By sheer coincidence, many of the supernatural phenomena on ghosthunter Richard T. Crowe’s long-running bus tours can be found in Chicago bars. So even if Resurrection Mary and the other spiritual stars choose to be shy on a given night, you can still hoist a few pints (or colas). The Halloween installments of the gangster-obsessed Chicago Supernatural Tour run at 1 p.m. Saturday and Sunday ($30, all ages) and 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday ($40, including champagne; minors must have adult supervision). Crowe’s tours, which begin at the Goose Island Brewpub, 1800 N. Clybourn Ave., continue into November. 708-499-0300.
Funny how pumpkins develop leering expressions and eerie internal lights this time of year. How does this happen? Ask while picking at Goebbert’s Pumpkin Farm, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m to 4 p.m. Sunday at 42W813 Reinking Rd., Hampshire (847-428-6727), or the Didier Farms Pumpkin Festival, 10 a.m. to dusk Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 16678 Aptakisic Rd., Prairie View (847-634-3291). Speaking of farms, a Haunted Farm at the Center, 12700 Southwest Highway, runs all weekend for $8 in advance (with a children’s party from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday for $3.50). 708-361-3650.
Sure, you can put on your best pumpkin face, carve a jack-o’-lantern and get out this Halloween weekend to visit the annual standbys: Brookfield Zoo’s “Boo! at the Zoo”; The Field Museum’s “Field of Screams”; B96’s “Screamfest”; the Chicago Cultural Center’s “Hallowed Halls”; Medieval Times’ “Haunted Castle”; Six Flags Great America’s “Fright Fest”; the Hancock Observatory’s “Scares in the Air”; Navy Pier’s “The Hauntings at Navy Pier”; and the Museum of Science and Industry’s “Science of Fear II.” Or, you can get your witchy kicks at places a little more off-the-wall. Here are some highlights.
Chicago-area towns always seem so pleasant — except for one weekend every year. Suddenly, flowers are replaced with cobwebs, smiling secretaries give way to hobgoblins and witches, and every building on every street looks like bats are about to swarm out of the windows. Cases in point:
– Main Street Monster Mash, trick-or-treat parade with a talent show and refreshments, 11 a.m. Saturday, beginning at the Dundee Township Visitor Center, 319 N. River St., Dundee. Free. 847-844-9420.
– Tour of Terror, haunted house, 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Meadowhill Park, 1500 Maple Ave., Northbrook. $3, or $4 at the door. 847-291-2980.
– Haunted Dungeon, 7 p.m. Friday night through Sunday, Route 53 and Short St., Lisle. $5. 630-964-3410.
– Trick or Treat Trail & Tail, pet walk, 3 p.m. Saturday, Devonshire Park, 4400 Greenwood Ave., Skokie. $5, plus $2 per dog. (Other events include Scream Scene ’99 and the Weber Witch Night Golf Tournament.) 847-674-1500.
How many ways can you tell the Dracula story? Plenty, if you count interactive ’70s comedy, “Rocky Horror Picture Show”-style musical and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Some upcoming interpretations of scary classics (and a modern dance number or two):
– Thirteen back-to-back episodes of -“Back In the Shadows Again: The Lighter Side of Dark Shadows,” interactive vampire adventure-comedy set in the late ’60s-early ’70s (complete with shag haircuts, polyester micro-minis), 6 p.m. Saturday at Ivanhoe Theater, 750 W. Wellington. $10-$21. 773-334-3255.
– “Same Planet Different World,” modern dance company special show for kids, 6 p.m. Saturday at Harold Washington Library Theatre, 400 S. State St. $10. 773-784-6503.
– “Theatre to Trouble Your Sleep: A Spoofy Halloween,” improvisational performance featuring zombies, mummies and the Headless Horseman, 5 p.m. Friday and 10:30 p.m. Saturday at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd., Skokie. $5. 847-679-9501.
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– “All Hallows’ Eve Ritual Celebration,” parade and Redmoon Theater performance, 2:45 p.m. Saturday at The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, and 7 p.m. Sunday at Logan Square (outside), Logan and Kedzie Boulevards. Free (paid admission required for museum). 773-388-9031.
– “Tales of Madness and Revenge,” staged reading of Edgar Allan Poe work, 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday at Glessner House Museum, 1800 S. Prairie Ave. $18. 312-326-1480.
– “Sherlock Holmes and the Curse of the Sign of Four,” murder mystery, 8 p.m. Friday, 4:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday at the New American Theater, 118 N. Main St., Rockford. $21 (Friday-Saturday) and $18 (Sunday). 815-964-6282.
`Getting high” takes on a whole new meaning at the Friedman Mind Show, in which “psychic/seer/phenomenalist” Sydney Friedman levitates the entire audience. Also, Friedman will mentally determine which catchy tunes crowd members have in their heads — you have to figure “The Girl From Ipanema” is even money — and sign copies of his new book, “Your Mind Knows More Than You Do: The Subconscious Secrets of Success” (Blue Dolphin, $22). His Halloween shows are at 8 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday at Davenport’s Cabaret Showroom, 1383 N. Milwaukee Ave. $16. 773-278-1830.
Supplementing a standard Halloween-issue pillowcase with a cardboard UNICEF box is a tradition as old as Richard Nixon masks. But because impoverished kids need more than pennies, the poverty-fighting United Nation’s Children’s Fund benefits from two more elaborate events — a Spirit of Chicago cruise (at 7 p.m. Friday at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.; $50, or $60 at the door; 312-836-7899) and a Caterpillar Ball (with dancing and children’s theatre) at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum, Fullerton Avenue and Cannon Drive; $125 for adults (black tie), $50 for kids (“dress-up”); 312-255-0400).
For hundreds of Halloween happenings for the weekend (including details on those annual standbys), plus features on costumes, fright-free family fun and local haunted houses, visit metromix.com/go/halloween. Also check the On the Go section of Friday for expanded Halloween event listings.
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