October 30th-31st Legends of Horror @ Casa Loma, 1 Austin Terrace. An immersive theatrical interpretation of all of the classic horror figures. Audiences are led through a one hour, 2 km self-guided walking tour commencing in the lower gardens of Casa Loma and winding its way through the castles tunnels and darkest spaces never before open to the public. $42.83 tickets available online.

October 30th-November 2nd The Funhouse Toronto: A Haunted Experience @ The Funhouse, Lisgar St. The Funhouse has taken a turn towards the paranormal. Venture through this immersive art venue, featuring several new experiences and and a twisted take on their art maze. $28 tickets available online.

October 30th-November 2nd Screemers @ Better Dead Centre, 100 Princes’ Blvd. Now in its 27th year, Screemers features seven haunted walk-through themed horror mazes with over 120 live scare actors, unlimited rides on the Midway of Horrors, and more. $34.95-49.95 (plus tax) tickets available online.

October 31st-November 2nd Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince In Concert @ Meridian Hall, 1 Front St. E. Based on the sixth installment of J.K. Rowling’s classic saga, fans of all ages can now experience the thrilling tale of Harry’s obsession with a mysterious potions book accompanied by the music of a live symphony orchestra as Harry soars across the big screen in HD! Feel free to come dressed in your favorite wizarding attire. $55.25+ tickets available online.

November 1st-2nd Rapture @ Super Wonder Gallery, 584 College St. Photographer and fine artist Ishmil Waterman presents his highly anticipated award-nominated series Rapture! This visual story guides viewers through a sensory initiation, revealing the fractal nature of creation both on a micro and macro perspective. Refreshments will be served. $25 in advance, $40 at the door.

November 1st-10th Royal Agricultural Winter Fair @ Enercare Centre (Exhibition Place), 100 Princes’ Blvd. For 97 years, The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair has been bringing country to the city. Enjoy 10 days of world-class livestock and horticultural competition, dining, shopping, kids’ attractions, entertainment, and the country’s best horse show. 

WEDNESDAY

7 pm Music Bingo @ The Gladstone Hotel, 1214 Queen St. W. A FREE weekly event combining the love of music with the traditional bingo format. Each player receives a Music Bingo card which consists of an assortment of songs. Instead of calling out numbers, they play the music! Singing along encouraged. 

8 pm Drake Trivia @ The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. Teams of four or less put their random knowledge to the test as the hosts fire off questions ranging from sporting records and celebrity scandals to geographic discoveries and culinary lingo. $2 to participate. Email host@thedrakehotel.ca or show up early to reserve a spot.

THURSDAY

6:30 pm Halloween On Church @ Church St. from Wood to Gloucester. Canada’s biggest and best Halloween block party is back! Watch as The Village transforms into the Toronto’s most wicked street party, with thousands of Halloween-dressed revelers filling up six blocks along Church Street. The Village’s shops, cafés, and bars will be bumping all night long.

8 pm Halloween: The IMAX Experience @ Cinesphere, 955 Lakeshore Blvd. W. Jamie Lee Curtis returns to her iconic role as Laurie Strode, who comes to her final confrontation with Michael Myers, the masked figure who has haunted her since she narrowly escaped his killing spree on Halloween night four decades ago. $13.27 tickets available online.

9 pm TIFF Boombox: Heroes vs. Villains @ TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W. Good and evil collide at TIFF Boombox, where heroes face off against villains and Cirque du Soleil dazzles with an exclusive, one-night-only performance. Come dressed as your favorite hero or villain — the possibilities are only limited by your imagination. $99-150 tickets available online

9 pm Hitchcock! A Spoke-y Halloween @ The Spoke Club, 600 King St. W. Private member club The Spoke Club is opening its doors and celebrating Halloween, Hitchcock-style. The venue will be transformed into a multi-level haunted house to celebrate the British film director’s iconic films. $49.10 (non-members) tickets available online. There will be prizes for best costumes.

9 pm Halloween Party @ The Drake Hotel, 1150 Queen St. W. Wear your best costume for a chance at prizes! $300 cash + $250 gift card to Theatrix Costume House for first place, Drake gift cards for second and third place.

9:30 pm Halloween III: Season of the Witch @ Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave. Join the Revue on Halloween Night for Tommy Lee Wallace’s superb Halloween III: Season of the Witch, followed by some recently digitized Super 8 gems on the big screen. $14.81 tickets available online.

9:30 pm Strange Phenomena @ The Little Jerry, 418 College St. DJ Automaticamore plays giallo italo, horror kosmische, and haunting synthpop. Strange records. Strange phenomena. 

9:30 pm A Discmen Halloween Party @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. Sets from the Crypt Keepers. Scary music. ’Stumes. Dancing. $10 (costumes make that cheaper).

9:30 pm All Request Halloween Party @ Remix Lounge, 1305 Dundas St. W. Get ready for A Nightmare On Dundas Street as DJ Lazarus plays your requests! Alternative, retro, EBM, goth, new wave, industrial, electronica, darkwave, and minimal wave. Costume contest with cash prizes + treats and Halloween decor. $5 before 11 pm, $10 after.

10 pm Dancing Queen: ABBA & Queen Halloween Dance Party @ Lee’s Palace / Dance Cave, 529 Bloor St. W. Two DJs. Two floors. One party! Featuring all the ABBA and Queen hits you love and more. $20 tickets available online.

10 pm On Earth x Aperitif de la Mort: Halloween Special @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Fiendish in sound and embrace, On Earth and Aperitif de la Mort are enlivened to awaken the darkest of spirits for an unhinged, high-voltage, nightmare. Take a sip from the cauldron to taste the EBM-infused, post-punk marinated stew that will melt your face in seconds. Dance-floor mayhem guaranteed. Featuring Kehdo, Applicant, Regula Falsi, and Pulsum (live).

10 pm Halloween @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Spooky sounds and demonic dancing. This is the Halloween party you don’t want to miss! DJs Everblue and Buttahfingaz will be spinning the best beats to keep you moving. 

10 pm Halloween @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Come get spooky with DJs Julian Swift and Crunch Bandicut. Tons o’ drink specials and free candy!

10:30 pm A Night at the Bronze: A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Tribute Party @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St. Come party at iconic teen bar The Bronze as Buddies in Bad Times transforms into Sunnydale’s favourite hangout! Don your best ’90s looks and Halloween costumes, and dance the night away to all the ’90s classics spun by DJ Xander (Mark Andrada). Live read-through and sing-along of Buffy’s musical episode Once More With Feeling at 7 pm and 9 pm (limited tickets available online). Dance party is $15 at the door.

FRIDAY

5 pm Toronto Pumpkin Parades @ various locations. Each year on November 1, Toronto’s pumpkins shine brightly for one last night in parks across the city as locals bid farewell to their jack-o-lanterns with community pumpkin parades. The first pumpkin parade lit up Sorauren Park in 2004, and the tradition has since spread and inspired other cities to start their own. Until midnight.

7 pm Friday Night Live: Fashion @ Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park. Fill your Friday night with fashion at #FNLROM! An evening full of glamour and glitz, marvel at the music while enjoying savory fare. $22.60 tickets available online, limited amount available at the door.

9 pm Kosmische Nihilism: A Hifi Study of a Bad Trip @ The Little Jerry, 418 College St. DJ Morgan Yew takes you on a trip through Lovecraftian horror as study, not statement. You decide on the meaning, if there is any. All vinyl. All kinds.

10 pm Hey Ghoul Hey @ The Garrison, 1197 Dundas St. W. Hey Girl hey is bringing you their third annual Halloween Bash, so get ready to get creepy, kooky, mysterious, and/or spooky! Tricks and treats include DJ Orange Pekoe helping you rattle your bones to only the funnest hip-hop and RnB by female/non-binary artists, Beardoncé conjuring the legendary floorshow, apparitions by special ghost stars Bonbon Bontemps and Halal Bae, costume contest with a $$$ prize, candy, and more. $15 in advance, $20 at the door 

10 pm 10th Annual Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ’90s Halloween @ Revival, 983 College St. A tribute to old school hip-hop, R&B, dance, house, reggae, and pop from the ’90s with DJ Skratch Bastid. Cash prizes for top three Halloween costumes + Fresh Prince Halloween decor and nostalgic ’90s candies. $32 advance tickets available online.

10 pm Homesick Emo Night: Treehouse Of Horror Halloween Party @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. Gather ’round the Jack-O-Lantern, grab a Squishee, and head up to the treehouse for a super spooky emo night Halloween party! Kang and Kodos will be playing emo tunes so you can cry and scream the night away to celebrate Halloween. $5 early bird tickets available online.

10 pm Stranger Things Halloween Party @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. For everyone who didn’t get enough costume exposure. Step into the world of Hawkins, Indiana at this Stranger Things-themed Halloween party. 

10 pm Spookyfrutti Apocalypse @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Spooky edition of Tuttifrutti Apocalypse with DJ Nora Noise! All things spooky and rock ‘n’ roll. 

10 pm The Hook Up @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. A dance party where the jams are just as hot as the gossip! Banging out the best fucking music from the 2000s all night. $10.

10 pm Rhythm & Booze @ Stones Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Soul, funk, and R&B from the ’60s to ’00s with DJ Blush. $5.

10 pm Where Does This Disco? @ Farside, 600 Gerrard St. E. Strange pop transmissions received from an alternate-dimension Earth. Mutant disco, Italo, electronic indie pop, psych-pop, and unusual cover versions selected by DJ Digits.

10 pm Other Party Presents: Red Rack’em @ Bambi’s, 1265 Dundas St. W. Other Party welcomes UK’s Red Rack’em (Rinse FM/Bergerac) for his first ever Canadian appearance and only stop here on his 2019 North American tour. Joining residents Steve Yanko (Truffle Music/Electric Friends Music) and Gerrence (No Problem! From Where?). Halloween vibes in effect! $5 before 11:30 pm, $10 after.

10 pm Wax Candy Disco Party @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. DJ Efsharp and Cyclist serve up platters of the sweetest soulful, refreshing, and uplifting disco in one of the best sounding rooms in the city. $10.

10:30 pm Y2GAY: ’90s vs. ’00s @ Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St. It’s the night after Halloween and Buddies is turning back time to the ’90s and early 2000s. DJ Johnny B Goode on deck all night playing the hits and guilty pleasures from the two decades + a candy potluck and performances by Helena Poison. $5 before 11:30 pm, $10 after.

11 pm Kuruza: Halloween Special @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Kuruza is more than a party; it’s an experience, a vibe, the urge to do whatever that makes your soul happy. This month, Kuruza celebrates their one year anniversary and Halloween with Kuruza’s collective of DJs + special guest Nino Brown spinning Afro, Caribbean, and dancehall. $10.

SATURDAY

10 am Really Really Free Market @ Campbell Park, 225 Campbell Ave. Everything is free. No money. No swapping. (You don’t have to bring anything, but if you’d like to bring items to give away, do so before 3 pm. Must be clean and in working condition. No big items.) Until 4 pm.

7 pm Poetry Slam @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. Local wordsmiths and performers provide an evening of spoken word, lyrical mastery, and friendly competition before an always packed house. $80 goes to the best performance of the night. Doors at 7 pm, sign-up starts at 7:30. $7.

10 pm Spice Girls Halloween @ Sneaky Dee’s, 431 College St. Viva Halloween! Sneaky Dee’s will be playing all the Spice Girls you crave + loads of other bad bitch anthems. Costumes strongly encouraged. $10 early bird tickets available online.

10 pm Dia De Los Muertos with Brother Wayne @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. A Day of the Dead celebration. DJ Brother Wayne on the decks + Queen Of Swords Tarot reading cards and telling fortunes. 

10 pm With It @ The Piston, 937 Bloor St. W. ’60s mod, soul, R&B, R&R, garage, beat, surf, and funk record dance party with DJ Nico + guests. Sponsored by Kops Records. $10.

10 pm Togetherness @ The Little Jerry, 418 College St. Gil Masuda from the Los and Circle Research joins resident DJs Roland Gonzales and Dr. J for this edition of Togetherness, digging deep into his collection of funk and soul 45s and boogie bombs.

10 pm Saturday Night Jukebox Dance Party Turns 5 @ Stones Place, 1255 Queen St. W. Sweat it out to the sweet sounds of the golden age of rock ‘n’ roll and soul music as Saturday Night Jukebox Dance Party celebrates its fifth birthday! DJ Blush plays pop, rock, and soul from the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s. $10.

10 pm PPParty @ The Boat, 158 Augusta Ave. Why all the the P? ’Cuz this party is golden! 24 Karat hits from all decades.

10 pm Worst Behavior @ Clinton’s, 693 Bloor St. W. Saturdays are for getting loose and being on your Worst Behavior! Bangs & Blush roll out rap and hip-hop from now and then. $10.

10 pm Basic Soul Unit @ Farside, 600 Gerrard St. E. Soul, jazz, funk, and Afrolatin sounds with DJ Stuart Li.

11 pm Never Forgive Action @ The Drake Underground, 1150 Queen St. W. DJs Numeric and Dalia spin hip-hop, R&B, and dancehall anthems all night long. $10.

SUNDAY

10 am Made by Feminists Holiday Market @ The Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St. W. Get your holiday shopping done in this one stop market! Handmade goods, natural products, and textiles made by persons who identify as feminist. The market will also serve as a drop-off point for feminine hygiene products on behalf of FlowMates. Vendor list here. Until 4 pm.

11 am Toronto Downtown Record Show @ Estonian House, 958 Broadview Ave. Over 50 tables in two rooms, filled with the best slabs of wax you need. All styles and sounds of music will be there for you to dig up, from the good cheap stuff to the rare gems you usually only see in your dreams. Also, look for the return of the $5 ROOM! Until 4 pm. $5.

7 pm Brass Facts Trivia @ The Ossington, 61 Ossington Ave. Test your knowledge and win prizes! Hosted by Famous Kirk Hero. Until 10 pm.

8 pm Nite Comfort @ Handlebar, 159 Augusta Ave. The ongoing search for genre-defying, boundary-pushing music, and other hidden gems in the heart of the city. For this episode, Ghostlight will be celebrating 15 years since their first release by playing selections from back catalogue and an upcoming release Bias Unities. They’ll be joined by Khôra, who forges polyrhythmic, polytimbral sound-worlds from singular ensembles of acoustic and electronic sources. PWYC.

10 pm Sinful Sundays Burlesque 6 Year Anniversary @ Cherry Cola’s, 200 Bathurst St. Come be entertained at this weekly “temple of tease,” where you’ll find a fresh lineup of burlesque entertainers, drag, and variety acts. This week, Sinful Sundays celebrates their six year anniversary! Free entry; tipping encouraged.

10 pm Space Rock Sunday @ Swan Dive, 1631 Dundas St. W. Spaced-out stoner rock from DJ Granny Pantys + $5 rail drinks.

~ For event submissions, email Caitlyn Holroyd at caitlyn_holroyd@hotmail.com