The best Halloween events for 2025 in NYC

Carving a jack-o'-lantern may be a time-honored American tradition for many, but nobody—and we mean nobody—does pumpkin carving quite like Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze.

Every fall, pumpkins aplenty decorate this festive, family-friendly attraction. This year promises thousands of intricately carved jack-o'-lanterns in mesmerizing displays, plus dazzling new experiences.

Blaze: Hudson Valley runs at Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson in Westchester County from September 12 through November 16. Get tickets here.

Step into the magical worlds of Halloween Town and Christmas Town at a frightfully fun immersive experience coming to the New York Botanical Garden this fall. After its debut last year, Disney Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas Light Trail is returning to the Bronx with brand new scenes, festive music and video projections.

This all-ages evening experience was inspired by the timeless classic 1993 movie known for its stop-motion animation and iconic characters such as Jack Skellington. The light trail promises to bring the film to life against the botanical beauty of the garden. The experience runs on select evenings from Thursday, September 25 through Sunday, November 30, with tickets starting at $33 for children and $45 for adults.

Visitors can walk through more than 8,300 square feet of dazzling light installations featuring interactive video projection, intelligent LED lighting, and 3D-printed sculptures of the film's iconic characters. 

The Cathedral of St. John the Divine’s annual Halloween Extravaganza returns to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve on Friday, October 24 and Saturday, October 25 at the uptown house of prayer.

The long-standing Upper West Side tradition was born decades ago under the direction of Artist in Residence Ralph Lee, founder of the Mettawee River Theatre Company. This year, the cathedral honors that legacy with an evening featuring frightening Mettawee performers who will haunt the audience with tricks and treats. 

The evening will kick off with a showing of The Phantom of the Opera in celebration of the film’s 100th anniversary. Additionally, the Cathedral will celebrate the return of the Great Organ to the Halloween Extravaganza with live accompaniment by Tim Brumfield.

Showings begin at 7pm on both days for the Halloween Extravaganza, with $50 tickets available on the cathedral's website starting September 2.

The only thing better than the Bronx Zoo is the Bronx Zoo at night. The famed zoo's annual family-friendly celebration, Harvest Glow, is back and at its best. 

Every Thursday-Sunday until October 31, families are invited to explore this immersive jack-o'-lantern trail with its own spin: the 5,000 pumpkins are animal-themed, of course! Senses will be heightened as you explore illuminating ecosystems through the use of music, special effects and dramatic lighting to make sure that you really feel the spookiness. 

And if that wasn't enough, visitors will have the opportunity to live in the Mesozeric Era while walking amongst over 60 animatronic dinosaurs and pterosaurs at the event's Dinosaur Safari. Paired with the darkness, this prehistoric adventure is not to be missed.

Also expect pumpkin carving demos, games, face panting and tons of photo opps.

Being single on Halloween doesn't have to be scary. Find your "boo" at the Halloween Singles Soiree happening on Halloween night hosted by Single and the City at House Watch in the East Village. 

Things will kick off around 8pm with a "Scary Movie" icebreaker designed to get conversations flowing. The rest of the night will be full of dancing, with a DJ spinning hip-hop, R&B and top 40. Costumes are also highly recommended, as there will be a costume contest voted on by all attendees. The night ends around 2am—plenty of time to find your person for life (or just the night). 

Earlybird tickets are $25 if purchased online beforehand, otherwise they're $40 at the door (they might sell out, so booook early). 

Frigid New York gives you the chills in a festival inspired by Mexico's dead-lifting Día de los Muertos. The lineup features spooky variety shows, short horror plays, Edgar Allan Poe works, a traditional ofrenda, psychic mediums, a tiny interactive matchbox theatre, a murder ballad musical, necromancer burlesque, and other tales of the macabre. Among them are The Witching Hour by Andrew Agress, One Man Poe performed by Stephen Smith and Death Owns an Ice Cream Parlor, written by Maeve Aurora Chapman & Liam Corley. 

Visit the festival's website for a schedule and a full list of offerings for shows running October 16 through November 2. 

Celebrate the season with under-the-sea animals at the New York Aquarium's Ascarium. Kids can enjoy a marine-themed magic shows, Halloween crafts, a scavenger hunt, a costume parade, games and storytelling. Plus, visit with amazing aquatic animals including piranhas, wolf eels, bat sea stars and spider crabs to learn why they're not as "spooky" as you might think.

New activities this year include a hands-on shark fossil dig where kids can uncover shark teeth to keep. Plus, kids of all ages can add their personal touch to a huge mural the NY Aquarium community is making together to celebrate Halloween, the aquarium and ocean wildlife. 

Ascarium is included with aquarium admission and runs on October 11–13, 18–19, and 25–26 from 11am-4pm in Coney Island. See the whole list of events and the schedule here. 

Don't just watch a Halloween movie, become a part of the movie. The Apollo is teaming up with Harlem-based film collective Melanin Madness for an interactive movie screening on Thursday, October 30. Watch Eddie Murphy’s cult classic Vampire in Brooklyn with games, props, call-and-response moments, a costume contest, and plenty more surprises. 

Led by Obie-Award Winner Eric Lockley, his team of multidisciplinary artists have been creating immersive theater for over five years. "It's a night of community, culture, and pure fun—like movie night with your favorite cousins," as The Apollo puts it.

Need some plans for Halloween? Queens' iconic Bohemian Hall Beer Garden will play host to Quiet Events Silent Scream Halloween Extravaganza, a silent disco experience from 9pm to 1am on October 31. 

Upon arrival, every guest will receive glow sticks and a pair of glowing wireless headphones to wear for the night, which will play three different live DJs, spinning different genres all night. Pick from the red channel to hear '80s and '90s throwbacks; the blue channel will have hip-hop and R&B; green will have EDM and a top 40 playlist. 

The night promises costumes, craft brews, a full bar and a historic beer garden as the backdrop. Tickets are $25 if purchased early online, or $35 at the door. 

Reading Edgar Allan Poe’s goosebump-inducing poems and stories in print is creepy enough. But this October, you can see them performed live at two New York City performances. British actor Stephen Smith will perform his rendition of several of Edgar Allan Poe's best blood-curdling pieces this month as part of his One Man Poe series.

— Friday, October 17: See The Tell-Tale Heart and The Pit and the Pendulum at Under St Marks Theater. 
— Saturday, October 18: See The Black Cat and The Raven at The Poe Cottage in the Bronx where Poe himself lived in the 1840s. 

Smith, of Threedumb Theatre, has long been a Poe fan, recalling reading Poe's work as a child. But it wasn't until the pandemic that he felt compelled to perform The Tell-Tale Heart, a one-man show set in one room that worked well on Zoom and eventually moved to bigger stages. He admired the richness of Poe's language, both for the audience and the actor.

"I don't adapt the stories in any way. I just have memorized 13,000 words of original Poe, and I perform that live on stage," Smith told Time Out. "I like to think that my show is the most faithful theatrical adaptation that you could ever get. It's not adapted; it's exactly what Poe intended but live on stage."  

On Halloween night, step into the shadows of the Financial District for a night of cinematic mischief and Halloween heat at NYC's very own crimson Continental Club, A.K.A., the iconic spot where they filmed some scenes from the John Wick movies. 

The doors open at 8pm (arrive before 10:30 at least), and start off with some drink specials until 9pm to fuel up before the mayhem begins. The rest of the night will have DJs, dancing and of course, wicked costumes. The night doesn't end until 1am so you can keep the dance floor alive all night long. 

Expect a night that feels like a scene out of a movie (literally) and you're the star. Earlybird tickets are on sale now for $25, or you can get in for $40 at the door. 

On Halloween night, don't miss out on the biggest (and freakiest) party at Industry City in Brooklyn—The Vampire Ball. Serving as the official afterparty for the Village Halloween Parade, the event features seven stages of music and spectacle, including a full Blade "Blood Rave" recreation (blood will literatty rain from above you as you're dancing), kinky activations in the "House of Pain" and a live heavy metal ritual led by The Pale Hand. 

Also expect seven uniquely different genres, spanning house, techno, baltimore and jersey club, electro and more. The programming is spread out across a labyrinth of indoor and outdoor spaces spanning multiple cavernous buildings. Come prepared to get messy. 

Early arrival tickets are on sale now for $35—get them soon before the price increases. 

Through Halloween, The Greenwood Park Beer Garden (555 Seventh Ave. in Brooklyn) has transformed into Greg’s Great Pumpkin Patch with plenty of family-friendly fun through All Hallows Eve. Pick from a massive selection of pumpkins, fancy gourds and festive Halloween decor, from corn stalks to fall mums. 

Autumn-loving kids and adults alike can participate in pumpkin painting, pose in Instagram-ready photo set-ups, wander through a hay maze and, if they've got a family pooch at home, get their furry friend all dressed up and enter them into the fan-favorite dog costume parade. 

You pawsitively won't want to miss Catbaret, a cat-themed variety show at Caveat in the Lower East Side. This purrfect variety show features comedy, burlesque (actually purr-lesque) and music in celebration of all things feline. For the Halloween edition on Friday, October 31, come in your most "cat-tastic" costume for a chance to win the contest. The show's hosted by local cat lady Gemma Smith and includes free cat ears for all.  

The lineup includes The Randy Andys, a post-modern Broadway vocal trio putting a feline twist on classic pop hits; Fem Appeal known for delightfully weird performances; Neysa Lozano with a live tarot performance piece; Joy Vicious as a Cheshire Cat; James Koroni, a cat-loving comedian; and Kinsey Three with a campy Cats mash-up. Stage kittens Jenny Purrson, founding executive director of the Cat Museum of NYC, and Amanda B., host/producer of the 6 Degrees of Cats podcast, will lend a hand—er, paw.

This year Weruva is sponsoring the show and donating $500 of product to Rescue NYC, which also provides adoptable cats to Koneko Cat Café right across the street from Caveat.

Kick off Halloween a little early at the Brooklyn Children's Museum for the second annual Kawaii Kreature Festival on Sunday, October 26.

In partnership with AniTOMO Con, the museum invites you to dive into the world of anime while dressed in your Halloween costume to trick-or-treat and show off at the kids' costume runway. Meet creepy crawlies from BCMS's living collection and enjoy Japanese-inspired art workshops, performances and stories read by professional cosplayers. You can also check out free screenings of anime cartoons in the movie theater. 

Tickets are on sale now for $15. 

What’s more elegantly spooky than a classic horror film accompanied by a live orchestral score? On Saturday, October 25, the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra will set the stage for a spine-tingling Halloween with a performance of the 1922 silent film Nosferatu inside the Gothic-style Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights.

The orchestra will perform Rodney Sauer’s compiled and arranged score live alongside F.W. Murnau’s masterpiece, expanding the cinematic concert tradition into a grand 1,000-seat hall. To preserve the authenticity of the silent-era experience, this Nosferatu performance will feature six musicians from the Brooklyn Chamber Orchestra, with Sauer at the piano, re-creating the intimate yet visceral sound that would have filled theaters a century ago.

Guests are invited to wear costumes to truly immerse themselves in this hour-and-a- half performance starting at 7:30pm. Expect a night full of unforgettable music, film and Halloween spirit.

Halloween-themed drag brunches are coming to Stella 34 Trattoria all month long. Each event will combine high-energy drag performances with a full brunch menu for the perfect blend of brunch plus spooky season entertainment. Costumes are encouraged. You can view the whole drag brunch menu here. 

Here's the lineup with ticket links: 

— Sunday, October 12: Rocky Horror Picture Show Drag Brunch
Hosted by Olivia Lux from RuPaul's Drag Race, the queens will be serving looks and laughs inspired by the cult classic with themed performances throughout the brunch.

— Sunday, October 19: '80s vs. '90s Halloween Movie Drag Brunch
A nostalgic showdown featuring performances inspired by iconic Halloween films from both decades. Performers will battle it out to determine which decade reigns supreme with show-stopping numbers and comedic lip-syncs.

— Sunday, October 26: Hocus Pocus Drag Brunch
A frighteningly fun tribute to the beloved film featuring performances inspired by the Sanderson sisters. Expect dancing, comedy, and Halloween magic as the performers bring the witchy energy to life. 

Cherry Pitz and Handsome Brad return on Thursday, October 9 for a special Halloween show with a trip back to Hawkins, Indiana with "A Hotsy Totsy Tribute to Stranger Things." 

Will they be able to lend a hand or some other body part to fight against the supernatural evil plauging Hawkins? Can they spin tassles fast enough to distract the mind flayer and maybe, just maybe, convince Vecna to apply some body glitter if he's so adament on being naked? Find out all the answers and more at the Hosty Totsy Burlesque show. 

This will be the Hotsy's sixth send up of the Netflix phenomenon that is about to release their fifth and final season—so this is one last show (?) for the road! 

Admission is $25 and doors open at 7pm. 

The Summer Club rooftop is getting a makeover for fall: the breezy Long Island City spot (8-08 Queens Plaza S) has been transformed into Cityside Pumpkin Patch, a.k.a. "NYC's biggest pumpkin patch," for the Halloween season.

Now through November 2, the rooftop space will be decked out as an immersive Halloween experience with over 10,000 pumpkins (locally harvested from upstate New York) spread across the 25,000-square-foot space. 

Embark on an adventure to choose your own locally sourced-pumpkin—any pumpkin on display could be yours. Pumpkins are included in most ticket packages, but are also available for purchase.

Celebrate amidst a variety of interactive spooky photo moments while you indulge in the rich flavors of the fall with an array of autumn-inspired treats and beverages. Don’t miss out on a series of signature activities (Smash-o-Lantern Zone, Scarecrow Archery, Pool of Pumpkins, Carnival Games, Face Painting, Tarot Card Reading) onsite.

Check out more information and ticket pricing at the event website. 

The fun doesn't stop on Halloween night! On Saturday, November 1, A.K.A., the Day of the Day, join Vinyl Night's "Night of the Zombies" Skate Night presented by Rebecca Lynn. Spend the night in Bushwick at Xanadu with the Thriller Dancers of the NYC Parade, and enjoy lively performances from DJ's Misbehaviour, Operator Emz and Carozilla. And don't forget—the dress code is zombies.

The event is from 7pm to 2am (showtimes at 9pm, 10:30pm and midnight), so lace up your skates for a fun late night out.

The Queens Craft Brigade hosts an exceptional community of makers exclusively from the borough of Queens. The independent, queer-owned market at Katch Astoria brings together talented makers exclusively from around the borough and has created monthly curated events featuring artwork, jewelry, fashion, crafts and more. This year marks the eigth year anniversary of QCB.

For Halloween, check out the Queens Witchcraft Brigade featuring a costume contest on October 25.

Calling all real life supermen! Are you and/or a friend searching for love? Head to House Watch in the East Village on Friday, October 24 for the "Rescue Me Halloween Party" dedicated to men that are first responders and women of all professions. 

Whether your a firefighter, EMS/paramedic, cop or military personnel, this event promises thrills, chills and maybe some mouth-to-mouth resucitation. Come in your uniform/gear or wear a costume—ladies, costumes are highly recommended. Mix and mingle with NYC's finest and bravest from 8pm to 1am (arrive before 10:30pm to get in). 

Heads up that this part is open ONLY to men who are legitimate and active/retired first responders. However, their civilian guy friends can tag along, too. First responders with valid agency ID get to drink for free from 8-9pm. 

Get tickets early now for $25 or at the door for $30. 

There’s no spookier way to welcome the Halloween season than to visit Blood Manor, the popular 10,000-square-foot haunted house that’s actually deemed too scary for children under 14 years of age.

Visitors will confront their deepest fears as they journey through dark, sinister corridors filled with twisted characters and scares at every turn. Incorporating state-of-the-art special effects, BloodManor brings unparalleled realism to the haunting experience. 

This year features all new costumes from Abracadabra, NYC's ultimate Halloween store, plus a terrifyingly talented team of trained actors, set designers, make-up artists and more. Expect an unprecedented level of horror and excitement, spanning three new rooms—from cursed mansions to abandoned asylums, every theme promises to invoke terror and adrenaline. 

Blood Manor is open every weekend and some weekdays from October 3 to November 8 at 359 Broadway in downtown Manhattan. General admission starts at $50 per ticket. You can purchase tickets for a timed entry here.

New Yorkers who like their spooky season with a side of skyline views are in for a treat: Edge at Hudson Yards is turning into a “Garden of Shadows” this fall—and it’s going to be dramatic.

Through November 3, the city’s highest observation deck will be adorned with floor-to-ceiling Gothic floral installations designed by Fleurs de Villes, the global outfit renowned for its extravagant flower shows. The result is a Halloween spectacle that trades pumpkins for petals, all 1,131 feet in the air.

The floral takeover isn’t just for snapping envy-inducing selfies (though, yes, it’s perfect for that). Select nights and Sundays will bring the displays to life with an eclectic roster of performance artists.

Rooftop Cinema Club takes movie-going to a whole new level—literally. This rooftop film series at a midtown skyscraper offers stunning views and an impressive lineup of films. 

In addition to the movie magic, the venue also offers movie snacks, a full bar and cute photo opps. This season features a Gilmore Girls marathon, a drag night, singles events and plenty of Halloween fun to make the most of fall 2025.

As for seating, you'll get to choose a standard high-back lounge chair or a premium lounge chair that comes with extra cushions. You'll book your ticket type, then get to pick your exact seat on-site, first-come, first-served. Ticket prices range from $23-$29/person depending on your seating preference and movie time.

What are you doing at 10pm on a Thursday night? Sleeping? We have a better idea: Brolesque at Balcon Salon in Hell's Kitchen.

This weekly—and did we mention free—strip revue, Fortunes of Love, was created by Lockhart Brownlie (Katy Perry's Super Bowl choreographer) and is a night full of tarot cards, choreography and plenty of skin.

For the entire month of October, Brolesque presents "a cheeky, camp parody where spooky icons like Frankenstein, Wolfman, and Michael Myers get undressed with a wink, all led by a blood-thirsty, showtune-slinging Dracula host." Expect Thriller-style dance numbers, seductive solo acts, flirty audience games (with prizes), and a disco-fueled finale that transforms the entire venue into a glitter-drenched Halloween party. Heads up that there's a two-drink minimum.

The trolley tour that's outfitted to look like a Victorian funeral parlor—think chandeliers and velvet curtains—and takes you on a trip through the shadows of historic Brooklyn is back. The tour visits the secret location where Murder, Inc. disposed of bodies, alien abduction sites along the Brooklyn Bridge, a brothel and more spooky sites spanning 400 years of Brooklyn history. 

Even if you're a supernatural skeptic, it's fascinating to see hidden cemeteries, mobster dumping grounds, and an EPA Superfund site. Plus, get the chance win prizes with spooky trivia.

In Michael Shaw Fisher's head-spinning spoof, Emma Hunton (Spring Awakening) stars as an actress who becomes possessed by a demon while starring in a musical adaptation of The Exorcist. After more than a decade in development, this wickedly potty-mouthed rock musical is live in NYC for the entire month of October at The Asylum.

Among the guest stars scheduled to pop in during this latest run are Jaime Cepero, Nicci Claspell, Garrett Clayton, Frankie Grande, Lena Hall, Nina West, Marissa Jaret Winokur and Evan Rachel Wood.

This Halloweekend, Ellen's Stardust Diner is pulling out the fishnets and transforming into the ultimate midnight musical extravaganza with "The Rocky Horror Show: Live! at Ellen's Stardust Diner."

The show will be for two nights only on October 31 and November 1. Don't miss out on the immersive, full-scale live performance of the cult classic musical featuring the vocal and theatrical talents of the Stardusters. This isn't a typical, traditional shadow cast screening, but a complete, fully rehearsed stage production. 

While you watch, enjoy Rocky Horror-inspired treats like "Frank-N-Futers" (hot dogs) and the Rocky Horror Milkshake, made with vanilla ice cream infused with flavors of Granny Smith apple and caramel, topped with whipped cream. You can even make it a boozy milkshake if you're over 21.

The event is for ages 18+ and doors open at 11pm. 

Enjoy the city lights by candlelight at Edge, the highest indoor/outdoor sky deck in NYC, for a Halloween-inspired evening this month. Thousands of candles will fill the room while you enjoy live music and sweeping views at these Candlelight Concerts.

A Haunted Evening of Halloween Classics will be held on October 27. Tickets are on sale now for $75 for adults and $70 for children. 

Bid adieu to Halloween with a smashing good time at Hudson River Park's Pumpkin Smash. Bring your own jack-o-lantern or pumpkin, along with some safety goggles, and smush your pumpkin into compostable bits. 

You’ll get to choose a bat, hammer or shovel to break up your gourd within a 15-minute period. Then, stick around to learn how composting works. Park staff will convert the gooey bits into nutrient-rich compost to nourish the park's plants. In past years, more than 1,000 pounds of pumpkin scraps were collected and used for compost (and kept out of the landfill!). 

It's all happening at Pier 84 on Saturday, November 1 from 12pm to 3pm.   

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a beloved cult-classic is known for its midnight showings and devoted fans—but this show takes it to the next level. Throughout the month of October, the House of Yes in Brooklyn is providing five opportunities to experience Rocky Horror in all of its live, immersive glory in "LIPS: Rocky Horror @ HoY!"

Now in its third year of production, LIPS goes above and beyond to deliver a fully theatrical performance with aerial acrobatics, circus, burlesque, live tattooing, water features and boundary-pushing reinterpretations of Rocky’s iconic moments. Directed by Hex Winter and produced by Winter and Kat Lloyd, the progressive and transgressive spirit of Rocky Horror is alive and well in this reimagining for today’s audiences.

Beloved by fans and even praised by original cast members (Little Nell herself declared Columbia’s Peter Mercury “too fanbloodytastic”), LIPS has become a must-see for Halloween season in NYC.

Show dates are: October 9, 16, 17, 23 and 30.

The pun, that most democratic of jokes: At its best, it’s sublimely satisfying to the reptilian part of our brains that loves easy comedy. At its worst, it produces a groan so gut-deep, it’s almost as good as a belly laugh. The form is mined for all it’s worth at this monthly tournament, hosted by Rodney Dangerfield impersonator Fred Firestone and his daughter, Jo.

A fixture on the NYC comedy landscape for more than a decade, this show at Littlefield in Brooklyn is like a rap battle, only much nerdier. Hear pun pros face-off in the All-Star Tournament of Pun Champions where punsters deliver two-minute pun-stand-up routines, after only two minutes of preparation.

For Halloween, the October 29 show features themed puns and pun costume compuntitions.

Autumn is the time to pick two of the season’s most emblematic fruits: apples and pumpkins. Fortunately there are some fantastic farms where you can go apple and pumpkin picking near NYC. These farms and orchards will get you into that fuzzy fall feeling in no time.

There’s nothing quite like taking a bite out of a crisp apple straight from the tree (even better, taking home a basketful for making pie), and your Halloween pumpkin will be that much more special when you pick it right off the vine. You’ll find a wide variety of apples and pumpkins at these farms, plus fun activities like hayrides, corn mazes and petting zoos. Don’t miss hot apple cider and other fresh-made treats at the farmstand. 

From pumpkin kegs to molecular mixology, these bars go all out for the season. Expect creepy decor and maybe even a haunting or two.