Costumes, candy and haunted cruises take over the South Alabama calendar this week, alongside a Civil War history cruise, ballet at the Civic Center and the opening of the Greater Gulf State Fair. Here’s the rundown.
Spooky Season Highlights
The Halloween week builds fast: Crescent Theater screens “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” Oct. 24-26 with full audience participation — prop bags available in the lobby. Dauphin Island hosts its Massacre Island Haunted Bike Ride Friday, Oct. 25, a five-mile lighted ride ending in a block party and costume contest at Dority’s.
Witches take over three towns this year. The Mobile Witches Ride rolls Sunday, Oct. 27, from The Blind Mule with a three-mile downtown bike parade and block party benefiting Delta Dogs, which provides free spay-and-neuter and veterinary care for pets of low-income Mobilians. Daphne holds its own ride Oct. 27 and Fairhope follows Tuesday, Oct. 29, at McSharry’s Irish Pub.
Families have plenty of options too: Boo at Bellingrath brings treat stations, magic shows and storytime to the gardens Saturday, Oct. 26; Foley Library’s Halloween Extravaganza packs its parking lot with games, a mechanical bull and book characters the same day; and Woofstock lands at Serda Brewing with a pup costume contest benefiting the Animal Rescue Foundation.
For thrill-seekers, Thriller Nights of Lights runs through Oct. 31 at Hank Aaron Stadium — a drive-through show of giant spiders, spooky eyes and tumbling scarecrows synchronized to music — while Bay Cities Improv stages a murder mystery aboard the Perdido Queen on Oct. 27 and the Dog River Ghost Chase 5K benefits Dog River Clearwater Revival Saturday evening.
On the Water and in the Past
Author John S. Sledge narrates a special three-hour Mobile River cruise Thursday, Oct. 24, departing Historic Blakeley Park, tracing the storied waterway he chronicled in his award-winning book The Mobile River. Tickets are $39 for adults and $19 for kids. Blakeley also hosts its family-friendly Fall Fest Friday, Oct. 25, with hayrides, bluegrass and fireside ghost stories.
Stage and Screen
Joe Jefferson Playhouse keeps “Macbeth” running through Nov. 3, Playhouse in the Park opens Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein” for three nights starting Oct. 25, and Mobile Ballet presents “Giselle” at the Mobile Civic Center Theater Oct. 26-27. The Alabama Contemporary Art Center’s costume-required Wild Things Ball Thursday night closes out its run of Halloween-week parties.
Fair Time and Fundraisers
The Greater Gulf State Fair opens Friday, Oct. 25, at The Grounds and runs through Nov. 3, with rides, concerts and fair food all week — including the FUN-nel Cake Run along the midway on Oct. 26, which bundles a funnel cake and same-day admission into race registration.
Cause-driven events fill the gaps: Callaghan’s hosts the “Pink is the New Green” soiree Wednesday benefiting the USA Mitchell Cancer Institute; Making Strides Against Breast Cancer gathers Saturday in Bienville Square; the Steve Thompson Memorial Golf Tournament tees off Friday at Springhill College benefiting St. Mary Catholic School; and the University of Mobile glows Friday night with its Glow Run.
A practical note for the season: Affordable Care Act open enrollment for 2020 coverage begins Nov. 1 and runs through Dec. 15, with free volunteer navigator help available at Fairhope Public Library Tuesday evenings and Friday mornings.