Now that Fall is here, that means Halloween is just around the corner. So who’s ready for a spooktacular time in downcity? Yes, there are a ton of events happening all around New England for Halloween. However, in the event you’re trying to stay local this year, we have a list of fun things to do this halloween around town. It’s definitely fun for kids, but it can also be a lot of fun for adults:

1) Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular Returns To Roger Williams Park Zoo

The Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular is back at Roger Williams Park Zoo until November 3rd. 5,000 illuminated jack-o-lanterns will be on display.

Here’s what their website has to say:

2015 Theme: The People’s Choice

The 2015 presentation, titled “The People’s Choice,” will feature subjects the public especially loved throughout the past 27 years of shows. Scenes filled with intricate pumpkin art will recall the “Phantom of the Opera,” the Golden Age of Hollywood, and other cultural and historic highlights. Charles Darwin’s trip to the Galapagos Islands will be represented, complete with “active” volcanoes, and the 50th anniversary of “The Sound of Music” will be celebrated.
New this year will be the addition of light and image projections to enhance the scenery along the trail. Show standards will return, such as childhood favorites and Halloween scenes, and the show’s dazzling grand finale, the Laughing Tree. Hundreds of glowing jack-o-lanterns on the ground and high up in the trees surround carved giants (well over 1,000 pounds) arrayed in the forefront, with spooky fog and the now iconic musical theme punctuated by a catchy beat and laughter.

This would be great either for the kids or for a long walk and to enjoy what our creative community has come up with!

Other Zoo experiences:

Family Overnight Experiences / Boo at the Zoo! / (ages 6+) – Have an overnight at the Zoo! Pizza and ice cream followed by owl pellet dissection and then a VIP tour of the Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. More info here.

Spooky Zoo! – Daytime Autumn activities for the whole family. Trick or treat, seasonal activities & entertainment and music! Children 12 and under in costume get in at half price.

Roger Williams Park Carousel Village – Visit the Victorian-style carousel located in Roger Williams Park. Perfect for parties and the family. There’s an event there on Halloween too! More details here.

2) Take the Providence ghost tour.

Providence has tons of haunted houses. Why? People used to bury their relatives in their backyards rather than at a cemetery. But that’s not all: many of those houses were demolished, and replaced with (for instance) Brown and RISD buildings. But they only moved the headstones, not the bodies.

Take the Providence Ghost Tour to learn about all the haunted spots around providence.

3) What’s the best thing about halloween? The fun, excitement, and a bit of fear!

Go to one of the pop-up attractions to run away from ghouls and goblins this halloween. There’s Fear Town: a massive outdoor haunted attraction located deep in the woods at Seekonk Speedway, just 10 minutes from Providence. Fear Town will take you on a terrifying journey in and out of the run-down buildings that have been hidden for decades.

In West Greenwich there’s the “Field of Screams” that has three attractions: The Haunted Hayride, Dungeon of doom, and Cirque du Souls.

4) Go pumpkin picking & have fresh pressed apple cider

Nothing brings in the changing seasons like Pumpkin Picking, fresh pressed apple cider (and cider donuts.) So turn off your cell phones and enjoy pumpkin & apple picking with the kids or significant other and and enjoy some apple cider in the crisp fall air. Ever had a honeycrisp apple? They aren’t to be missed! A favorite to try in Barden Family Orchard.

5) Spooky stories

Our personal favorites growing up were: Scary stories to tell in the dark (with the original illustrations, not the new ones.)  These can be scary for your little ones so these or for slightly older kids.

A New Classic are Adam Gidwitz’s books. Here’s a preview:

6) Go trick-or-treating

It’s probably better to do trick-or-treating around Blackstone Boulevard or a bit away from College Hill since so many students near Brown University and RISD won’t be serving candy.

7) Host a Halloween party or Halloween-themed dinner party.

Because we doesn’t to attend dinner parties in costumes? There have to be plenty around town. Pick up a few bottles of wine at Bottles Fine Wine and throw your own dinner party (or go to a friends.) Ask everyone to bring a dish to minimize your own cooking and enjoy a night with some close friends!

8) Go out to a bar or restaurant in full costume

If there’s one night to go nuts, Halloween is the time to do so. And who knows, you may get others in the Halloween spirit as well. Be an example to your community! Halloween isn’t just for kids.

9) The Steelyard is having it’s 10th Annual Iron Pour!

If you haven’t been yet you need to check it out! From their website:

For this event, artists harness the power of the Steel Yard’s custom built, iron pouring tilt furnace to pour over 2,500 pounds of molten iron. In the past the Steel Yard has used liquid iron and the heat of flame to create ferociously erupting volcanoes, Viking funerals, and bubbling and brewing scientist labs before the eyes of the crowd. For your viewing pleasure this October 24th, the Steel Yard team presentsMonster versus City, a molten story about Providence’s stand against a fiendish beast.

10) “A Weird Halloween in Providence!” sponsored by the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council

On the evenings of October 30 and 31, the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences Council will be hosting weird fiction readings by local and regional authors. Join them at the Lovecraft Arts & Sciences bookstore in the historic Providence Arcade. (Located across the hall from New Harvest Coffee & Spirits, so you can enjoy warming beverages with your chilling tales.) Readings start at 6pm both nights.

And to make your Halloween even more weird, they’ve got a walking tour of Lovecraft’s Providence planned for Halloween afternoon. Here’s the Walking Tours Facebook page.

Check out Go Providence’s list of even more things to do this halloween.

Let us know what you’re going to do to celebrate Fall or Halloween in the comments!