Looking for Halloween fun around Charlotte? Here are some of our top picks for 2018

The next several days are jam-packed with Halloween-themed events, from costume parties and fierce fundraisers to haunted trails and amusement-park makeovers. Here are a variety of options that might strike your frightful fancy.

Haunted attractions

1. Aw Shucks Farm in Monroe features a family-friendly corn maze, hayrides, farm animals, a grain slide, human foosball and a pumpkin market, but its sister haunt —The 13th Acre Haunted Trail — is not for children 8 and younger. (Families with older kids can do both, though.) From dark until 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. $20 with farm entry, $13 without.

2. It’s the last weekend of the year to enjoy the SCarowinds’ attactions, including haunted movie studios, cemeteries, and rotting gardens, high-flying stunt shows, 3D gaming, and all the regular rollercoasters. Since many attendees argue that the size of the crowds is scarier than the attractions, get there by dusk to avoid the longest lines. 7 p.m.-1 a.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. to midnight Sunday. $37-$89.99.

3. You won’t want to bring the young’uns to Mooresville’s Scarrigan Farms. The haunted trail’s website warns of phobia-triggering scares as you traverse a mile of the farm’s 170-acre terrain while dodging shifty clowns, obnoxious killers and wise-cracking zombies. Opens nightly at 6:30 p.m. Friday through Sunday. $25 (cash only).

4. Belmont’s 120-year-old Haunted Mill (which also features an escape room and 3D blacklight mini-golf the rest of the year) is a staple in the area. Hitting on creepy to classic to cartoony, the mill opens at 7 nightly through Halloween, closing at 11:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 10 p.m. Sunday through Tuesday, and 11 p.m. on Wednesday. $16 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and younger.

5. Evil clowns, armed killers, demented doctors, and other frights prowl the woods of Gaston County’s Hickory Grove Haunted Trail, which opens as night falls Friday and Saturday and runs until midnight (Sunday through Halloween night it closes at 10 p.m.). $15.

Family fun

6. “The Glow: A Jack-O-Lantern Experience” forges a path through a foggy field covered with dimly lit cemeteries and elaborately decorated pumpkin patches where everyone from Dracula to The Muppets are dexterously carved into the orange flesh. Dinosaurs and Day of the Dead Skulls are created from multiple carvings and the “glow” of colorful lights throughout creates a magical Halloween landscape. 7-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 7-9:30 p.m. Sunday. Rock City Campgrounds near Charlotte Motor Speedway. $22.99 adults, $16.99 kids.

7. Since Saturday morning cartoons are a thing of the past, the Charlotte Symphony rouses youngsters with its family-friendly Halloween Spooktacular concert featuring familiar scary tunes and themes from haunting TV shows and films like “Jaws” and the Harry Potter series. 11 a.m. Saturday. Knight Theater. $14-$24.

8. What started three years ago as a homegrown front-yard haunted house to entertain trick-or-treating Colonial Village neighbors expands this year to a neighborhood block party and fundraiser. Resident Matt Morrison’s Tyson Street Terror Haunted House will not only be delighting kids and scaring neighbors, it will be collecting donations for Ween Dream, a national nonprofit that provides costumes for needy children. Proceeds will go directly to children living at the local Ronald McDonald House (for use in 2019). 6-11 p.m. Wednesday. 543 Tyson St. Free.

Movie screenings

9. We’ve seen Michael Myers’ resurrection and next week marks the release of the new version of Dario Argento’s classic “Suspiria.” You can revisit the originals during the final week of Ayrsley Cinema’s Annual Retro Horror Series, which screens the original “Halloween” and “Suspiria” at 7 and 9 p.m. nightly. $5.

10. The Queen City Cinephiles’ presents Feature Films monthly meet-up at Petra’s features a screening menu heavy on monsters of both the supernatural and human kind with the Swiss vampire comedy “Orazio’s Clan” and the Spanish thriller “Compulsion.” 7 p.m. Tuesday. $5.

11. Visart Video’s new screening room plays host to comedy, cult films, buzz flicks and movies you’ve never even heard of. This week’s Cult Movies in the Cave entry — “Hack-O-Lantern” — falls into the latter category. The 1988 video-release about a Satanic cult that likes to sacrifice its victims on Halloween was helmed by prolific Indian Jag Mundhra, who has directed a lot of equally hilariously named American movies (and some more-serious Indian ones). 8 p.m. Free.

Parties

12. The Milestone’s Annual Halloween Fiasco is two nights of local bands donning the guises of their favorite bands. This year’s lineup features usual suspects like Smashing Pumpkins, Prince, the Misfits, the Cure and Nirvana; but there’s also some more surprising turns as Hectorina channels Hank Williams on night one and others pay tribute to less-famous acts like the Sonics, Angel Olsen, Discharge and Devil Makes Three on night two. 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. $8-$10.

13. It’s a dash of Studio 54, a dollop of the ’50 and ’60s Vegas strip, and a heavy helping of ’80s MTV when the Historic Duke Mansion’s annual themed fundraiser’s attendees become Legends of Music for the night. Living or dead, there’s plenty of colorful rock and pop stars to choose from. Have fun spotting Cher and 2Pac on the dancefloor, or Meat Loaf and Miley Cyrus dining on hilariously themed dishes like We Got the Beet Salad and Cheeseburger in Paradise sliders. A silent auction, music from Hey DJ!, oversized outdoor games, and food and drink by Chef Harrison Booth add to the festive atmosphere. 8 p.m. Saturday. $75.

14. Ukulele slinging, swinging socialites the Tampones host a Halloween Spooktacular that kicks off with a live/interactive staged reading of “The Great Pumpkin” (which the hosts will also turn into a drinking game) followed by jokes, games, prizes and sexy songs. 7 p.m. Sunday. Petra’s Bar. $10. And speaking of Petra’s, Philly-based painter Kelly Keith returns to Charlotte for the opening reception of her art show there; it combines the occasion with the bar’s Halloween Bash featuring live music, dancing, karaoke, DJs on the back patio, and a midnight costume contest. 7 p.m. Wednesday. Free.

This story was originally published October 25, 2018 at 1:50 PM.