Celebrate Halloween all week with spooky and silly community events

Anchorage is home to both frightful and family fun events from now until Oct. 31. Whether you’re going to a Halloween wrestling slam or getting treats with kids around town, there’s an excuse for anyone to put on a costume.

Family fun for mini monsters

The Ooky Spooky Light Show at the Thomas Planetarium — Have a “graveyard smash” with classic Halloween tunes paired with themed visuals and lights. Program contains flashing lights and loud music, attend at the viewer’s discretion. $6. 4:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday. Anchorage Museum, 625 C St. (museum@anchoragemuseum.org)

Frankentoys — Embrace your inner mad scientist, grab the hot glue gun and join the library for an afternoon of mutant toy creation. Ages 8 and up. Free. 2-4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, Loussac Library, Learning Commons, Level Four, 3600 Denali St. (Elizabeth.Nicolai@anchorageak.gov)

The Monster Mash Dinner — Dress like a monster and eat like one too. Eat off a monster-inspired dinner menu with music and seasonal decorations. $10. 6-9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, The Arc of Anchorage, 2211 Arca Dr. (thearcofanchorage.org)

Bird TLC’s Owl-O-Ween Celebration — Join Bird TLC and a parliament of live owls, a raven and two crows. Discover why owls are a witch’s best friend and how ghost stories got started. Free. 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Loussac Library, Learning Commons, Level Four, 3600 Denali St. (Elizabeth.Nicolai@anchorageak.gov)

Haunted Halloween Fun Night — The largest indoor trick-or-treating event in Anchorage doubles as the largest fundraising event for UAA student organizations. DJ Coy Allen will be playing music to dance along to. Activity tickets can be purchased for events including a monster hunt, games and candy. Free admission and parking. 1-6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, UAA Student Union, 2921 Spirit Drive. (facebook.com/UAALife)

Costume Dance Party — Dress in a costume and bring out your inner dance monster. Jams mixed by DJ Bear. Free. 1-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Scott and Wesley Gerrish Library, 250 Egloff Drive in Girdwood. (Claire.Agni@anchorageak.gov)

Halloween Comic Fest — Swing by either Bosco’s locations and get three free comic books, five if you’re in costume. (Bosco’s reserves the right to determine what constitutes a costume.) Free. 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Bosco’s 2301 Spenard Road or Dimond Center. (boscos.com)

Frightening 4K — Join Skinny Raven Sports for a family-friendly, out-and-back 4K. There are team and individual costume contests, prizes and goodies after the run. Stick around with your family when the event is over to participate in Trick or Treat Street. $30-$40. 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Captain Cook Hotel, 939 W. Fifth Ave. (skinnyraven.com)

Halloween Nature Walk — Families with children are invited to visit a series of educational Halloween themed stations set up along the Rodak Nature Trail. Costumes are welcome, but be sure to dress warmly for the outdoors. Free. $5 parking for non-members. 2-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Eagle River Nature Center, 32750 Eagle River Road. (ernc.org)

Trick Or Treat Street — Families and children can trick or treat from business to business in downtown Anchorage in a safe and friendly environment. Food trucks, face painting, games and tons of family-friendly activities will be a part of this year’s event. Free. Noon-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Anchorage Downtown Partnership, 750 W. Second Ave., Ste. 100. (facebook.com/AnchorageDowntownPartnership)

Alaska Railroad Kids’ Halloween Train — The family-friendly train ride includes entertainment from a magician, costumes, crafts, balloon animals, treats and more. $36-$70. 10 a.m.- 12:30 p.m. and 3-5:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Anchorage Depot, 411 W. First Ave. (reservations@akrr.com, alaskarailroad.com)

The Witch and Her Owl — Find out all about owls and why they are associated with Halloween from volunteer Ginamaria Smith, who will bring along Arc, a great horned owl. Free. $5 parking for non-members. 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, Eagle River Nature Center, 32750 Eagle River Road. (ernc.org)

Family Dinner: The Nightmare Before Christmas — Treat yourself and your children to a spooky date night with an affordable dinner and a movie. This event features handcrafted adult and kid-friendly food and drink options. Free admission. 5:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, Williwaw Social, 609 F St. (williwawsocial.com)

Halloween: Celestial Origins in the Thomas Planetarium — Discover the connections between trick-or-treating, costumes, spirits and our mysterious universe. Traverse the night sky and learn what planets, constellations and stars will be out on Halloween evening. $6. 3:30 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, Anchorage Museum, 625 C St. (anchoragemuseum.org)

Halloween at the Museum — Trick-or-treat in the galleries, join in story time in the dome, create in CoLab or catch a special planetarium program. Costumes encouraged. Music, cookies and “witches brew” punch in the atrium and small candy treat bags provided upon exit. Included with museum admission. 3-6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Anchorage Museum, 625 C St. (anchoragemuseum.org)

Zoo Boo — Trick or Treat with the animals! All kinds of treat stations are set up along the pathways at the zoo. Bosco’s will be set up across from the musk ox with free comics and three if your costume is a musk ox. Zoo admission required. 4-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Alaska Zoo, 4731 O’Malley Road. (alaskazoo.org)

Trick or Treat Fish Creek — Join a family-friendly event to celebrate the opening of the Fish Creek Trail with music, food, art and a bike parade. Wear a costume and walk or bike along the entire Fish Creek Trail for goodies and ghosts. Free. Thursday, Oct. 31, Kiwanis Fish Creek Park, 3907 Turnagain Blvd. (spenardcc@gmail.com)

Malloween — Have fun trick-or-treating in the mall and support the American Red Cross of Alaska. $5. 6-8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Dimond Center, 800 E. Dimond Blvd. (dimondcenter.com)

Frightful fun for grown-up goblins

Fright Night Haunted House — Fright Night has grown into a 10,000-square-foot haunted house with 15 themed rooms. Included: “the real chainsaw alley,” “the bottomless black maze of terror,��� “all-new zombie land” and “Clowns, Clowns. Clowns, Clowns, Clowns, and more CLOWNS.” During that time, participants can navigate through two mazes, two clown rooms and more. $15. 6-11 p.m. Friday through Nov. 2 in the Northway Mall. (easttbirds@hotmail.com)

Nightmare on Slam Street — 49th State Wrestling brings slumberland to reality with a special Halloween wrestling event. There will be a costume contest during the intermission of the show. $7-$30. 8-11:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, Williwaw Social, 609 F St. (williwawsocial.com)

Alaska’s Top ZILF — Zombie lovers, eat your hearts out and decide who your favorite zombie lady is. The top ZILF gets a cash prize. 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, Koots, 2435 Spenard Road. (koots.com)

Halloween Onesie Party — Put on your favorite spooky pajamas and come down to Koots. Music with DJ EvilOne and The Stack. 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 25, Koots, 2435 Spenard Road. (koots.com)

Mighty Monster Boo Fest — Also known as Mighty Matanuska Brewfest, this event features local breweries, a costume contest and live music by Nervis Rex. Each ticket comes with 20, 3-ounce beer samples. Discounted designated driver tickets are also available. $35. 6-10 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Alaska State Fair grounds, 2075 Glenn Highway, Palmer. (alaskastatefair.org)

BC: Trick or Freak 3 — Enjoy live music, dancing, costume contest and prizes. Catering and a full bar provided by Don Jose’s and The Last Frontier. 18+ and 21+ sections. $20. 9:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, 420 W. Third Ave. (eventbrite.com)

Nocturnal Featuring Kastra — Enter a land of fantasy from beyond your imagination, dance with the elves under a fae moon and conquer the Minotaur’s maze if you dare. The theme this year is fae and costumes are encouraged. Live performances from Kastra, Nine Lives, The Shaman, Lazurye and REKT. $35. 9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Koots, 2435 Spenard Road. (koots.com)

HalloweEmo — A night dedicated to black nail polish, eye liner and calling up your MySpace Top 8 for the best Halloween of your life. Black nail polish and eyeliner stations, pin the hair on the Pete Wentz and a live performance by The Millennial Falcons. The best scene king and queen win $250, so dress as dark as your soul. $5-$10. 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, Williwaw Social, 609 F St. (williwawsocial.com)

Halloween Scream — Eat, drink and be scary. Boogie Shoes, DJ JoJo and the Bloodello burlesque show are all at Koots for this spooky costume party. 10 p.m.-1:45 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, 2435 Spenard Road. (koots.com)

Halloween Dance Party — DJ Fan Service spins dark and spooky mixes along with the hits, bangers, dance tracks and mixes across music genres from the past and present. Three costume contest categories to enter with $100 cash prize for each. Free. 9:30-11:59 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Williwaw Social, 609 F St. (williwawsocial.com)

It’s a-live (performance)

Mr. Spider’s Extra Scary Halloween — Join Jeepers Creepers, Witch Hazel and the Nightmare Hollow Coven, Boris the Vampire and the Blood-sucking Bat Brigade on this musical adventure through the Halloweeniest of towns, Nightmare Hollow. $15. 3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 26-27, Thursday Oct. 31 and Saturday, Nov. 2 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Alaska Pacific University, 4101 University Drive. (tbatheatre.org)

The Haunting of Hill House — Valley Performing Arts brings the story of a sinister and supernatural house with a morbid history onto the stage. $19. 7 p.m. Friday-Sunday through Nov. 3. Valley Performing Arts Theatre, 251 W. Swanson Ave. (valleyperformingarts.org)

Constance & Sinestra and the Cabinet of Screams — A twisted musical Gothic fairy tale about love, loss, bonbons and taxidermy. High school students get free admission on Thursdays. $13-$20. 7-8:30 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 3-4:30 p.m. Sunday. Anchorage Community Theatre, 1133 E. 70th Ave. (actalaska.org)

Witch of Greythorn — The Abbott of Inchaffrey’s past comes back to haunt him in this medieval thriller. Be advised this show contains horror themes and stage violence. $15. 7 p.m. Friday-Sunday, Alaska Pacific University, 4101 University Drive. (tbatheatre.org)

Scary Stories Night — Enjoy an evening of frightening stories presented by the Storyteller’s Guild of Anchorage. $5. 7-9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, Anchorage Community Theatre, 1133 E. 70th Ave. (storytellersguildofanchorage.org)