Our Handy Guide to Halloween Parties That Don’t Suck

You already know where to catch Nirvana, Buddy Holly and the Beach Boys on Halloween. But if you’re just too creeped out by the thought of zombie Kurt, there are plenty of other places to do the monster mash. Hit one of the parties, tours, plays below and you won’t spend the night on your couch eating Reese’s (though that’s a perfectly acceptable pre-partying option).

EAST VILLAGE

FRIGID Halloween Costume Party
Friday from 10 p.m. to midnight at Frigid New York, 94 St. Marks Pl.
will be drawing their final slots for the 7th annual FRIGID Theater Festival, which starts in February. Fourteen artists who’ve already been chosen for the festival will perform excerpts from their material. A costume contest is also on the books.

“Ghosts of New York” Tours
Various locations; tours start at 7:30 p.m., 9 p.m., or 9:30 p.m.; tickets $20 for general and $15 for students.
This weekend’s tours include “Edgar Allan Poe and his Ghostly Neighbors of Greenwich Village,” “George Washington and the Ghosts of the City,” “Peter Stuyvesant and His Ghostly Friends of the East Village,” or “The Nevermore Tour: The Ultimate Ghost Experience.” If a tour sells out, don’t worry because they continue into November.

Tales From the Crypt: Horror on Halloween
Friday, 7 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., at Merchant’s House Museum, 29 E. 4th St.; $25 general tickets; $15 for members.
The parlor of “Manhattan’s Most Haunted House” (per the Times) will be decorated a la Victorian funeral — the perfect setting for ghost stories and dramatic readings from 19th century Gothic literature.

Village Halloween Costume Ball
Friday, 7 p.m. at Theater for the New City, 155 First Ave.;$20, costume required.
True to its name, the 34th annual ball offers ballroom dancing, plus continuous theater (Penny Arcade has performed in the past), fire walkers, stilt dancers, psychic readings, and even the opportunity to “gobble couscous from a coffin lid.” The party spills onto the street, as well.

LOWER EAST SIDE

Nightmare New York
Nightly, starting at 7 p.m., through Nov. 1 at 107 Suffolk St., bet. Delancy and Rivington Sts.; tickets $35 or $30 in advance.
Get the pants scared off of you (and, um, watch a perv reach into his pants) at this NYC-themed house of horrors.

Blackout Haunted House
Nightly, starting at 7 p.m., through Nov. 1 at 225 E Houston St. at Essex St., tickets are between $35-$65. 
“A violently sexual, immersive experience that is more like a date with a mid-range dominatrix than a walk through a haunted house.” Read about our walkthrough.

“Lippy”
Nightly through Nov. 2 at Abrons Arts Center, 466 Grand St; tickets $30
Dead Centre, an Irish company, adapts the chilling true story of a family that starved to death in their home.

New Museum Halloween Party
Friday, 7 p.m. at New Museum at 235 Bowery; membership is $70 for one adult, one guest per member.
At the annual members-only cocktail party, a premium membership will be awarded to the best costume.

Dark Disco
88 Palace, 88 East Broadway; $15-25, advance tickets sold out but more at the door
Boys of summer Tiki Disco team up for an off-season rager as they take over the popular Dark Disco party at a Chinatown dim sum parlor.

WILLIAMSBURG

Horror Movie Marathons
Thu. and Fri. at Videology, 308 Bedford Ave.
Thursday at 5 p.m., the bar hosts a free screening of Scream. Then at 10 p.m., Dorian Wallace live scores The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Friday, there’s a Halloween movie marathon and a free midnight showing of Dracula vs. Frankenstein.

Halloween in the Black Lodge
Friday, 11:30 p.m. at Glasslands, 259 Kent Ave., limited tickets at the door, $5
Dress as your favorite Twin Peaks character for a chance to win some prizes, and dance along to a “Welcome to Twin Peaks” DJ set. Free coffee and donuts, naturally.

GREENPOINT

“Choose Your Own Adventure”—Dia De Los Muertos
Friday, 6 p.m. to 10 a.m., various locations; ticket prices vary based on how many acts you attend
The First Act of this party triathlon, called “Pre-Life,” is a pre-party at a loft in Bed-Stuy with food, drink, and music. Buses bring you to the next secret location (hint, hint) for Act Two, “Nothing Lasts for Ever On the Day of the Dead.” Another bus takes you to Act Three, “The After Life.”

North Brooklyn Boat Club
Friday at 7 p.m., Broadway Stages Boatyard at 437 McGuinness Blvd, at Ash Street next to the Pulaski Bridge.
Take a scary canoe ride to the Dutch Kills. Even if you don’t score tickets for the canoeing, there’ll be a Halloween party at the boatyard under the Pulaski Bridge. Free smores and boneless-troll finger sandwiches if you come early.

BUSHWICK

Ghost Quartet
Through Nov. 8, 8 p.m., at Bushwick Starr, 207 Starr St.
Ghost Quartet, created by Dave Malloy, tells some haunting tales through song. This show asks: “If you could be any kind of dead person, what kind of dead person would you be?” Only a few walk-up and standing room tickets left.

Dead Celebrity Disco
Friday, 10 p.m. at Lot 45, 411 Troutman St.; $10
Midnight Disco Society presents this chance to disco with the dead — three DJs bring the funk.

Warehouse of Horrors
Friday at 10 p.m. at a secret location in “East Bushwickburg,” $70
Hell, all of BangOn’s Burning Man-esque parties in sprawling warehouse spaces feel like Halloween, so this one should be especially wild. Aerial acts, body painting, DJs atop art cars, and a haunted house are just the start of it.

Phantasmic Fright Night
Friday, 9 p.m. at The Keep, 205 Cypress Ave.; $10 before 10 p.m., $20 later
Like BangOn, art party vets Rubulad tend to celebrate Halloween year-round, so bring your A-game to this late-late spectacle of circus and cabaret acts.

Magickal Realms and Temple of Hecate Samhain
Friday, 9 p.m., at Catland, 987 Flushing Ave.; $20.
If Halloween brings out your spiritual side and rituals help you honor the dead, Catland Bookstore, Magickal Realms, and The Temple of Hecate Inc. celebrates All Hallows Eve with music, refreshments, and a midnight Samhain ritual.