Your Guide to October 2026 in the Twin Cities

Horror Theater

I absolutely love spooky season but one of my very favorite October traditions is to attend the Twin Cities Horror Festival. This festival launched in 2012 and has horrified me year after year with plays featuring murder, blood, gore, and delicious jump scares. Picture the Fringe Festival but with audiences screaming, creepy sound design, and 100% more blood. One time I even saw a play there where there was a pool filled with blood on stage, and at the very end of the play, there had been someone with a diving mask hiding in the blood the entire show, only to spring out at the end. That, of course, came from the messed up minds of one of my favorite groups – Dangerous Productions. This year they have a show called “SHED”, and like every other year, I am so there. Are you ready for sixteen days of on-stage horror? It’s October 16-31 at The Crane Theater in Minneapolis. (p.s. if you run into me at an upcoming City Cast event, ask me about the time someone passed out next to me in the audience.) –Anna

Movie Night

Are you afraid to watch horror movies alone? Enjoy a good scare with an audience. St. Paul’s fall Movies in the Park calendar kicks off Oct. 2 with The Blair Witch Project, which is actually probably scarier seen outside than in. The Parkway is playing four family-friendly movies during its Saturday matinees. The Heights and Trylon Cinema are showing movies from seven countries focused on witchcraft. To keep the magic going, head over to Berlin for an evening of witchy music. –Tiffany

BareBones Halloween Extravaganza

This ain't your mom's puppet show – unless she volunteers in the community-driven performance I’m about to mention. The Halloween Extravaganza is an annual tradition at Powderhorn Park where volunteers put on a play broadly centered around community resilience and taking care of one another. Employing massive surrealist puppets, live music, and plentiful pyrotechnics, last year's show depicted a story of forest animals being attacked by an army of pigs before they banded together to chase them out of town (it's like they predicted Operation Metro Surge!). Every year, part of the performance makes space to remember those who have lost their lives to state violence and otherwise. The performers sing, and audience members shout the names of those they want to remember. It's a family-friendly cathartic experience that makes you feel more connected to your community, and it's a damn good play. –Adam

Dead End Hayride

If you're a fan of haunted houses, make the trip up to Wyoming, Minnesota to give The Dead End Hayride a try. Take a 20-minute hayride through wonderfully produced horror sets and sketches as zombies and other creatures chase you, and then walk back through 30-45 minutes of continually connected haunted houses. Get there early to hang out by a fire pit in their massive beer garden before going in, and be prepared to be scared. –Adam

Leaf Peeping with a Side of Art

Ready for some exquisite fall foliage? Take in the view from the Weisman Art Museum balcony after you tour the newly-opened ‘Merciless’: Indigenous Lands Since 1776, a celebration and commemoration of Indigenous resistance. Across the river in St. Paul, check out the Changsha Friendship Garden at Phalen Park. It features incredible tree views plus a Peanuts Lucy sculpture painted by Minnesota Hmong artist Kao Lee Thao. I’m a big fan of Thao’s work, and can’t wait to see this new work at the Wheelock Parkway Project. With the help of this fall color map from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, I’m making it my mission to snap pics of Thao’s work against an optimally gorgeous autumn backdrop. –Molly

The Creepiest Places in the Twin Cities

Want to get creeped out but don’t have time to watch a whole movie or play? How ‘bout you visit some of the scariest places in the Twin Cities? The Witches Tower in the Prospect Park neighborhood is one of the highest points in Minneapolis and it is delightfully creepy. I went on a random Tuesday afternoon and the park was empty except for one goth woman staring into space while smoking a cigarette. Incredible. Also, it may sound like low-hanging fruit but any Spirit Halloween is basically a creepy capitalist ghost factory. I recommend visiting the spirits still kicking around the old JoAnn Fabrics building in Roseville during the handful of months it is reanimated by Spirit Halloween. If you are looking for spooky environs on Halloween proper, I recommend a visit to Palace Ave in St. Paul between Pascal and Hamline. We’ve got video proof to confirm that it’s downright haunted. –Sean

Costume Concepts

Are you ready for two Halloween costume ideas that will turn heads at any Twin Cities function? Get ready for these spicy numbers!