These are San Francisco’s best Halloween events

At Fatal Abduction, this year’s immersive experience from Terror Vault, our planet’s in danger, and you may be the only one to save us all from a wretched fate at the hands of aliens. Admission includes a free glow necklace to opt into interactive components. The 1980s throwback goth/vampire-themed Fang Bang Bar is open to the public during showtimes, and you can also visit Justin Cooter’s Roadside Bar (Cooter is a wrestler who survived his own alien abduction) and a Creepy Collectibles Museum. 

Set sail into the bay on October 26 aboard the Black Pearl, ready to rock the boat. You’ll have a choice of two DJs and three dance areas on this three-deck ship, playing house music and Top 40. Pirate costumes are preferred, but you can wear any costume as the spirit moves you, so long as there’s no weapon included (kinda hard to swashbuckle without your fake sword, but oh well). The VIP package includes bottle and table service; otherwise, imbibe at the cash bar. Tickets range from $51 to $300, with package deals available.

For a family-friendly affair, head over to Thrive City—the complex home to the Chase Center and Golden State Warriors—as they host Thrill-O-Ween on Saturday, October 26. The event will be full of afternoon activities for all ages, including a screening of Despicable Me 4, slime making, trick or treating, live entertainment and a costume contest.

If creepy haunted hauses or roaring parties aren’t really your thing, how does a candlelit concert sound? Candlelight Concerts is presenting “A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics” at the Bayview Opera House, the Chan National Queer Arts Center and the International Art Museum of America, which includes the Psycho prelude, Danny Elfman’s “This is Halloween” and “Danse Macabre” by Saint-Saëns. The “Best Horror Movie Soundtracks” presentation can be seen at the International Art Museum of America and includes the disorienting theme from The Shining, John Carpenter’s Halloween theme and Danny Elfman’s Beetlejuice theme. These shows are at varying dates and times. Tickets are $35 to $77.

The California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park can be surprisingly eerie after hours—see for yourself at the Super Natural event, with a silent disco in the Steinhart Aquarium, trick or treat stations, live animal demonstrations and mad scientists doing diabolical experiments. You can upgrade to VIP for 5pm early entry (otherwise, the event is 6:30 to 9pm), access to the VIP Garden and free food and premium open bar (21+) all evening. General admission tickets range from $40 to $60.

If you’re looking for a Halloween event that’s less booze cruise and more opera house vibes, this fourth annual Halloween concert, Death By Aria, is back by popular demand. Take in music from a lineup of artists, including sopranos Olivia Smith and Arianna Rodriguez, tenor Sid Chand, mezzo-soprano Nikola Printz, baritone Edward Nelson, oboist and vocalist Jesse Rex Barrett, and pianist Ronny Michael Greenberg. Put on your costume and enjoy a night of music and specialty cocktails. The 21-plus event takes place on Halloween night from 7:30 to 11pm at the Green Room (401 Van Ness Ave). Tickets are $72 to $100.

A pub crawl is akin to trick or treating for adults—and Crawloween is one of the best Halloween pub crawls in the city. Organizers expect upwards of 10,000 attendees this year over three days—October 25, 26 and 31—with more than 40 bars participating and offering drink specials. There are four different check-in spots where you can get your wristband and head out to the various bars by walking or jumping on the party shuttle. A costume contest takes place through Instagram posts. Tiered tickets start at $14, and all the participating bars offer cheap drink specials.

If you’re looking to get wild on Halloween, don’t miss the Naughty Halloween Fetish Ball hosted at the three-story adult club, Power Exchange. You can wear anything from a costume to your birthday suit, and fetish wear or lingerie are encouraged. Novices, exhibitions and voyeurs alike are welcome. Doors open at 9pm and close at 6am on October 26 and 27. Tickets range from $45 for a single person in female attire to $171 for a single in male attire.

Who doesn’t love to see a dog dressed up for Halloween? If you’d rather see furry friends in costume than people, head to the Haunted Howl-o-ween Party at Wag Hotels, 25 14th St., on Thursday, October 24 from 6:30 to 8pm. One hundred percent of ticket sales and silent auction proceeds will go to the Frosted Faces Foundation that helps at-risk senior dogs. Dress up Fido for a photo opp with Cruella de Vil, enjoy dog-friendly activities, get a wag swag bag and enter the costume contest. Leashes and up to date vaccinations required. Tickets are $10 to $15.

The Gregangelo Museum is already on our list of best San Francisco museums, and it’s no wonder that this time of year they ramp things up with a creepy vibe in their haunted dollhouse event. Tours are limited to eight people, and you’ll find dolls hiding in the shadows, hoping you’ll be their new playmate… forever. You’ll explore themed chambers, see terrible things done to toys at the Teddy Bear Hospital, learn balloon twisting from a sinister clown (is there any other kind?), and conclude with a tea party at this paranormal playdate with the dolls of the damned. The event runs selected dates from September 28 through October 26. Tickets are $93.

At this immersive soirée inside the haunted Volkov Manor (err, the 9th Street Building), you’ll chase the ghosts away with mini craft cocktails as you watch surreal performances and engage with macabre characters. You can consult the giant Ouija board and commune with the spirits to understand the estate’s sinister history (lightly based on Rasputin, ancient god Veles and other Slavic folktales). Costumes, cocktail attire or period costuming is encouraged. People say it’s actually a little scary. 21+. Tickets start at $82.

Since 2004, this ghost tour company has been taking folks around the Haight to talk about ghosts and true crime. The tour leaders are literally paranormal investigators who bring ghost hunting equipment along. Any time of year you can take the Haunted Haight Ghost Hunting Walking Tour or add alcohol with the ghost hunting pub crawl; according to the website, a “magick and witchcraft tour” and a “sinister crimes tour” are in the making. This tour takes two hours, costs $25 and includes a thank you gift. Book online and then meet in front of the Magnolia Brewing Company (1398 Haight St). Suggested minimum age is 13.

It’s worth it to make your way across the bay to Alameda for the 9th annual Studio 23 Halloween BlackLight Art Show. Here, everything glows in the dark—blacklight paintings, body paintings, interactive LED light sculptures. You can even participate in live painting with Wormhole Mural Squad. View installations indoors and outdoors and enjoy performances by Pretty Frankenstein, NIN Polish and J. Graves, ending with live synth music with vt100. There’s a costume contest with prizes, a drone show and a night market. It happens Sunday, October 27 from 6 to 10pm. A closing reception takes place 7 to 9 pm on November 8. Free but suggested donation of $20 to support nonprofit ArtPush.

Over three days, 16 bars will welcome you with drink specials and no cover, so long as you purchase a wristband at the NorthStar cafe, starting at $18. The crawl is 6pm to 2am Friday October 25, Saturday, October 26 and Thursday, October 31. Prepurchase your wristband and then check in at the NorthStar to pick it up plus get a map of participating bars and a list of their drink specials. Details here.

Nonstop dancing and a costume contest rule the evening at the Bollywood Chills and Thrills Halloween Party at Eve nightclub, with DJs DJK and DJ Raag spinning new age Bollywood EDM mixes combined with spooky tunes. For the costume contest, dress as your favorite Bollywood star or a scary character. Eve boasts three big LED screens, a confetti cannon and great sound system. Tickets are tiered and as of this writing free tickets can still be scored here for entry before 11pm. VIP skip the line tickets start at $23. The evening starts 10pm October 25 and goes to 2am on the morning of the 26th.

Billed as Grimm’s Fairy Tale fun for the whole family, Scare Grove is 4-9pm at Stern Grove, presented by SF Recreation and Parks. There will be carnival rides, hay rides, a costume contest, a haunted house for kids 10 and under, arts and crafts, archery, a climbing wall, a bookmobile, the Randall Museum's "Randall on the Road" activity truck, food for sale and live performances. Free.

Held in the historic Haas-Lilienthal House, the Nightmare House on Franklin Street offers two 45 minute immersive tours (created by the same folks who do Unhinged at the Winchester Mystery House). The experience involves theatrical storytelling, fog, strobe lights and psychological creepiness (and maybe a few jump scares). Recommended for age 16 and up. Arrive 45 minutes before your tour to have a drink at the Cellar of Cursed Spirits bar. Ticket information here. The event is 7:30 to 11pm Saturday, October 19.

The Palace Theater is the cat’s meow with so much happening, 1920s style: séances, ouija board sessions, tarot readings, magic acts, ghost stories, live music and a spooky vaudeville show with tap-dancing skeletons, a haunted photo booth, casino games, plus a costume parade. Choose the 7pm VIP entry with a short-pour welcome cocktail and an extra 30 minute playlet or come at 8pm for the two vaudeville shows at 8:30 and 9:30. This immersive evening offered on October 31 and November 1 and 2 sounds devilishly amusing. Tickets start at $85.

It’s a throwback dance party at DNA Lounge, showcasing pop from the ‘90s and early 2000s with hip hop, R&B, remixes and indie—but with a Halloween flair. Call up the ghosts of yesteryear while you boogie. 9:30pm-2:30am Saturday, October 26. General admission $15, while VIP starts at $455 for six.