31 best things to do for Halloween in Montreal

There’s a club party for everyone at Halloween. Zombie lovers die for Snowbird Tiki Bar’s ALOHAWEEN party. Jet Night Club and Muzique host megaparties with costume prizes and fearful fun all around. The Dark Eighties call at Cabaret Berlin, while Blvd44 celebrates Halloween the Persian way. Afro-Caribbean have haunted the night at Rialto Theatre, and the Diving Bell Social Club presents two Halloween drag cabarets, one called Mythos and one called Coven. La Voûte promises the city’s biggest Halloween party in its always-haunting space, a 1920s bank vault.

Get ready for a dip in the Black Lagoon, an award-winning, international Halloween pop-up bar experience taking root in Montreal at Le 132 Bar Vintage throughout October. This creepy-as-hell, immersive event pays homage to the macabre and throws in a splash of goth and metal for good measure. The spooky cocktails have names like the Screaming Banshee and Hellraiser and are served in out-there custom glassware. Expect a dark, dungeon-like environment bedecked with skulls, life-size coffins and other elements that pay homage to the occult and bizarre.

Come enjoy an hour of haunted music by candlelight on October 31 from 7 to 8 pm in Verdun's Église Notre-Dame-des-Sept-Douleurs: It's a 60-minute "soundtrack of fear" played by the Listeso Quartet on strings in the light of hundreds of candles, playing timeless classics like Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' and Danny Elfman's 'This Is Halloween' from The Nightmare Before Christmas alongside some thematically appropriate classical pieces as well. Tickets are getting gobbled up, though; grab them while you can! (Not open to kids under 8 years old.)

On Halloween night Montreal's Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball will light up both stage and screen for fans of the cult film (and the experience of throwing around objects and singing along as loudly as possible). The Montreal Rocky night is deemed the largest of its kind in North America, so get ready to mourn Meatloaf en masse.

You've got your pumpkin... right?

If you haven't already gone beyond the city limits to take in the autumn scenery and eat fresh menus from farms' kitchens at pumpkin patches for picking near Montreal, now is the perfect time to do so. We found a whopping 23 different places for you to travel to both near and far, and it's a great time to make it part of a Halloween-themed weekend by going for a scenic drive too.

Running until October 31, there's haunted houses, 'scare zones', shows, and rides to check out at La Ronde every weekend that's great for both brave adults and curious kids looking for a scare.

Fridays are 18+, with exclusive horror evenings in the park where everything becomes a scary playground to ride in the dark and visit all the haunted houses (Le Cirque diabolique 3D, Cauchemars, District 510 in the dark and the Cursed Farm). From 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., you'll have unlimited access to the thrill rides and all the haunted houses.

The multiplex Village nightclub Unity is hosting THREE Halloween parties this year! On Thursday, October 27, the theme is Epic Teenage Movies. On Friday, October 28, get ready for bunking broncos galore at the Wild Cowboys night. And on Saturday, October 29, it’s time for Baywatch! The skimpiness will be REAL. All events will feature costume contests, drag shows, DJs, and Halloween drinks. 

Sidestep the scary side of Halloween altogether and let your heart melt into mush (which, granted, might be a little scary) at Pawsome Club MTL’s doggy costume party. Held on Saturday, October 29 and 2 pm in the Laurier Park dog park, on the Plateau, this open-to-all pup party promises to be absolutely ridiculous, life affirming and Instagram gold.

Pointe-à-Callière history museum in the Old Port will be reviving the aged Montreal legend of Simon McTavish, who is said to have made a deal with the devil in order to build his mansion on Mount Royal. Meet his ghost in the museum’s subterranean levels over the last two weekends in October (ages 8 and up). For the older set, get a taste of haunting history on October 28 with a lecture by Cemeteries of Montreal on the city’s buried secrets (literally). 

Through October and into early November, Château Ramezay is a good place for kids of all ages to Pick a Peck of Pumpkins.

Get your dose of Halloween Shivers throughout October at the Montreal Botanical Garden with a family-friendly event full of play areas, illuminated sights and horror stories. Show off your carving talents at their annual Virtual Pumpkin Decorating Contest, too! In the Old Port, SOS Labyrinthe will leave you lost and frightened with its Halloween programming including Blackout Thursdays (where you wander the maze in the dark, chased by zombies and ghouls!) and the Witches’ Ball. Get a real adrenaline rush next door with a go on the MTL Zipline.

Get a chill down your spine at the Spasm Film Montreal Halloween Festival, a short film festival dedicated to the eeky creepy and weird side of cinema. The films can be horror, drama, or even comedies, but they’re all guaranteed to eek you out. You can enjoy the cool programming over Halloween weekend in person at Théâtre Plaza or within the comfort of your own home online.

Go beyond skeletons and ghosts to celebrate the full cycle of life and death at the Mexican Festival Día de Muertos. The 2022 edition runs from mid-October to mid-November and is packed with activities for the whole family, including workshops, film screenings, live music and a bake sale (tres leches cake, here we come). Don’t miss the exhibition of specially decorated altars and the big Manalli fiesta on October 29, starting at noon.

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Up by Gibeau Orange Julep (score!), Arena LeRinque is hosting a Halloween Roller Disco on October 29. There's going to be disco lights, decorations, and lots of music. Tickets get you access to the arena for 3 hours, but the price of the ticket doesn't include your skates. You can bring you own pair or rent some on site.

In the neighbouring municipality of Laval, you’ll find the largest light-and-sounds multimedia event in the world. Illumi pulls out all the stops for their Halloween themed show titled Dazzling World of Lights, which immerses viewers in a seasonal atmosphere that stays kid friendly. See monsters, ghosts, witches and thousands of pumpkins come to life.

It's a cabaret night of "devilish dances, pervy performances, fiery fetish, and more evil delights than you can imagine in your darkest dreams!". Cirque de Boudoir's Halloween 2022 edition—The Gates of Hell—will premiere on Saturday night, October 29, at the Théâtre Paradoxe.

Every year, the Village Québécois d'Antan in Drummondville looks to outdo the previous year's spooky activities, upping the ante. This year promises to be no different, with more than 130 actors bringing your worst nightmares to life in more than 20 displays of horror spread throughout the houses of the historic Village and 3 kilometres of streets and paths to get lost on. The family area opens at 6:00 pm to entertain the littlest ones. For the bravest, the area for mature visitors opens at 6:30 pm. It's even got a spooky restaurant and candy run to check out.

Did you hear about a digital block party that's happening in Mile End from MAPP_MTL? Well, they're throwing a special series of projections up on the chalet du Parc Laurier and it won't cost you a dime. With the organization's ability to pull together top artists in the field of projection mapping from Quebec and abroad, you know it's going to be amazing.

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Don't miss an erotically-charged screening of The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover followed by a rave at the infamous Cinema l'Amour on Friday, October 29 at 9 p.m. 

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This most (in)famous commercial haunted house in Montreal pushes the limits of realism and immersive creepiness a little more every year. To the point that it’s only open to those aged 18 and up. For this highly anticipated 6th edition, titled 6AME, visitors will be plunged into the haunting side of play gone wrong. In each of its insane thematic rooms, visitors will be invited to spend the chips they’ll receive at the start in the way they deem best. (Expect Squid Game horror—with a little less actual murder.) With between 700 and 1,000 animators whose sole aim it is to produce cold sweats, you might get a little

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The Fantasia International Film Festival’s 25th edition this past summer was a momentous events for the festival, so the renowned Montreal event has announced Fantasia en fête, a special screening series revisiting the most vital highlights from across the festival’s history. All screenings take place at the historic Cinéma Impérial (1430 de Bleury), where the festival was born in 1996. Best of all, as a gift to Montrealers, admission is free of charge for all screenings.

Movies range from horror and suspense to kaiju battles and kung fu. Be there or be square.

Eery times await in the Sainte-Marie borough of Centre-Sud on October 31: A giant puppet will walk the streets at 4 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. near the Maison de la culture Janine-Sutto. Named Candide, it's a giant poet as tall as a house that will wander and utter philosophical questions, funny reflections, unexpected dialogues, and lively speeches as it walks about. It all comes from the Montreal theatre company Labokracboom which works in circus, dance and physical theater.

Montreal's own Find the Key escape rooms have 45 minutes to an hour of pure terror to experience, and if you don't believe us, consider why one of their puzzls is 16+: Anywhere from two to six people can experience one of four trials the company has made available at their Village-based business, ranging from the gore of the The Unknown (age restricted) and another based on the upside-down of Stranger Things to a Cabin in the Woods and a haunted pirate ship. You've been warned.

Every weekend in October, the La Belle de Coteau-du-Lac farm an hour outside of Montreal is hosting an event called Festiv’Halloween which features a haunted corn maze and haunted 250 meter-long indoor and outdoor gallery course, in addition to pumpkin picking and picking your own corn for popcorn. The real attraction is that corn maze, however: Separated into a family-friendly version and one that's scarier and not for the feint of heart, October 15, 16, 22, 23, 29, 30 and 31 from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.is set up to scare you good.

If you're into getting some top-notch Halloween treats this year, don't look any further than the chocolates that the Plateau chocolatier Ernestine is making—skeletons in coffins, jam-filled eyeballs and adorable and edible cyclopses—as well as a Spooky Banana Smoothie from The Alley bubble tea store in Chinatown West in downtown Montreal, inspired by diabolic forests and crafted especially for daring grave hunters, that comes with “rest in pieces,” a crunchy caramel tombstone with Oreo crumble.

Looking for a Halloween day trip? Running from October 13 to October 31, Wesley Clover Parks Campgrounds is hosting their Deadwood Haunted Drive, a haunted drive-through with a total of seven "spine-chilling, hair-rising horror sets. With live actors, dazzling special effects, coordinated lighting and sound and unforgettable scares all from the comfort or discomfort of your vehicle." The Deadwood experience is estimated to take around 20 minutes. Note that you can't stay at the campground too; reservations ended on October 11.

With 50,000 pumpkins at its disposal, the Laval-based Ferme Marineau has created its first-ever pumpkin picking season that will last until the end of October. They've put together games, a giant fiberglass pumpkin sculpture you can step inside of, a park with a real silo, swings, a chicken coop, and all kinds of other agricultural delights you and the kids can get into. Because it's outside, no vaccination passport is required, and there are tons of snacks that make the trip worth it.

ARG Évasion escape rooms have been touring Quebec with their haunted house inside a 53-foot trailer for a few years now, but now they've set up shop with a new 14+ horror-themed escape room that's entirely handcrafted by the team. Located an hour and a half outside Montreal, the first show that's available is the Burger Palace, where one to five people need to solve the gory mystery of a restaurant's mystery meat in less than 60 minutes; soon enough, on Ocotber 31, the same company will launch an escape from the St-Charle Hospital and asylum.

Want some SLeepy Hollow feels this year? Located an hour and a half from Montreal, Upper Canada Village's Pumpkinferno show is back: It's an outdoor art exhibit made up of over 7,000 handcrafted pumpkins that are all lit at night along a kilometre-long path with the historic village's 19th-century backdrop. New and returning designer/carvers create new designs each season, so no two visits to this place's exhibits are ever the same. 

Located an hour outside Montreal in Rawdon, Ferme Guy Rivest has cut more than 8 kilometres of trails in their six-hectare cornfield for all kinds of family-friendly Halloween fun. The maze will be decorated for the occasion throughout October with additional activities and entertainment on Saturdays.

Montreal's had a lot of trouble dealing with its red zone restrictions, but among all the closures that have been happening, retail remains open. That means that the best candy stores in Montreal will be happy to have you come by and pick up some sweets in bulk, or just to pick up some nostalgia-satisying American imports or just gorging on some homemade chocolates, fudge, ice cream or candy. Candy stores need some love too, you know!

While it is located out in Saint-Amable, the level of detail in Maxime Duval's haunted houses are legendary and worth the trip out of Montreal. The artist's designs have regularly made headlines on the South Shore and during 2020. This year's theme will be the jungle, and he's going a spookier route than usual with some trippy illusions and sculptures to bring thick canopies of plant life to, er, life.