Our 13 things to do for Halloween, from the Arts in the Dark parade to darker fare

The night of All Hallow’s Eve is coming. So is the annual Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade on State Street. For the biggest scares, more than a dozen Chicago-area haunted houses are already open and doing a bustling business; you can find our 2023 guide at here. For the rest of the spooky season, some of the picks on our list are on the chilling side, some not so much.

‘Nevermore: The Poe Tour’

Now at the American Writers Museum, a daily 15-minute tour that both introduces you to the museum and walks you through the dark and mysterious work of Edgar Allan Poe, as well as the writers who influenced him and writers who were influenced by him.

3 p.m. daily through Nov. 6 at the American Writers Museum, 180 N. Michigan Ave., second floor; americanwritersmuseum.org

Arts in the Dark Halloween Parade

The annual family-friendly event produced by LUMA8 draws thousands of spectators to State Street. Expect almost 4,000 parade participants from some 90 arts organizations this year. Colorful costumes and masks, artwork, fire and circus arts, dance, acrobatics, theater and puppetry will all be part of the spectacle. Plus music from 12 marching bands and drumlines and music ensembles, including the South Side Jazz Coalition and the Lakeside Pride Music Ensembles.

Pre-parade candy giveaway at 5 p.m., parade 6-8 p.m. Oct. 21 on State Street from Lake to Van Buren streets; more information at artsinthedark.com

Garden of Decay

It’s been almost a decade since there’s been any kind of haunted house experience on Navy Pier (The Fear was last there in 2014, for the record). The newly announced Garden of Decay promises a haunt-style, walk-through experience with a nature theme and story (“a grieving botanist’s desperate quest for resurrection”), plus audio narration and art installations. It’s all-ages when it first opens in the evening, then becomes ages 18+ after dark at 7:15 p.m.

6 p.m. to midnight on select dates Oct. 13-31 at Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave.; tickets from $42 at navypier.org

Unnatural Weird Wonder Festival

A changing lineup of short plays will be presented by DavJasFran Entertainment, a theater company whose mission is to stage the work of new artists. On Oct. 27, five plays tapping into the theme of nightmares, and “the fears that emerge from the subconscious during the darkness of night.” On Oct. 28, five plays about witches and the power of evil. And midday Oct. 29, two plays designed for kids and family audiences plus other activities.

At 7:30 p.m. Oct. 27-28 and noon Oct. 29 at Dreamers YOLO, 5419 N. Lincoln Ave.; tickets $20-$65 at www.davjasfranentertainment.com

Night of 1,000 Jack-o’-Lanterns

Be dazzled by all the artist-carved pumpkins lighting your way on a path through the Chicago Botanic Garden, plus costumed entertainers, live carving demos and more.

6:30 to 10:30 p.m. on select dates through Oct. 22 at the Chicago Botanic Garden, 1000 Lake Cook Road, Glencoe; tickets $19-$23 at 847-835-5440 and chicagobotanic.org

Howl-o-ween

This Adults Night Out experience at Lincoln Park Zoo includes surprise scares on a haunted trail (you’ve been warned), DJ music, games, free carousel rides and singing along with dueling pianos on the Main Mall.

6:30 to 10 p.m. Oct. 26 at Lincoln Park Zoo, 2200 N. Cannon Drive; tickets $20-$40 (ages 21+) at www.lpzoo.org

‘Haunted Dolls 2′

Not a horror movie, it’s the return of a Halloween attraction at the Chicago History Museum. “Haunted Dolls 2: The Riddles of the Wayward Spirit” is a scavenger hunt of creepy dolls at the museum. There are 13 hiding around, including in the “Chicago: Crossroads of America” exhibition. The museum challenges you to “find the dolls and solve the riddles using your knowledge of Chicago history.”

Through Nov. 5 at the Chicago History Museum, 1601 N. Clark St.; included in regular $19 admission at 312-642-4600 and www.chicagohistory.org

‘Fright: An Improvised Horror Movie’

From the improv team behind “Hitch*Cocktails,” an interactive 60-minute show with improvised horror movies (slasher flicks, classic horror, creature feature, paranormal mystery or ghost stories). The audience answers trivia questions and decides who dies, gruesomely. It’s one of a few Halloween-themed shows at iO Theater right now.

7 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 5 at iO Theater, 1501 N. Kingsbury St.; tickets $15 at ioimprov.com

‘Frankenstein’

More than just a Halloween event but nonetheless suitable for the occasion. The Joffrey Ballet opens its 68th season with the Chicago premiere of Liam Scarlett’s choreographic interpretation of Mary Shelley’s 19th century Gothic story, set to an original score by Lowell Liebermann.

Oct. 12-22 at Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Upper Wacker Drive; tickets from $36 at joffrey.org

Chicago Seadog Haunted River Tour

A costumed tour guide will host your 75-minute nighttime tour of the Chicago River, focusing on mobsters, scandal, spirits and sin. Plus a short speedboat ride on Lake Michigan.

Fridays through Sundays in October, tours board at 5 p.m. from the docks at Navy Pier; tickets from $49.95 at www.cityexperiences.com

‘Wolves’

Now on stage at Redtwist Theatre, playwright Steve Yockey’s dark retelling of “Little Red Riding Hood.” A young man finds himself isolated in a big city and paranoia sets in, escalating until it violently gives life to the very predator he fears. “It’s the sign of a good horror story that it holds up a mirror to the darkest parts of ourselves or at least makes us wonder what could drive us to such extremes,” writes Emily McClanathan in her Tribune review.

Through Nov. 5 at Redtwist Theatre, 1044 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. tickets $30 at www.redtwisttheatre.org

Auditorium Theatre Ghost Tours

Is the downtown Auditorium Theatre haunted? What is that disembodied whistling by the stage door, those specters that appear in the seats at night? Plus learn about the building’s architecture by Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler and its 134-year history on the all-ages, 90-minute tours.

Noon Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays and 6 p.m. Thursdays through Nov. 22 at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive; tickets from $18 at auditoriumtheatre.org

‘Night Watch’

A revival of Lucille Fletcher’s classic psychological thriller about a woman who suffers from insomnia and witnesses a dead body in the window of an abandoned flat across the street. A suspense tale “in the vein of Hitchcock,” says Raven Theatre artistic director Sarah Slight, directed by Georgette Verdin and starring Aila Ayilam Peck as Elaine.

Through Nov. 12 on the Johnson Stage at Raven Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St.; tickets $45 at www.raventheatre.com

dgeorge@chicagotribune.com