Get Your Creep On

HALLOWEEN FUN FOR BIG KIDS

Screams in the Dark photo courtesy of Harpe Star.

By Lynda Wheatley

PETOSKEY

Halloween BASH

City Park Grill’s annual Halloween BASH is back with a full weekend of freaky festivities. Sing your spooky heart out with Karaoke from 10pm to 1am Friday, Oct. 29, then come back 9am–1am Saturday donning your best, most imaginative costume and you could win cold, hard cash from a $250 contest prize pool. Even if you don’t, you can still win the night by lubricating your old bones with City Park’s freaky drink features and dancing. Genius Brain opens for the Dee Washington Project, a phenomenal fivepiece funk band. $6 cover.

Ghost Walk

Those looking to shiver more than sweat should turn their bodies to local historian Christ Struble’s Ghost Walk event. Starting at 8pm on the steps of the Stafford’s Perry Hotel, participants will stroll the darkened streets of Petoskey for up to 90 minutes while Struble shares the spooky truth and tales uncovered from his research into local hauntings, Edgar Allan Poe-inspired deaths, and mobster dealings. Tickets, $25, available for Oct. 29 and Oct. 30 walks, at www.petoskeydowntown.com

KINGSLEY

Screams in the Dark

If you can handle the long lines, you’ll understand why 1,000+ folks are often waiting to enter this Kingsley venue each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night in October. Often rated as one of the best haunted Halloween attractions Up North, Screams in the Dark boasts multiple attractions — this year, the terrifying and expanded Swamp of Suffering, Pandemonium, Dreadmore Manor, and the more family friendly scare said to be appropriate for “most” ages), the Haunted Wagon Ride and Trail. For all attractions, $17 for age 12+ and $12 for kids 11 and under; $7 per person for the Haunted Wagon Ride, which includes the mausoleum and corn maze. www.evernighthaunt.com

Camp Terra

The Ghost Farm of Kingsley has expanded its forest trail to keep patrons safe in the great outdoors, but after wending through these twisted woods, “safe” is clearly only in regard to deadly pandemics. Expect to get the you-know-what scared out of you as the farmer leads your group through extreme darkness, brightness, strobe lights, and billowing fogs, and be warned: The haunt actors here (some as young as 7) not only jump, but may also touch, grab, and bump you — not recommended for the faint of heart but a heckuva lot of fun for those that want the scariest experience ever. Parental discretion is advised; macabre horror imagery happens, and though kids are allowed, they must walk — not be carried through — the forest. Not sure yours can handle it? Err on the side of caution. Adults have been known to turn mid-trail, too. www.hauntedtraverse.com

Photo courtesy of Ghost Ship.

MANISTEE

Ghost Ship

Though there’s no age requirement, the scare factor is pretty high aboard Manistee’s Ghost Ship, the haunted version of the historic car ferry SS. City of Milwaukee. From 7:30pm to 10:30pm Friday and Saturday night until Oct. 30, up to six of the ships decks will teem with the worst of the worst: long, dark hallways, creepy clowns, jagged teeth, psycho spectres, and so much tension (thanks a lot, Manistee jump-scare masters), the estimated 25- to 45-minute tour can feel like a never-ending nightmare — but in a good way, if you enjoy a heart rate hovering above 170 BPM $10 per person at the door or get fast-pass tickets to the front of the line if you buy beforehand at www. manisteeghostship.com

Light Frights for Little(r) Kids

CADILLAC

Treats & Movie in the Park

The businesses in Cadillac’s Downtown District will dress up in their very best spooky, silly, and festive building-wear 4pm–6pm Oct. 27. Bring your bags for candy, then head over to the park afterward for dinner by food truck and a free movie hosted by the Cadillac Rotary Club. From 5:30pm to 7pm Oct. 28, the Wexford Civic Center will host a night of bounce-house Halloween fun for families. The event is geared for kids age 0–8, but kids of all ages — and their costumes — are welcome.

PETOSKEY

Frightening Athleticism

A haunted turf, spooky games, pumpkin decorating, and frightening fun for the whole family can be found at the Petoskey Field House’s Halloween Party 6pm–9pm Friday, Oct. 29. $20 per child — unless you’re a PFH member, which need pay only $10 per. Parade, Pumpkin Carving & Jack-O’-Lantern Walk

Downtown Petoskey picks up the pumpkin and runs with it on Oct. 30 with a near-entire day of events: at 10am a kids costume parade leaves from Central Elementary School to Pennsylvania’s Park. Until noon, kids can visit downtown stores for trick-or-treating. And from 10am til 2, the park will also host guest Steve Bartel, a gourd-darn good artist hard at work carving a giant pumpkin masterpiece. Before dusk, return to the park with your carved pumpkin — volunteers will light it for you — that will be part of the town’s traditional Jack-O’-lantern Walk.

GRAYLING

Jack o’ Lantern Hayride

Looking for a not remotely scary (and maybe even romantic) event? Bring a blanket, your best girl, and/or easily spooked babes to Wellington Farm, USA, near Grayling. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday Oct. 29–31, the vintage Depression-era farm hosts a nightly hayride through a jack- o’-lantern-lit forest. A stop at the farm’s Summer Kitchen for cider, donuts and a little warm up beside the stove add an extra glow. Kids in costume are admitted free on Halloween night only.

BAY HARBOR

Trunk or Treat

The Village at Bay Harbor’s 12th annual Trunk or Treat event is just one hour long, but generous participation from village businesses, employees, and Bay Harbor residents makes these 60 minutes a mega haul for kids. Because Main Street will be closed so the kids can trick or treat safely, they’ll start from the Great Lakes Center for the Arts first, at 3:30pm.

Autumn Music

An extra special treat: Those that return to or show up at the GLCFA by 5:30pm will not only see but hear the Halloween spirit rise again, when all the kids in the Dorothy Gerber Springs Program — high school orchestra, junior orchestras, intermediates, and then beginners — will treat guests to a host of autumnal tunes.

Cookie Decorating

Want to share in more sweet moments? Pop into the village’s Maple + Batter between 8am and 2pm Saturday, Oct. 30 with your kids. They can try their wee hands at some Halloween cookie decorating on the eatery’s spooky patio, no cleanup effort from Mom or Dad required. Just email lmorrison@mapleandbatter.com to reserve your cookie.

CHARLEVOIX

Spooky Stories & Crafts

Gather your brave kids round the cauldron at Charlevoix’s Public Library for Spooktacular Stories, snacks and crafts 6:30pm–7:30pm Tuesday, Oct. 26, then usher them back anytime between 1pm and 5pm Sunday for a Halloween warmup session that allows them to trick or treat their way from service desk to service desk.

More downtown trick-or-treating events for costumed kids abound throughout the region —10am–11:30am Oct. 30 in Traverse City; 5pm–7pm Oct. 31 in Beulah; 5pm–8pm Oct. 31 in Frankfort, and more. Flip to the back of the paper or click on the Calendar tab at www.northernexpress.com for more. Northern Express Weekly • october 25, 2021 • 17