18 Things to Do During Halloween Weekend 2023 in Seattle

Halloween Ghost Tours @ Pioneer Square

Wednesday, October 25th – Saturday, October 28th

📅 October 5th – 7th, 12th – 14th, 18th – 21st, 25th – 28th
⏰ 7 pm
📍 Meet at Shawn O’Donnell’s American Grill and Irish Pub, located at the base of the historic Smith Tower: 506 2nd Ave, Seattle
🎟️ $15 

If you’ve ever wanted to be a ghostbuster, it’s time to stroll through Seattle’s haunted history. Self-proclaimed as “Seattle’s best ghost tour,” the local ghost tour group Haunted History Seattle explores supernatural sites in Pioneer Square, the oldest neighborhood in town. 

Tour guides here tout that they are all paranormal investigators or psychics—not actors. While the tour covers some disturbing stories from the past, it’s not meant to provide cheap scares. Instead, the focus is on local history that’s often been overlooked. Reviews rave about the passionate, otherworldly insight shared during the two-hour trek. There’s even a YouTube channel where guide Aten discusses ghost hunting, true crime, and spectrophilia, aka ghost sex. (Yes, this is a thing. Buzzfeed once wrote about two girls who tried to seduce a disembodied spirit.)

This tour starts at Shawn O’Donnell’s Irish Pub and is ideal for groups or a date night. Plan to arrive early to grab a bite before. Guests must be 16+ and accompanied by an adult. Also, this is held outdoors, so dress for the weather and wear comfy shoes. FYI: The legal disclaimer you sign holds the company harmless in the case of ghostly possession. So, you can’t sue if you need an exorcist after. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Haunted Factory Experience 2023 @ Seattle Chocolate

Thursday, October 26th – Sunday, October 29th

📅 Thursdays – Sundays: October 19th – 22nd, 26th – 29th
⏰ Rotating times between 5 pm – 9 pm
📍 Seattle Chocolate: 1180 Andover Park W, Seattle
🎟️ $12 – $15

There are a lot of haunted houses in Seattle during the Halloween season. But only one combines creepy with chocolate, asking you to discover the dark side of delicious. At the Seattle Chocolate Haunted Factory experience, guests are invited to step inside a factory undergoing a power outage. Do you dare try to restore the tastiness that was once within? Or will you succumb to the spirits and lack of sugar? 

Every year, Seattle Chocolate Factory turns its facility into a family-friendly fright fest for all ages. Enter into a lobby full of sinister decor (perfect for cute photos). Then, navigate through the darkness as sweet dreams become nightmares. But keep your wits about you because you must solve puzzles to make it out… hopefully. If you manage to exit, you may get a treat. It is a chocolate factory, after all. 

Parking is available onsite, and kids 12 and under get in for $12. Seattle Chocolate Company’s truffles are local staples, so pick some up while you’re there. And get tickets quickly—this thing sells out every year. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Five Nights at Freddy’s @ Movie Theatres Around Seattle

Friday, October 27th 

📆 Opens wide on Friday, October 27th 

Ever wanted to hang out with Chuck E. Cheese and the Make Believe Band? Seem like a swell group of anthropomorphic folks. Good music, okay pizza, probably decades worth of stories to share. Well, too bad! They’re a murderous lot who will haunt the halls of their themed restaurant/arcade and take you down if you’re not paying attention.

Welcome to Five Nights at Freddy’s, based on the long-running video games series. Josh Hutcherson (our sweet little Peeta from The Hunger Games) plays Mike Schmidt, the newest nighttime security guard at Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza. Seems a pretty easy gig: Show up at midnight, sit in an office, watch the security cameras, make sure nothing seems off, and a few hours later you’re done. But something inside the animatronic animals makes them move on their own. Makes them…hunt. And they’re coming for Schmidt.

The film version comes from the highly successful Blumhouse production house, with director Emma Tammi at the helm. (She previously made the spine-tinglingly effective but sorely underseen western chiller The Wind.) This time, she’s playing the realm of PG-13 horror, and it’s primed to become a solid bit of gateway horror. By that I mean things like Gremlins, the work of Henry Selick, the first film version of The Witches, the OG Poltergeist, and Return to Oz. All were ostensibly made for a family audience, and all freaked out young, impressionable me when I was a lad.

So as the wise tweet once said, “Come on down for some rat pizza at our child casino,” and see if you can survive five nights at… Well, you know. ✍️ MARCUS GORMAN

Fashionably Undead Monsters Ball 2023 @ MoPOP

Friday, October 27th

📅 Friday, October 27th
⏰ 8 pm – 12 am
📍 MoPOP: 325 5th Ave N, Seattle
🎟 $23 – $25

The Museum of Pop Culture’s (MoPOP) annual Fashionably Undead Monsters Ball is a local Halloween dance party that’s become legendary. It’s a monster mash where the fashionably undead (AKA you) can frolic the night away. Held since 2001, way back in MoPOP’s EMP (Experience Music Project) days, when the costume contest winner got a trip to the Billboard Music Awards. Inflation being what it is, this year’s winner gets $500.

This ghostly gala is great for groups. Not only is there a discount if you come with your squad (5-9 attendees = 15% off, 10+ = 30% off), the gig is also rife with photo opps. Plus, there’s a Best Group/Duo costume category. Remember to put fashion first, whether you get dolled up and match as M3GAN or reuse those Barbie fits, or go as the undead. 

Seattle drag king Jack King Goff will emcee the night’s mayhem with DJ Theres More mixing music for creatures of all kinds. Hourglass Escapes will hold a museum-wide scavenger hunt, and a community art activity will incorporate creepiness. 

This event is 21+, and museum members get a slight ticket discount. Check out MoPOP’s costume contest policy, partially copied below, to ensure you comply. Nothing is more horrifying than being barred from the ball for indecent exposure. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Saturday, October 28th – Sunday, October 29th

Friday, October 27th

📍 Kraken Community Iceplex: 10601 5th Ave NE, Seattle
🎟️ $15 regular admission

📅 Saturday, October 28th
⏰ 1 – 1:15 pm: Pumpkin curling
⏰ 1:15 – 2:45 pm: Halloween skate

📅 Sunday, October 29th
⏰ 1:30 – 1:45 pm: Pumpkin curling
⏰ 1:45 – 3:15 pm: Halloween skate

The Kraken Community Iceplex turned Northgate Mall into the home of local ice sports. The spot once roamed by teenagers going to Hot Topic is now the residence of an NHL team and numerous community events like blood drives, learn-to-skate classes, and, for two days this October, special Halloween-themed skates. These public skates are open to all ages and levels, and there will be scary soundtracks to score your skating. Costumes are encouraged. Maybe it’s time to take a crack at dressing up as Buoy, the Kraken mascot?

But when it comes to contests, it won’t be what you wear that wins. Instead, a pumpkin curling competition will be held. That’s right, don’t miss your chance to hurl a squash down the ice. Afterward, when your arms and legs are about to fall off from all the gliding and sliding, consider visiting 32 Bar & Grill for a bite. (The location overlooks the rink!) If an additional pick-me-up is needed, there’s even a Starbucks onsite. Cause it’s never too late for a Pumpkin Spice Latte, right? ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

BOO! Seattle 2023 @ WAMU Theater

Saturday, October 27th – Sunday, October 28th

📅 October 27th – October 28th
⏰ Friday: 5 pm – 1:30 am | Saturday: 4 pm – 12 am
📍 Washington Music Theater (WAMU Theater): 800 Occidental Ave S, Seattle
🎟 $119 (Saturday GA) – $319 (2-Day VIP)

If Halloween + rave sounds like a good mix, enter the World of BOO! at WAMU Theater. There, feel the spirit of Darcy, an urban legend about a little girl who “disappeared into the forests around Lake Washington years ago,” or so the myth goes…

Darcy and her big Halloween rave originate from Insomniac, the global electronic dance music event producer behind mega raves like Electric Daisy Carnival (Las Vegas, Mexico City, Suzhou) and Beyond Wonderland (The Gorge, Monterrey, San Bernadino). Halloween 2023 will be the third year in a row that BOO! lands in Pioneer Square, after starting in New York in 2014 and then expanding to SoCal, Arizona, and eventually the Pacific Northwest. Historically, the party tends to have plenty of art, photo ops, and shops for rave gear on site. (Make sure your costumes are boogie-worthy.) Last year, we described it as “like you’re stepping into a Tim Burton movie—just with a lot more glitter and lasers.”

This year, follow Darcy’s green-glowing eyes to three stages of supernatural sights and sounds. The Dark Forest is full of terrifying trees where you can twist to electrifying tunes. If you crawl down to the Den of Darkness, you’ll find a realm for those who crave heavier sounds like bass and dubstep. And at The Lighthouse, the promoters promise “a sanctuary for those seeking to surrender to the rhythm.” ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

The Final Show @ ALMA Tacoma: A Grotesque Burlesque

Saturday, October 28th

📅 Saturday, October 28th
⏰ Doors @ 7 pm | Show @ 8 pm
📍 ALMA Tacoma: 1322 Fawcett Ave, Tacoma
🎟️ $30

Popular venues around Seattle’s little sister, Tacoma, are vanishing. (RIP The Zodiac Supper Club.) Now, it’s ALMA’s turn. The five-year-old art, music, and food venue is getting added to the graveyard. Gritty City Sirens, a burlesque troupe from Tacoma, will present its Halloween-themed “Grotesque Burlesque” as ALMA’s final show. Mixing the sensual with the scary, the Sirens have a history of hosting Halloween events—like their Tim Burton Ball and Creep Show Peep Show. Expect a terror-ific send-off.

Boylesque performer EmpeROAR Fabulous will emcee a lineup that includes Judas Saint James, whose upcoming class on Harnessing Your Inner Feline is perfect for anyone planning on a Catwoman costume. Also on the cast: Moon Goddexx Luna DeLyte, who will bring lusciousness to the stage on this freaky full moon night. And Sid Seedy, the “Dragabond of Seattle,” will add to the seductive, spine-tingling show. Numerous guest acts are also on the bill, including Portland’s Nina Nightshade and magician professor D.R. Schreiber, who will entertain the audience with illusion. 

FYI: VIP is already sold out, so grab seats ASAP. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Museum of Fright @ Museum of Flight

Sunday, October 29th

📅 Sunday, October 29th
⏰ 10 am – 3 pm
📍 The Museum of Flight: 9404 E. Marginal Way S, Seattle
🎟️ Kids 17 and under wearing a costume receive free museum admission 

Does turbulence give you terrors? Then this event might leave you with goosebumps. Enter the void of space, where fear takes flight at the “Museum of Fright.” 

Held every year during Halloween weekend since 2008, the Museum of Flight transforms its galleries with hair-raising activities and revelers. Kids can try and become Dr. Frankenstein themselves by engaging in hands-on science experiments. They can also visit the Mad Scientist’s booths to experience spirited demonstrations. For entertainment, there’ll be live music from the 8-Bit Brass Band, a cosplaying band who are born costumers. Expect some next-level outfits, like a drummer dressed as Darth Vader. Or a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle playing the trumpet? Oh! The day also includes a dance party held under the Blackbird spyplane. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

The Boulet Brothers’ Halloween House Party @ The Crocodile

Sunday, October 29th

📅 Sunday, October 29th
⏰ Doors @ 7 pm | Show @ 8 pm
📍 The Crocodile: 2505 1st Ave, Seattle
🎟 Tickets starting @ $25 | VIP starting @ $75

The Boulet Brothers have become the ultimate horror hosts. The drag duo, who are not actually brothers but are romantic partners, are coming to Seattle to throw a draggy “Halloween House Party” on Halloween weekend, Sunday night at The Crocodile. That’s fantastic news for anyone looking to turn All Hallows’ Eve into a five-day weekend. And importantly, this party’s got a costume contest with a $500 prize—so get to work on a Pazuzu, Pennywise, or Pinhead fit. (How much money could you make if you went to every costume contest in town? Side hustle, anyone?)

The stars of the Shudder series TV Dragula, a spooky counterpart to RuPaul’s Drag Race, the Boulets will serve freakiness, bringing Dragula all-star contestants to this Seattle show. Expect appearances from the supremely creepy Victoria Elizabeth Black, killer beauty queen Sigourney Beaver, eerily erotic Abhora, and drag supermonster The Dahli. Take the chance to see so many alt drag legends. 

General admission starts at $25, though there are tiers, and prices rise as we get closer to the show. “VIP GOLD” is $75 and gets a 60-minute early entry with a meet and greet and photo op. An upgraded VIP ticket ($199) adds a premium viewing section and a signed poster on top of the early entry and meet and greet. To get in the mood before this poltergeist-filled party, I recommend checking out the Boulet’s “Creatures of the Night” podcast. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Trolloween 2023 @ The Fremont Troll

Tuesday, October 31st

📅 Tuesday, October 31st
⏰ Meet at 7 pm sharp
📍 Fremont Troll: North 36th St, Troll Ave N, Seattle

In case you missed it: The Fremont Troll, a local Seattle fixture and a tourist hotspot for over 30 years, is about to have a birthday!

The mammoth sculpture is 18 feet tall, weighs around 13,000 lbs, and is constructed from steel, wire, and concrete. Recently voted as “Best Weird Wonder” in a recent poll by King 5, the public art installation was the brainchild of The Fremont Arts Council. In 1990, the council held a competition to fill the space below the Aurora Bridge. Created by a collective of artists and installed on Halloween, residents choose the ugly creature clutching a Volkswagon Beetle with California plates—a nod to the counterculture vibe of the neighborhood known as “The Center of the Universe.”  

Trolloween is the troll’s birthday bash, which takes place on October 31st at 7 pm. There’ll be live music performances, a costume pageant, and plenty of revelers this year. After the show, an annual procession known as the Haunt Of Fremont begins, where locals march the party en masse through the streets. Of course, that all happens after everyone sings the Happy Birthday Song to one of Seattle’s favorite sculptures. Welcome to 33. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Hadestown @ Paramount Theatre

Opens Tuesday, October 31st

📆 Tuesday, October 31st – Sunday, November 5th
📍 The Paramount Theatre: 911 Pine Street, Seattle
🎟 Starts @ $30

I’m not really an “adult Halloween party” person, nor am I emotionally built for slowly wandering around converted warehouses and somebody shouts “BOO!” every so often. So on Halloween night, you’ll find me at the Paramount for another round with Hadestown, the eight-time-Tony-winning musical written and composed by Anaïs Mitchell and directed by Rachel Chavkin (the equally sensational Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812).

Hadestown isn’t so much set in a particular time and place but with the feel, the rhythm, the soul of Depression-Era New Orleans. Folk rock, jazz, gospel, and the blues divinely intermingle as the show mournfully relays the tragedy of Orpheus and Eurydice. A poor troubadour and a young wanderer fall in love in a desolate land. Meanwhile, Hades is going through his own relationship issues with the goddess Persephone and sets his sights on Eurydice, hoping to enlist her as a faceless worker at the capitalist hellscape underground factory that gives the play its title. When Orpheus learns of what has happened to his beloved, he journeys to the underworld to retrieve her. You may know the rest of the myth, but as the show’s narrator, Hermes, intones, “It’s a sad song, but we keep singin’ even so.”

First staged in 2006 and then made into a concept album in 2010, its eventual Broadway run is one of this century’s most unanticipated theatre success stories. The production survived the pandemic and, four years into its run, still sells at near-full capacity and is the longest-running show in the history of the Water Kerr Theatre. And now, the newest national tour couldn’t come at a better time.

It’s Halloween. Let’s go way down to Hadestown, way down under the ground. ✍️ MARCUS GORMAN

Fright Fest @ Wild Waves

Thru Sunday, October 29th

📆 Friday, October 6th – Sunday, October 29th
📍 Wild Waves: 36201 Enchanted Pkwy S, Federal Way
🎟 Starts @ $35

A family-friendly theme and water park by day—beware, the fright comes out at night. Popular with teens, Wild Waves’ Fright Fest has multiple terror-inducing attractions. 

The “Chamber of Souls” serves as a traditional haunted house. Make your way through ghouls, corpses, and a zombie outbreak. Then head to “Camp Whispering Pines,” a trail where tortured camp counselors and slaughtered campers abound. The “Voodoo Swamp” is a shadowy bog full of creepy crawlers and curses. The first two come with admission, but the swamp costs an extra five bucks. 

To reduce wait times, a VIP pass includes a separate line, the three haunted attractions, plus four thrill rides. Rollercoaster after, anyone? For those under 13 (or anyone who wants fun without fear), there is “Booville,” a kid-friendly, scare-free area with games, a magic show, and a Halloween costume contest. Tip: Plan to carpool due to paid parking. Buy tickets in advance because reservations are required. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Can Can Presents This Is Halloween 2023 @ The Triple Door

Thru Tuesday, October 31st

📅 Thursday, October 19th – Tuesday, October 31st
📍 The Triple Door: 216 Union St, Seattle
📞 (206) 838-4333
🎟 $39 – $59

Ring in the scary and cheery holiday season with This Is Halloween, the Can Can Culinary Cabaret‘s hot adaptation of Tim Burton’s iconic stop-motion animation film, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Now in its 16th year, the show is taking over the Triple Door again, where you can chow down on Southeast Asian-inspired food from the venue’s sister restaurant, Wild Ginger, while giddily taking in the frightening and fantastical performance onstage. 

Directed by Chris Pink, This Is Halloween centers around the pinstripe suit-clad Jack Skellington, the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town. Supremely bored of terrorizing humans year in and year out, one day Jack stumbles upon the cheery Christmas Town and plots to take over the joyous village—with disastrous results. The Can Can’s re-telling incorporates vocal performances, burlesque, live orchestral music, and video projections to amp up the production. This year’s show includes choreography from Fae Pink, visuals from TJ Davis and Lux Collective, and more updates… to be revealed. Don’t get too spooked! ✍️ JAS KEIMIG

Frighthouse Station @ Freighthouse Square

Thru Saturday, November 4th

📆 Friday, September 29th – Saturday, November 4th
📍 Freighthouse Square: 626 East 25th Street, Tacoma
🎟 Starts @ $17

Descend into the depths of the sea where creatures from the dark come to life at Frighthouse Station, located at Freighthouse Square near the Tacoma Dome. This haunt visits the seaside village of Ammet Bay, where locals have returned from unspeakable terrors beneath the waves. With creepy set and character designs, this H.P. Lovecraft-inspired spookfest is a special nightmare. 

While the organizers behind Frighthouse recommend no one under 12 visits, they do offer a “Wand of Courage” for the faint of heart. For an added $5 fee, you can equip yourself with a wand where, if you raise it and yell, “Back, evil thing! I command you!” you’ll make the monsters retreat. (If you don’t follow the instructions correctly, they’ll still pursue.) An “Ultimate Fright Pass” gets you faster access (less waiting in line) and a swag bag of spooky souvenirs for $40. No drinking, smoking, or vaping allowed. Also, no flash photography. This location is wheelchair accessible with assistance. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Haunted House @ Georgetown Morgue

Thru Saturday, November 4th

📆 Friday, September 22nd – Saturday, November 4th
📍 Georgetown Morgue: 5000 E Marginal Way S, Seattle
🎟 Starts @ $35

Want a haunted house in a location with an allegedly creepy history? Put Georgetown Morgue on your list. 

Billed as one of the “most intriguing historic urban morgues,” the Georgetown Morgue claims to have a gruesome history. In addition to serving as a morgue and crematorium, the morgue’s owners suggest the site has been the home of a missing body—later found dismembered—and other deaths. That includes the alleged “Seattle crematorium massacre,” where the morgue’s haunted house operators say that in October 1968, armed assailants forced all nine of the morgue’s staff members into a crematorium chamber. Leaving everyone as ash. (Evidence supporting this story is scant.)

The rumored morgue history serves as the backdrop to a terrifying Halloween experience. Your ticket gets you into a walkthrough attraction in the style of a catacomb, where creatures (actors) roam. For those who want to experience more fear, add a new dark maze experience for an extra $8 a ticket. You and your group will try to flee a pitch-black maze. Good luck. (Leave young ones at home, as kids under 12 are prohibited.) 

Free parking is available, with public transportation nearby. The experience is wheelchair accessible. No drinking is allowed, but there are plenty of spots nearby. Remember there’s a “no touch” policy (you don’t touch them; they don’t touch you). Because of their reputation as one of the best scares, the lines are often long—but there’s a VIP line for an additional charge. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Nightmare on 9 @ Thomas Family Farm

Thru Sunday, October 29th

📆 Saturday, September 30th – Sunday, October 29th
📍 Thomas Family Farm: 9010 Marsh Rd, Snohomish
🎟 Starts @ $31

Come here for a one-stop spooky spot for everyone. Thomas Family Farm’s Nightmare on 9 experience admits you to multiple attractions. First is the “Vogel Institute,” an indoor haunted house operating on the farm since 2012. Then there’s “The Haunted Trail,” a quarter-mile-long walk through the imagined ghost town of “Blackreach.” And the “Zombie Paintball” ride lets you shoot ghouls back into their graves. Want something without monsters? Try the “Night Corn Maze.” 

Most activities are for ages 12 and over, with kids under eight not allowed. But onsite, there’s free access to a nighttime pumpkin patch, food court, and general store. You can even rent a fire pit. For those old enough to drink, there’s a beer garden. (Helpful if you need some bravery.) Parking is available, and a fast pass can be purchased to reduce wait times. Receive a discount plus free admission to the corn maze if you combine two or three activities. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Stalker Farms @ Stocker Farms

Thru Sunday, October 29th

📆 Saturday, September 30th – Sunday, October 29th
📍 Stocker Farms: 8705 Marsh Rd, Snohomish
🎟 Starts @ $28.95

Billed as Washington’s “original haunted corn trails,” Stocker Farms’ Stalker Farms is another Halloween spot with multiple attractions. 

The “Slasher Family Homestead” and “Pogo’s Funny Farm” are full of torments for the fearless, featuring traditional haunted experiences like scary clowns and chainsaw-wielding creeps. The farm also offers a non-haunted nighttime corn maze that’s good for kids, plus a giant jumping pillow, ball toss zone, farmer foosball, and fire pits for rent. A VIP option, which includes a third haunted trail, “Eski’s Dark Harvest,” and a “shooting gallery,” is available. Hang out in the midway space before or after to enjoy food vendors, carnival-style gaming, and live entertainment on busy nights. 

Heads-up: Wheelchairs are allowed, but accessibility could be an issue. All attractions are outside, so there can be mud, bugs, corn stalks, uneven ground, fog, and, yes, rain! A flash sale starts on September 25th, with online tickets at 30% off. ✍️ PATHERESA WELLS

Fall Festival @ Stocker Farms

Thru Tuesday, October 31st

 

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📍 Stocker Farms: 8705 Marsh Rd, Snohomish
📅 September 16th – 17th, 23rd – 24th, September 30th – October 31st 
🎟️ Tickets here

This generations-old family farm is a full-on agritourism experience. The Cascade Mountains set behind aesthetic touches—they have a postcard-worthy pumpkin barn—makes this an ideal place for holiday photos. An abundance of active, low-tech playware like zip lines and jumping pillows are grounds for a tablet-free day. The 2023 corn maze will include donations to Ronald McDonald House Charities of Western Washington and Alaska. On Sunday nights in October starting on the 8th, stick around for the fireworks extravaganza at 7:30 pm.

Last time we checked, advance midweek tickets to their Fall Festival are $15.95, and weekend tickets are $21.95. Pumpkin cannons and hayrides are available on Saturdays and Sundays. Skip admission if you want to head straight to the patch. You pay for the pumpkins you pick to take home. In the evenings, visit haunted corn trails, “Stalker” Farms. ✍️MEGHNA JARADI