Halloween may fall on a Monday this year, but that’s not stopping Brooklyn from turning into Boo-klyn the weekend before the official fright night. As the sun goes down on Friday, Oct. 28 prepare yourself for a freaky, frightful (and kid-friendly!) weekend:
Great Pupkin Dog Costume Contest!
It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No — it’s a dog dressed as a bird, or a plane, or Superman! Who cares what it is, as long as it’s a dog in a costume.
Come get your fill at Fort Greene Pup’s annual Great Pupkin costume contest on Oct. 29, where owners and their four-legged friends will dress up for some trick-or-dog-treats. Registration starts at 11:30 am and judging begins at noon. A $5 donation fee is recommended, but not required.
Great Pupkin Dog Costume Contest at Fort Greene Park (DeKalb and Myrtle avenues in Fort Greene) Oct. 29, at 11:30 am. Rain date on Oct. 30. Suggested donation, $5. For info, visit www.fortgreenepups.org
Halloween in Prospect Park!
Halloween events in Prospect Park begin with the Haunted Walk: from the entrance on Prospect Park Southwest and 16th streets to Lookout Hill, the park’s trail is terrorized by zombies, wolf men, witches, ghouls and goons. The haunted walk winds through the park and passes through the Haunted Carnival, where there will be plenty of Halloween-themed games, arts and crafts, and scary stories for children. Not spooky enough? Get acquainted with some very creepy crawlers at the Audubon Center — we’re talking worms, spiders and other critters of the night. And who could forget about the haunted barn, “Boo at the Zoo”?
Prospect Park Halloween Haunted Walk and Carnival [Prospect Park Southwest and 16th Street entrance, (718) 965-8999], Oct. 29-30, 12 pm-3 pm. Free. For info, visit www.prospectpark.org; Boo at the Zoo at the Prospect Park Zoo [450 Flatbush Ave. between Empire Boulevard and Eastern Parkway, (718) 220-5100], Oct. 29-30, 10 am-5:30 pm. Adults $8, children (3-12) $5. For info, visit www.prospectparkzoo.com.
Ghouls and Gourds!
Take a break from freaking yourself out and stop by the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which will be transformed into an only mildly terrifying landscape — there will be plenty of ghouls to go along with your gourds, and other dazzling fall flora. Come for the Cajun, Celtic and Tibetan musical performances, the Flamingo croquet, the flying flea circus and the monocle, mustache and beard booth; stay for the Halloween rumpus!
Be sure to grab your own creepy coleus plant on your way out, and visit children’s book authors at the Book Barn!
Ghouls and Gourds at Brooklyn Botanic Garden [1000 Washington Ave. at Eastern Parkway, (718) 623-7220]. Adults, $15. Oct. 29, noon-6 pm. For info, visit www.bbg.org
The ‘Gravesend Inn’ Haunted Hotel
There’s probably nothing scarier than a haunted hotel — we’re looking at you, Jack Torrence — so we’d be remiss in our roundup duties if we didn’t include the Gravesend Inn, a high-tech haunted hotel at City Tech that includes animatronic skeletons and talking portraits, among other horrors. The poltergeist lodge is put together by the school’s Entertainment Technology department. Give those kids an A.
Haunted Hotel at New York City College of Technology [186 Jay St. at Tillary Street in Downtown, (718) 260-5109]. 1-5 pm, Oct. 27-Oct. 29, and Oct. 31; 1 pm-5 pm, 6 pm-9 pm. Tickets $5.
Halloween Walk in Clinton Hill!
What’s Halloween without a parade?
Take your kids to Clinton Hill for a costumed cavalcade through the Pratt-Clinton Hill community garden. Show off your awesome costume, and be rewarded with a treasure map, showing routes that lead to the most generous houses, stocked with the best candy.
Halloween at the Pratt-Clinton Hill Community Garden (DeKalb Avenue at Hall Street in Clinton Hill), Oct TK, 5:30–7 pm, free.
Zombie dance!
On Halloween zombies come alive and haunt things, but they also dance, naturally. On Saturday, Oct. 29, in celebration of the end of the world — after all, 2012 is just around the corner — dance ’til you die at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple!
End of the World Party at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple [317 Claremont Ave. between Lafayette and Dekalb avenues in Clinton Hill, (718) 638-1256], Oct. 29, 9 pm, $15. For info, visit www.meanreadproductions.com.
Zombie reads!
Can’t get enough zombies? Head over to PowerHouse Arena in DUMBO for a reading of zombie stories with Otto Penzler, editor of “Zombies, Zombies, Zombies!”
Tom Blunt at PowerHouse Arena [37 Main St. at Water Street in DUMBO, (212) 604-9074], Oct. 31, 7 pm, Free. For info, visit www.powerhousearena.com.
Welcome to the A-scarium!
Don’t miss out on this year’s A-scarium at Coney Island! There will be tykes in costumes, spooky shipwreck, aquatic-themed magic shows, scary storytelling, and an arts and crafts table where tots are encouraged to make their own masks — plus, a special Halloween 4-D feature, “The Curse of Skull Rock,” showing in the theater outside the aquarium entrance.
The A-scarium at the New York Aquarium [Surf Avenue and W. Eighth Street, (718) 265-3474], Oct. 15–16, 22–23 and 29–30, 11 am-4:45 pm. Tickets are $15 for adults ($11 for children). For info, visit www.nyaquarium.com.
Park Slope Halloween Parade
The granddaddy of them all is the annual kids parade in Park Slope, which begins on Seventh Avenue and 14th Street and marches north through the neighborhood. Our editor — who is still receiving marriage proposals after last year’s turn as a drag-wearing Miss Brooklyn — will reprise his role as MC for the Park Slope Civic Council aboard George Shea’s “Ship of the Black Spot” pirate boat.
Park Slope Halloween Parade begins at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue in Park Slope at 6:30 pm; ends at 8:30 pm at the Old Stone House [336 Third St. between Fourth and Fifth avenues, (718) 768-3195]. Oct 31, 6:30-8:30 pm, free. For info visit www.parkslopeciviccouncil.org.
Do the Monster Mash!
The Brooklyn Children’s Museum is summoning goblins big and small for the annual Monster Mash bash! So dress to impress — that is, like a monster, ghoul, demon, goblin, zombie or the like — and get ready to party!
Monster Mash at the Brooklyn Children’s Museum [145 Brooklyn Ave. between St. Marks Avenue and Prospect Place (718) 735-4400). Oct. 28, 3 pm-7:30 pm. Tickets, $5. For info, visit www.brooklynkids.org.
The library’s haunted
Central Library’s Youth Wing of the Brooklyn Public Library will play host to a haunted Halloween zombie dance party and a special movie screening in the Dweck Center — a program perfect for tykes ages 5 and older — about Agatha, the ghost that haunts the Brooklyn Public Library! Afterwards, come dance the day away, and have your picture taken in a zombie photo boo-th!
Central Library [Flatbush Avenue at Eastern Parkway in Prospect Heights, (718) 230-2100], Oct. 28, 4 pm, free. For info, visit www.brooklynlibrary.org.
Halloween at Habana!
Bring your little ones out to Habana Outpost in Fort Greene for a costume contest and plenty of candy, games, prizes and more!
Halloween at Habana Outpost [757 Fulton St. at S. Portlant Avenue in Fort Greene, (718) 858-9500], Oct. 30, noon-4 pm, free. For info, visit www.cafehabana.com.
