Submitted for your approval… 13 spooky Halloween weekend attractions in SF and the grave beyond for haunted houses, fiendish drag queens, spooky nights out, and family-friendly pumpkin patch spirits.
The Bay Area spooky Halloween event season is now Hell-a upon us. A blood feast of Halloween events swarms SF and the Bay Area for the upcoming two Halloween Weekends, starting this weekend (October 21-23), and continuing into next weekend (October 28-30).
A genuinely possessed line-up of Halloween parties, haunted houses, and kid-friendly pumpkin patch events looms over the next two weekends. Let’s see what’s on the slab for both Halloween weekends.
PEACHES CHRIST’S THE SUMMONING
On the (high) heels of several previous Peaches Christ Terror Vault Halloween spooktaculars, the popular local queen drags your soul back into a terrifying abyss with The Summoning. This year’s incarnation features seances, demons, and “the severed head of an unethical vampire queen,” plus a vampire-themed bar call Fang Bang to get you boo-ze on.
San Francisco Mint, 88 Fifth Street, Wednesday-Sundays through November 5; $55-$75, Tickets here
WINCHESTER MYSTERY HOUSE’S UNHINGED: NIGHTSHADE’S CURSE
The madness runs year-round at San Jose’s Winchester Mystery House, but for the Halloween season, they’re building on to the house’s spine-tingling legacy with Unhinged: Nightshade’s Curse. This Halloween Haunt promises “An evening at a traveling carnival where food, drinks and roaming sideshow entertainment await,” and the outdoor component Madame Nightshade's Spirit Carnival features the designs of Barron Scott Levkoff, whose work you may recognize from Poesia Cafe and the SoMa arcade Thriller Social Club.
525 South Winchester Boulevard, San Jose, Thursdays-Sundays plus Monday, October 31, $64.99-$79.99, Tickets Here
HAAS-LILIENTHAL HOUSE’S MAYHEM MANSION
Nob Hill’s 11,500 square foot Haas-Lilienthal House may be the Winchester Mystery House’s spooky SF sister, as the city’s only intact Victorian-era house museum. And they've got a wicked-good haunted house called Mayhem Mansion up their scary sleeves for the next two weekends. “Mayhem Mansion will lead guests through the dimly lit halls of the Haas-Lilienthal House, built in 1886,” according to SF Heritage. “This is a unique way to experience this landmark property, with surprises and scares awaiting in dark corners and behind closed doors.”
The Haas-Lilienthal House, 2007 Franklin Street, October 21, 22 and 27, 28, 29, 7-11 p.m. $17-$30, Tickets here
CLANCY’S PUMPKIN PATCH
Things go ‘Boo!’ by the San Francisco Zoo, (and at Clancy’s other 7th Avenue and Lawton Street location), as the vulnerable Clancy’s Pumpkin Patch returns as the go-to for family jack-o-lantern shopping. There are also terrifically creative seasonal displays and hay rides available.
2101 Sloat Blvd., San Francisco (September 24 - October 31) and 1620 7th Ave. (September 28 - October 31), 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m., Free
SF GHOST HUNT WALKING TOUR
The 90-minute long SF Ghost Hunt Walking Tour will creep you about town on foot to the city's historically scariest spots in Pacific Heights, Union Square, and Fisherman’s Wharf, delving into “San Francisco’s strange past” and allegedly haunted places, with “thrilling stories based on documented research.”
Starts at 1801 Bush Street, Tuesdays-Sundays plus Monday October 31, 7 p.m., $29.99, Tickets here
FEAR OVERLOAD SCREAM PARK
If you “Saw” any horror films in recent years, many of their most terrifying moments will be referenced at the Fear Overload Scream Park, with two “incredibly thrilling self-guided walk-throughs with stellar set designs and special effects.”
2086 Newpark Mall, Newark, CA, Nightly through October 31, $23,99-$38.99, Tickets here
GUARDSMAN PUMPKIN PATCH
OK so things may not be particularly terrifying at Fort Mason’s Guardsman Pumpkin Patch, but you can get some scary-good craft cocktails and fine food truck offerings, and this family-oriented pumpkin patch is a benefit for at-risk youth.
2 Marina Blvd, Monday–Thursday: 3 p.m. – 9 p.m., Friday, Saturday, and Sunday: 9 a.m. – 10 p.m., Free
THE HAUNT SF GHOST TOUR
It’s real ghost-hunting at it's finest on The Haunt SF Ghost Tour, where you will be provided an EMF meter and “ghost hunting tools to seek out paranormal activity,” and your guides will “explain the types of hauntings and ghosts that we encounter in San Francisco.”
Meets near Transamerica Pyramid, Nightly at varying times, $49-$55, Tickets here
CURIO
Have you heard that the Valencia Street restaurant and cocktail spot Curio is haunted by the ghost of a little girl? You may have, because they’ve totally gone to the media with it. And on the Friday, Saturday, and Sunday before Halloween (October 28-30) “will be hosting a blow-out Halloween weekend complete with spooky decor, live performances, a costume contest with prizes, and themed food & drink specials:”
775 Valencia Street, Friday, October 28 event 7- 10 p.m., Saturday, October 29 events 12 - 4 p.m. and 7- 10 p.m., Sunday, October 30 event 12 - 4 p.m.
THE MADRIGAL
“Waiter, there’s a ghost in my cocktail!” That’s something you are likely to hear at Civic Center cocktail bar and restaurant The Madrigal, which is “turning into The MadriGHOUL on Friday and Saturday before Halloween, complete with fog machines, creepy vines, carved pumpkins, hanging ghouls and a SHOCKtail menu concocted by Madrigal bartender Mike McCardle.”
100 Van Ness Avenue, Tuesday-Saturday, 5 p.m. - Midnight
GREGANGELO MUSEUM’S INTO THE RABBIT HOLE
Balboa Terrace’s Gregangelo Museum bills itself as “San Francisco’s Most Whimsical, Weird Home,” and hosts mind-bending, day-glo, theatrical walk-through tours all year long. Their Halloween offering is Into the Rabbit Hole, a 90-minute program running late afternoons and early evenings, and tickets are sold for groups of five.
225 San Leandro Way, Thursdays-Saturdays, 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., $75 for 5 guests, Tickets here
SIX FLAGS DISCOVERY KINGDOM FRIGHT FEST
Vallejo is especially whack this time of year, when Six Flags Discovery Kingdom adds its Fright Fest, featuring haunted attractions and scare zones like “CarnEvil” Fresh Meat” in addition to its normal rides.
1001 Fairgrounds Dr, Vallejo, CA 94589, Thursday-Sunday, 6 p.m. -11 p.m., starting at $45, Tickets here
GREAT AMERICA TRICKS & TREATS
There’s a much more kid-friendly iteration on the “haunted amusement park” concept at Santa Clara’s Great America for Tricks & Treats. As the park describes, “The Land of Tricks offers two realms with everything slimy, sinister, and strange: Ickyville and Spooky Spires,” while “The Land of Treats includes two uniquely festive areas: Everfall and Sweet Tooth Acres.”
4701 Great America Pkwy, Santa Clara, Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22, and Friday-Sunday, October 28-30, Tickets here
Related: Castro Merchants Hosting Halloween Block Party, But It’s a Daytime Thing For Kids and Dogs [SFist]
Top Image: Winchester Mystery House via Facebook
