It’s October in Madison, which means there’s lots of scary stuff going on. And there’s lots of kinds of scary stuff to do, whether you want to see a horror movie, get lost in a haunted forest, learn about some haunted spaces, or more.
So here’s a list of the ways that Madison is trying to scare you this Halloween. Enjoy, and make sure to keep the lights on at night.
👺 Enter a Haunted House!
Get the willies scared out of you at one of the area’s haunted houses. Screamin’ Acres near Stoughton includes four haunted experiences to walk through for one price, including a prison and a mad scientist’s laboratory. (That’s a no from me!)
🌽 Escape a Haunted Forest!
By day, Schuster’s Farm near Deerfield offers a fun and family-friendly corn maze. But by night, the ghouls come out for the farm’s Haunted Forest attraction. Good thing there’s a bar where you can decompress afterward with a beer and some live music.
👻 Take a Ghost Walk!
Madison Ghost Walks offers eerie tours of both downtown Madison and the UW-Madison campus, digging up stories of the spirits that may still haunt those historic spaces. Meanwhile, Madison Ghost Tour unveils the spooky stories behind locations like the Majestic Theater and Tempest Oyster Bar.
🍿 Watch a Scary Movie!
Halloween meets Prom Night in “Carrie,” which UW Cinematheque is screening for free Halloween night in a beautiful 35mm print. The Bartell Theatre has a double feature of two scary-funny horror movies, “Re-Animator” and “Prom Night II,” on Oct. 30. And the Union South Marquee Theatre is screening two ‘70s horror classics, “Suspiria” and “Halloween,” on Oct. 30 and 31.
Meanwhile, Marcus Point and Marcus Palace is offering its “Name That Nightmare” series, where for $18 you can see four classic horror movies – but you won’t know which ones until the lights go down.
🎭 See a Chilling Live Performance!
Madison Ballet presents a brand-new production of Robert Louis Stevenson’s “Jekyll & Hyde” at MYArts Starlight Theater Oct. 29 through Nov 1. Chicago’s Manual Cinema recreates Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” on Oct. 23 on stage using eerie shadow puppets. And Glass Cannon Network will play the Lovecrafting role-playing game “Call of Cthulhu” live on stage at Atwood Music Hall on Oct. 15.
