Theme + costume parties

Ground Zero's Halloween Masquerade Ball: It's the signature event of Minneapolis' premier goth club, and for good reason. Expect attendees dressed in full BDSM gear, a stage show at midnight and the potential for light spankings. (10 p.m. Sat. 18-plus. Cover TBA. Ground Zero)

Tonight We Abide: The 3rd Annual Big Lebowski Party: The party combines the coolest bowling movie ever with a costume contest and, of course, bowling. With karaoke, DJ Christian Fritz spinning songs from the Coen brothers catalog, and screenings of the film throughout the night. (9 p.m. Sat. Free to attend, $2 to bowl with costume. All ages. Bryant-Lake Bowl.)

BOOs Crawl: At the third annual Halloween pub crawl in St. Paul's Lowertown, a pass gets you a drink at each location, including the Bulldog, Señor Wong, Black Dog Café, Rumours & Innuendo, Barrio, Trattoria da Vinci, Station 4 and Hat Trick Lounge. With $2,000 in cash prizes. (5 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat. $15-$20, www.lowertowned.com.)

First Avenue Halloween Party and Costume Contest: First Avenue hosts one of the biggest Halloween parties in town. Hosted by Ian Rans, the party offers more than $1,000 in cash prizes for best costumes, plus DJs Sovietpanda, Jonathan Ackerman, DJ Smitty and Roy Freedom. (8 p.m. Sun. $5-$15. 18-plus.)

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• Zombie Dance of the Undead: Costume party, drink specials, DJs. (10 p.m. Fri. $6. 18-plus. Ground Zero)
• '70S Halloween Bash: Costume contest, cash prizes, DJs. (10 p.m. Fri. $10. Soundbar)
• Hollywood Halloween Party: Dress as a celeb or movie character; DJ Chris Castle, prizes. (9 p.m. Fri. Free. 18-plus. Barfly)
• The Devil Wears Nada: Sexy costume theme, DJs Dudley D and Strangelove, themed rooms, drink specials, cash prizes. (10 p.m. Sat. $8. Envy)
• Addams Family Halloween Party: Decor by Brant Kingman; cash prizes. (10 p.m. Sat. $10. The Lounge)
• For the Love of House Halloween Spectacular: DJs Inno & Stash, Tyler Hampton, Cities of Gold and Chrystal Mann, plus performances by Wildflower fire dancers. (9 p.m. Sat. $5. SoundBar)
• VState and Atmosfere Present Uptown Halloween Costume Ball: DJ Bryan Gerrard, cash prizes. (9 p.m. Sat. $15-$20. Suburban World Theatre)
• Hip-hop Halloween Bash: Hosted by Mr. Peter Parker; drink specials, costume contest. (8 p.m. Sat. Free. Casa Vieja)
• Vita.mn Presents 7th Annual Fantasy Fetish Ball: Kill Tha DJ, costume contests. (10 p.m. Sat. $6. 18-plus. Spin Nightclub)
• Nightmare on Lake Street: Three-level event, DJs, costume contest, cash prizes. (10 p.m. Sat. Free. Stella's Fish Café)

Rock shows

Many local music acts are suiting up and performing special cover sets.

20 Years of Brit's: Brit's Pub's 20th anniversary doubles as a Halloween party Saturday. Solid Gold will dress and perform as Oasis, while E.L.nO. will, as usual, cover E.L.O. (8 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat., free. Brit's Pub, 1110 Nicollet Mall, Mpls.) Both bands will play the same Halloween sets the night before at Lee's Liquor Lounge.

Hot Roxx Halloween Hextravaganza: The '70s-loving record night Hot Roxx returns to the Hexagon with bands performing covers and originals, including Vampire Hands, the Huckleberrys, Teddy and the Turks, the Ventures Cover Band and Hot Roxx DJs Jen Hughes and Nick Ryan spinning '70s gems. (9 p.m. Sun., free, Hexagon Bar.)

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• Turf Club's Halloween Cover Night: members of Double Bird and France Has the Bomb cover garage-punk legends the Mummies, Thunderbolt Pagoda covers prog rockers Goblin, and Rad Brains (members of Food Pyramid and Kitten Forever) cover hardcore punks Bad Brains. (9 p.m. Sat., $7, Turf Club)
• Pink Mink Halloween Party: Sets from Pink Mink, Chibalo, So Cow and a "surprise guest." (9 p.m. Sat., free, Stanley's Northeast Bar Room.)
• Triple Rock's 7th Annual Tribute NIght: If You Want Blood (an AC/DC tribute by 20 Dollar Love), Queensnorter (a Queen tribute by Ripsnorter), Double Wide (a Supersuckers tribute), Crudo Soy (a Los Crudos tribute by the Prize Fighter), Hank Williams Sr. (a Hank Williams tribute by the Fattenin' Frogs). (8 p.m. Sun. $5-$8, 18-plus, Triple Rock.)
• Halloween Party with Lusurfer, Hastings 3000 and G-Biz: Satanic surf-rock from Lusurfer. 9:30 p.m. Sun., $5, Cause Spirits & Soundbar.)
• 501'S Halloween Cover Show: '90s favorites get the cover treatment, with Dragons Power Up! covering the Smashing Pumpkins and Lazer Forever doing Green Day. (9 p.m. Sun., $5, 501 Club.)

Dance parties

First Avenue, "Too Much Blood": Too Much Love transforms into its darker twin, Too Much Blood; expect the same dance tracks from DJ Sovietpanda with a twist, plus a costume contest with cash prizes. (10 p.m. Sat., $3., 18-plus.)

Also Saturday in First Avenue's Record Room is "Hellraiser," a techno/electro/industrial dance party with DJs Jamez, Jobot vs. Ryan Simatic, Slow Derek and Hardchrome. (9:30 p.m. Sat., $3, 18-plus.)

On Sunday, 7th Street Entry hosts the fourth annual Monster Mash, an all-oldies night headed up by DJs King Otto and Mike 2600. (8 p.m. Sun., $5-10.)

Jägermonster: Always a Halloween hot spot, Clubhouse Jäger pares it down this year and sticks to good DJs and drinks. (A $5 "Jägermonster" drink special should be worth a try.) Heading up the decks are Attitude City's Jeff Dubois, King Otto, and the Stay Spun, with live visuals by VisionQuest. (9 p.m. Sat., free, Clubhouse Jäger)

Menergy presents "Mademic": The testosterone-pumped monthly offers a monster-movie twist. DJs Bach666, the Nightstalker, Sweet Talk Radio, Naughty Wood and ana//log will be mixing all night, plus Timesquid's wacky Video Portal (a video booth guests can enter to get animated). (10 p.m. Sat., $1-$3, Kitty Cat Klub.)

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• Pink Mink Dance Party: The band DJs Halloween tracks. (10 p.m. Thu., free, Clubhouse Jäger.)
• Bomp: Bedlam's recurring dance party moves to Nick and Eddie for a Halloween edition with the Moongoons, Shannon Blowtorch, Wzz Wnshp and Plain Ole Bill. (10 p.m.-3 a.m. Fri. $5-$7. 18-plus. Nick and Eddie)
• Halloween at Honey: The Kredentials, DJ Turtleneck, DJ Flipsstyle and DJ Roughkat, plus costume contest with cash prizes. (9 p.m. Sat., $10, Honey)

GLBT parties

Big gay dance parties: For a no-holds-barred dance party, Gay Twin Cities' annual Big Gay Halloween Party is hosted by NYC-based club DJ Escape and local favorite DJ Shiek. (10 p.m. Fri. $10-$15. 18-plus. Karma, 315 1st Av. N., Mpls.) Cozy, European-styled dance club Jetset will feature resident DJs JR & Punchy for its "Monster" Halloween party. (10 p.m. Sat. Free. Jetset)

But the biggest GLBT Halloween party is probably the Saloon's Annual Gay Halloween Party, with cash prizes for best costume. (9 p.m. Sun. Free. 18-plus. The Saloon)

Lady-centric parties: Ladies and lady-lovers will want to hit up a couple of events. The monthly Blush night is hosting a Halloween party with a mostly female staff, female dancers and female DJs (Shiek and Nancy Cheng). (10 p.m. Fri. $5. 18-plus. Lush Food Bar, 990 Central Av. NE., Mpls.) Another girl-centric monthly, Wicked, offers cash prizes for best costumes. (9 p.m. Fri. $8. The Bolt Underground)

In St. Paul: Rumours & Innuendo will have a costume contest and DJ Deizel. Sadly, it will also be the club's last weekend in business. (10 p.m. Fri. Free. Rumours & Innuendo) And gay bar Camp hosts its third annual Haunted Hollywood party, with $2,000 in prizes. (9 p.m. Sat. Free. Camp)

Theatrical parties

Get a taste of culture and reconnect with the past with these theatrically inclined Halloween events.

Tempo's "Opera Night Out" Masquerade Ball: Following the opening night of "Cinderella" at the Minnesota Opera, head to a masquerade that includes a royal photo booth, food and drink, DJs, costume prizes and maskmaking supplies. (10:30 p.m.- 1 a.m. Sat. Free for "Cinderella" ticketholders or $10. All ages. Sakura, www.mnopera.org/ypg)

Burlesque: Striptease performers sure love their costumes, so it's no surprise there's a bunch of burlesque shows throughout Halloween weekend. Friday, Station 4 hosts the Spooky Boobies Burlesque Show. (8 p.m. Fri., $7.) Local troupe Le Cirque Rouge headlines the 501 Club's Halloween party on Saturday. (9 p.m. Sat., $7, 501 Club)

Lili's Burlesque Revue hosts the Carnivale of the Bizarre, with guest performers Musette and Tomahawk Tassels, belly dancers, magicians and DJ Shannon Blowtorch. (9 p.m. Sun., $10, all ages, Hell's Kitchen)

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• The House of 1817: The Movie Premiere: The skate/snowboard/street art crew known as the House of 1817 debut their film at this Cal Surf-sponsored costume party. (7:30 p.m. Fri. Free. All ages. Suburban World Theater)
• Transvestite Soup Presents "Rock Horror," Halloween Edition: Troupe performs the cult classic in front of the screen, in costume; plus a pre-show, one-time-only merch and live music. (11:30 p.m. Fri. & Sat. $9. Uptown Theater, 2906 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.)
• Ghosts of the Orpheum: The Vaudeville Era: Storytelling, various tours and 1920s theater stagings. (5 p.m. Sat. $7-12. All ages. Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls. 612-339-7007.)
• Minnesota Orchestra with "Psycho": The Minnesota Orchestra performs Bernard Herrmann's movie score synchronized with the Hitchcock classic. (8 p.m. Sat. $22-65. All ages. Orchestra Hall, 1111 Nicollet Mall, Mpls. 612-371-5626.)
• Jazz Funeral Halloween Extravaganza: Hip-hop, jazz and New Orleans-inspired storytelling combine in an evening of music and entertainment including Mayda, Guante, burlesque, DJs and more. (10 p.m. Sat., $10, Hell's Kitchen.)

Art shows

Arty types will want to hit up these Halloween-inspired art openings and parties.

"Masquerade: New Work by Nicholas Harper": Celebrated local painter Harper's hauntingly beautiful portraits will make for a fitting pre-Halloween show, with maskmaking and DJ Danny Sigelman. (7 p.m.-midnight Fri., free. Rogue Buddha Gallery)

"Funpocalypse" Halloween Closing Party: Local illustrator Chuck U and San Francisco artist Zamon close out their colorful show with live music by the Idle Hands, Black Blondie, OBCT and Z-Man (aka Zamon). (6 p.m.-2 a.m. Sat. All ages, free before 9:30 p.m.; 21-plus, $5-$7 after. Tarnish & Gold, 1511 NE. Marshall St., Mpls.)

"Gods and Monsters: Part II": Classic horror-film stars Vincent Price, Bela Lugosi and others are reimagined by more than 30 artists. (9 p.m.-1 a.m. Sat., free. Cult Status Gallery)

"Monster Art Show": Monster-themed artwork from Pink Hobo favorites, plus a DJ, costume contest. (7 p.m.-midnight Sun., free. Pink Hobo Gallery)