The Arts in the Dark parade passes by the Chicago Theatre, 2023 (Photo: Raf Winterpacht)
Celebrate Halloween in Chicago with plays, performances, films, festivals, and more in events around the city.
Hocus Pocus at Gallagher Way
10/30 at Gallagher Way; free
(Re)visit this family friendly '90s romp in a free, open-air screening at the Wrigley Field-adjoining Gallagher Way.
Tricks, Treats, and Transylvania
10/30 at Milwaukee's Marcus Performing Arts Center; free
Enjoy a concert of fun and magical Halloween music by the Milwaukee Festival City Symphony! The concert is suitable for all ages, and costumes are encouraged.
Varo String Quartet at Rosehill Cemetery
10/30 at Rosehill Cemetery; $15
Varo String Quartet returns for its second concert in May Chapel at Chicago's iconic Rosehill Cemetery. Enjoy chilling music of past and present, from Joseph Haydn to György Ligeti.
Varo String Quartet
New York Phil on WFMT: Macabre Masterworks
10/31 on WFMT FM, wfmt.com, and the WFMT app; free
Enjoy a Halloween night in and hear a sampler of spooky recordings from one of the world's top orchestras.
Bram Stoker's Dracula in Concert
11/9 at the Auditorium Theatre; from $89
Extending the Halloween season is the Chicago Phil. Francis Ford Coppola's iconic spin on the Bram Stoker classic is performed with a live orchestra for the first time in North America, as Wojciech Kilar's haunting score is performed live alongside the film.
Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker's Dracula (© Sony Pictures)
Past Events
Stephen King's Misery
9/20–10/26 at American Blues Theater; from $30
Experience one of Stephen King's most frightening tales live onstage at the American Blues Theater, featuring award-winning actors Steve Key and Wanda Christine.
Walking Play: The Grimmest of Tales
9/28–10/27 at Morton Arboretum; from $25
Fall foliage and frightening fairy tales — hike and enjoy the picturesque Morton Arboretum while performers reenact scary stories from The Brothers Grimm. The walking performance lasts approximately two hours.
Dracula
10/12 at Epiphany Center for the Arts
Actor Megan Wells returns to Chicago for a solo performance of Bram Stoker's Dracula, an act that has graced national festival stages for the last 15 years.
10th Annual Arts in the Dark Parade
10/19 in The Loop (State and Lake)
Chicago's spirited Halloween celebration spotlights artists of all ages and backgrounds in a rain-or-shine parade down State Street in the Loop!
Candlelight Concerts: A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics
10/19 at Arts Center of Oak Park
Two evening concerts of chamber music by candlelight, mixing scary pop songs with spooky film scores and creepy classical music.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
10/19 at the Center for Performing Arts at Governors State University
Sondheim's classic and chilling tale Sweeney Todd gets performed with a full orchestral accompaniment. For one night only, enjoy performances by the Illinois Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a cast of local actors and singers.
Manual Cinema's Frankenstein
10/25–10/27 at the Studebaker Theater; from $55
Chicago-based performance collective Manual Cinema blends filmmaking, puppetry, live music, and stagecraft for a one-of-a-kind retelling of the seminal gothic horror Frankenstein. Woven into the program are biographical details of Mary Shelley, the tale's pioneering author.
Halloween Hootenanny
10/26 at the Old Town School of Folk Music; free
A fun, goofy Halloween celebration that combines singing with dancing at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Perfect for ghouls young and old.
WFMT Opera Series: Paul Moravec’s The Shining
10/26 on WFMT FM, wfmt.com, and the WFMT app; free
An adaptation of Stephen King’s horror novel, the opera relates the story of Jack Torrance, performed by Edward Parks, and his descent into madness at the isolated Overlook Hotel.
Sounds Classical on WFMT: Sounds Spooooky!
10/26 on WFMT FM, wfmt.com, and the WFMT app; free
A special Halloween edition of Sounds Classical features chilling classical music and storytelling.
University Symphony Orchestra Halloween Concert
10/26 at Mandel Hall at the University of Chicago; free, donation suggested ($10 / $5 students and children)
A concert featuring UChicago's student orchestra mines classic movie soundtracks and dramatic symphonic music. The performance will also be livestreamed to YouTube.
Naach Chicago: Halloween Bollywood Dance Workshop
10/27 at Visceral Dance Center; $20
Naach Chicago (naach is Hindi for "dance") offers dance workshops for a number of Indian dance disciplines year round. This afternoon Bollywood x Halloween event offers an energetic outlet for dancers of all backgrounds and experience levels.
Halloween Horror Film Classic: The Hunchback of Notre Dame
10/27 at Rockefeller Memorial Chapel at the University of Chicago; from $15
Organist Jay Warren pulls out all the stops while accompanying the 1923 silent film classic (not to be confused with the Disney title of the same name), The Hunchback of Notre Dame. The atmospheric setting of UChicago's Gothic revival Rockefeller Memorial Chapel is sure to make the show all the more memorable.
Updated 10/21 with new entries
