 and techno, plus go-go dancers, prizes, $1 drinks till midnight for those wearing high heels and lipstick, and $3 rails and domestics until midnight. DJs include Innovation, Tyler Hampton, Cities of Gold and Nathan Vox.
  • PHANTASMAGORIA 2: THE HAUNTED PALACE OF THE MAHARAJA: Rock the Cause's annual bash featuring 35 themed rooms, belly dancers, private bars, appetizers and live world music. (8 p.m. Sat. $25-$50. 2601 Sunset Blvd., Mpls. www.irockthecause.org.)
  • THIS IS HALLOWEEN: Costume contest and Halloween party with 25 DJs in four rooms, plus $500 in cash and prizes.
  • HALLOWEEN HOUSE MUSIC PARTY: Aster Cafe hosts a night of house from DJs Woody McBride, James Patrick, Peter Styles, Artemus, and Evil E.

Rock gigs

E.L.nO. (Friday-Saturday): Everyone's favorite Electric Light Orchestra cover band, E.L.nO., can always be counted on to wig out on Halloween. The Dave Campbell-fronted band is playing back-to-back shows on Halloween weekend. Friday's gig, which also features Joey Ryan and the Inks covering Bob Dylan, will culminate in "one Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame-style mega jam." On Saturday, the band headlines Brit's Pub's Halloween party, where partygoers are encouraged to dress as their favorite Brit, along with Kinks cover band Kinda Kinky.

Tribute band shows (Saturday-Monday)

  • Oddball, one-off cover-band nights have become a local Halloween rock-club tradition. The seventh annual 20 Dollar Love Halloween Tribute Show at Lee's features tribute bands If You Want Blood (AC/DC), Rip the Joint (Rolling Stones) and the Oneness (Ween), plus PBR specials and a costume contest.
  • Retro vinyl night Hot Roxx is back with its Halloween Hextravaganza, this time with a vintage country theme. Bands include the Blackberry Brandy Boys (Dave Campbell's cosmic country outfit with Little Man, Matt Latterall and Brian Just), the Flying Dorito Brothers (Night Moves' take on the Flying Burrito Brothers), the Sister Magnets and Brothers Steel (members of Ear Candy, Pink Mink, National Bird and Red Flags) and Amos Moses (an electro Jerry Reed cover band with members of Heavy Deeds and Vampire Hands). Hot Roxx DJs spin between sets.
  • The Triple Rock's eighth Halloween Tribute Show features My Name Is Jonas as Weezer and the Badhearts covering Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. Plus Anthrax, Dead Kennedys and Sex Pistols cover bands.

MORE ROCK SHOWS

Margaret Andrews, Star Tribune
First Avenue's 2010 costume bash

Dance parties

BOO-ty Bash (Friday): Transmission DJ Jake Rudh lends his extensive musical library and nimble fingers to Hipshaker's Halloween dance party. Doubling as a benefit for Zenon Dance, the soul and funk night will include deep cuts from DJ Flipstyle and Hipshaker resident DJ Greg Waletski (who's also a longtime Zenon dancer), plus drink specials, trick-or-treat bags and a raffle.

Too Much Blood/Hellraiser III (Saturday): First Ave's dance party Too Much Love transforms into its darker twin, Too Much Blood. Expect the same dance tracks from resident DJ Sovietpanda and special guests with a Halloween twist, plus a costume contest with cash prizes. Also Saturday in First Ave's Record Room is Hellraiser III, the Halloween edition of monthly techno/electro/industrial night BLACK, with DJs Slow Derek, Ryan Simatic, Jobot and Zwaremachine.

Menergy Halloween (Saturday): Having remixed Foster the People, Radiohead and Lykke Li, Matt Masurka has made quite the name for himself on the national dance-music front. Better known as Gigamesh, the local producer/DJ and Menergy regular is releasing his long-awaited EP at the supercharged monthly's Halloween party. The night also includes sets from DJs the Nightstalker and Bach666 and a costume contest with prizes including Anthem Heart merch.

Clubhouse of Horrors (Saturday): Those looking for a more intimate dance floor had best head to Clubhouse Jäger for Attitude City's annual spooky dance party and costume contest. Jeff Dubois and King Otto will spin a vinyl-only selection of "horror disco, zombieighties, mummified-rap and haunted house," plus the bar will offer Tiger Beer and Sobieski Vodka specials.

MORE DANCE PARTIES

  • THE MONSTER BALL: DJs Plain Ole Bill, Jimmy 2 Times, Jonathan Ackerman, the Moon Goons, Shannon Blowtorch and Wzz Wnshp kick off the first in a new monthly series at a new warehouse location. (10 p.m. Fri. $5-$10. 1940 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. www.moongoons.com/monsterball.)
  • PLAIN OLE BILL & LAST WORD'S 2ND ANNUAL HALLOWEEN BASH: Get Cryphy DJs Plain Ole Bill and Last Word with guest DJ B-Rock and emcee La Manchita.
  • A KIND BEATS HALLOWEEN: Two rooms of music including DJs Phil Tha Wagon, Randy, Tanttrik, Creashinn and more, plus a costume contest with $1,000 in cash and prizes.

Burlesque

Grown & Sexy (Saturday): While the rest of the world gets dressed up for Halloween, burlesque dancers are doing what they do best: undressing. Some ladies from Lili's Burlesque are hosting Grown & Sexy, featuring Sweetpea, Nadine Dubois, Coco Dupree, Bazuka Joe of Chicago's Stage Door Johnnies and more, plus a costume contest and DJ Shannon Blowtorch.

Out of This World! (Saturday): Black Hearts Burlesque's Halloween event includes performances from Elektra Cuete, Dahlia Dulce and more, emcee Foxy Tann, music from rockabilly girls L'Assassins and prizes for best costumes.

GLBT parties

Big Gay Halloween Party (Friday): If you're looking for a no-holds-barred dance party, Gay Twin Cities' annual Big Gay party can't be beat. This year it moves to Epic with popular New York club DJ Escape returning for his second year spinning the party and nearly $1,000 in prizes.

Blush Halloween Dance Party (Friday): The monthly lesbian dance night Blush gets a Halloween twist with DJs DBAZ and Ajent Orange, go-go dancers, female bartenders and $1,000 in cash prizes.

The Saloon's Gay Halloween Party (Sunday): Minneapolis' biggest GLBT party is probably the Saloon's, with cash prizes for best costume.

MORE GLBT

  • HALLOWEEN AT THE GAY 90's: Miss Gay 90's Pageant on Thursday, masquerade party on Friday, costume contest with prizes Saturday, and Amateur Drag Queen and King Contest on Sunday. (9 p.m. Thu.-Sun. $5-$10.)
  • DEADSET: Resident DJs JR & Punchy spin Top 40 and dance hits at the slick, European-style club Jetset.
  • HEDONISTIC HALLOWEEN III: DJ Kris Holiday and $1,000 in cash prizes.
  • HALLOWEEN AT 19 BAR: Costume contest with $500 in cash prizes. (9 p.m. Sat. Free. 19 Bar, 19 W. 15th St., Mpls.)
  • QUEER BIKE GANG'S HALLOWEEN COSTUME CRUISE: Close out LGBT History Month with a bang on this costumed bike ride. (7-9 p.m. Sat. Free. Meet at Sabathani Community Center, www.queerbikes.org.)

Haunted basements

The Haunted Basement (Thursday-Monday): Forget haunted houses -- Halloween in the Twin Cities is all about haunted basements. The preeminent basement is, of course, the Soap Factory's Haunted Basement, with its harrowing maze of artist-built scenes and scenarios, so scary that a waiver of potential death or injury must be signed upon entering. Just remember to yell the safe word, "Uncle," if it becomes too much for you.

Haunted Theater: Fallout (Thursday-Monday): For the second year running, the historic Loring Theater is offering tours of the theater's supposedly haunted basement. (The fact that Tammy Faye and Jim Bakker once held church services there should be scary enough.) Taking a cue from its 1960s-era fallout shelter, the theater will incorporate live performances as well as an End of the World Party before and after tours.

Bar crawls

Boo's Crawl (Saturday): Bar crawls get into the Halloween spirit with the fourth annual Boo's Crawl in St. Paul's Lowertown. A pass gets you a free drink at each of the eight locations (the Bulldog, Señor Wong, Black Dog Café, Heartland, Station 4, Barrio, Trattoria da Vinci and Hat Trick Lounge) plus the chance to win more than $1,000 in cash prizes. (5 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat. $15-$20 for pass, available at participating locations.)

Surly brewery tour (Saturday): For more costumed drinking, Surly is offering a special Halloween edition of its brewery tour. The best zombie costume gets a bottle of 2011 Darkness and a chalice to drink it in. Register on Surly's website to attend. (5-7 p.m. Sat. Free. Surly Brewing Co.)

Art & performance

'Nightmare Fuel' (Friday-Saturday): Ghost stories get a literary twist with two evenings of scary story readings from local writers Rob Callahan and Phillip Andrew Bennett Low. The sometime-Rockstar Storytellers will tag-team storytelling duties. They'll be joined by fellow writer Tim Uren and a musical backdrop by Byzantine Beatbox on Friday and Mayda on Saturday. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat. $10-$12. The Lyric, 765 S. Hampden Av., St. Paul. 651-288-5100.)

Margaret Andrews, Star Tribune
Grown & Sexy

MORE ARTSY STUFF

  • "ROCKY HORROR LIVE!": Don Shelby narrates this live theater production of the cult classic.
  • ROCKY HORROR: HALLOWEEN EDITION: The Transvestite Soup troupe performs the cult classic in front of the screen, in costume; plus live music. (11:30 p.m. Fri.-Sat. $9. All ages. Uptown Theater)
  • "BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN" & "YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN": The Minnesota Orchestra performs a live score to the 1935 classic "Bride," followed by a screening of "Young Frankenstein."
  • THE LOFT PRESENTS DEAD WRITERS PARTY: Attendees are encouraged to read from their favorite dead author's works; prizes for best costume.
  • BAREBONES HALLOWEEN PUPPET EXTRAVAGANZA: Grass-roots performance celebrating the seasonal arc of death through puppetry, with a live 40-piece orchestra.
  • VICTORIAN GHOST STORIES: Costumed actors present dramatic readings of 19th-century ghost stories in the dimly lit parlor of the James J. Hill House.
  • GODS & MONSTERS III: THE RESURRECTION: Cult Status' group show dedicated to the horror film genre features work by Alex Kuno, Nate Vincent Szklarski, Mark Rivard, RM Hanson, Chuck U, Biafra Inc., Louisa Greenstock and more.
  • "PHANTOM OF THE OPERA": Vox Lumiere performs the tale of ambition and murder in a new production that merges rock concert, theater and classic silent film.