Halloween
Nerd Nite of the Living Dread
Spooky season-centric presentations include talks on Vampira, MTV’s Fear and the ghosts of the Depot. Social hour starts at 5:30 p.m. Halloween costumes and attire encouraged. Also: games and prizes.
Full program details:
– “Ghouls Rule: the Life and Legacy of Vampira” by Kelly Florence
Presentation Description: Many may not know all that Maila Nurmi — aka Vampira — contributed to horror. Hear the tea of the men she dated, the people who lied to her and her time living in Duluth. Presenter Bio: Kelly Florence is the co-author of eight books, including The Science of Women in Horror. She teaches at Lake Superior College and is the horror programmer for the Zeitgeist Minnesota Film Festival.
– “MTV’s Fear–What Were They Thinking?” by Luke Moravec
Presenter Bio: Luke Moravec is a radio show host with The North 103.3 in Duluth. He’s in a Scooby Doo-inspired one-man band called Zeb or Zeke and the Run Away Screamings. He loves biking, swimming in Lake Superior and presenting at Nerd Nite.
– “Haunted Depot” by Ken Buehler
Presenter Bio: Ken Buehler was the Executive Director of the Lake Superior Railroad Museum and Historic Union Depot. He has believes the Depot is haunted. He’ll show a video detailing a poltergeist’s activities.
Halloween at the Planetarium
Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium celebrates Halloween with some spooky cosmic fun. Attendees can explore magical hands-on activities, watch planetarium shows, and collect some candy. Costumes are encouraged.
Haunt the Flame
The Duluth Flame’s Halloween drag show features Dixie Diamond and ThatQueerIsa Cassadine.
Spooktober Wednesday
The Marshall W. Alworth Planetarium presents spooky cosmic content for the Halloween season.
October Schedule:
Oct. 7: Spooky Star Stories to Tell in the Dark
Oct. 14: Aliens! More likely than you think…
Oct. 21: The Magical World of Astronomy: A Harry Potter Show
Oct. 28: Monsters in the Sky
Spooky Space
Meet the stars of Halloween — monsters, zombies and ghosts — and their far more terrible counterparts in space, like black holes, zombie stars and spectacular ghostly nebulae. Closed captions available upon request. Each show will be followed by a live presentation of Tonight’s Sky.
Sensory-friendly showing on October 10th at 4 p.m.
Community Fall Festival
Family activities include music, bounce houses, face painting, food and more hosted by Many Rivers Montessori. Games require purchase of tickets — punch cards are $10 each. Cash or card are accepted. Parking is available on the streets throughout the neighborhood. There is a city bus route that stops at the school on Redwing Street. Carpooling is encouraged.
Freak Show Circus
“Come one, come all sinners and spectacle seekers, where freaks awaken and the strange is beautiful,” say the hosts from Cryptic Veil Oddities Studio and Gallery. This event features performances by Zenith City Horror. Organizers encourage attendees to dress in their best “freak show” attire while visiting the circus.
Gates open at 6:30 p.m.
PDD Quiz: Halloween Happenings 2025
Map out your spooky season festivities with this week’s quiz, which takes a look at local Halloween-y events!
A month-in-review quiz comes your way on Oct. 26. Please submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Oct. 23. (more…)
The Slice: Behind the Haunt
The 30th season of the Haunted Shack ended on Saturday. This video goes behind the scenes to see what it takes to create the scares.
In its series The Slice, PBS North presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.
Josh the Rapper – “Halloween is Coming Up Soon”
From the graveyards of Duluth, Josh the Rapper throws down about the impending holiday.
Video: Steve Solkela in the Superior Spooktacular Parade
Superior Porchfest took part in the 10th annual Superior Spooktacular Parade on Saturday, represented by musician Steve Solkela. The video was made by Bret Holland.
Anthony Bennett – “Happy Halloween”
Perfect Duluth Day’s own Tony Bennett has a hot new single burning up the Halloween charts.
Hellwig Hollow: An Inner Monologue
The Way There
- Canyon? Is that up north?
- Oh, it’s past Twig, just south of Cotton, gotcha!
- I didn’t know they had a haunted thingy out there.
- How the hell do you get to it?
- No, I have never heard of the Dawghouse Bar & Grill, but I assume it is near the hollow?
- Okay — park at the Dawghouse and a bus will shuttle us to the actual attraction.
- I’m not super sure how this is going to be set up … but I guess we are just gonna have to go and find out. (more…)
PDD Geoguessr #28: Haunted Duluth
When I developed the image, two specters became visible behind me (Photo by David James with Photoshop Generative Fill)
With Halloween approaching, this post takes a close look at the tales of hauntings around Duluth, presenting a classification system for the four different types of haunted Duluth locations. It concludes with a Geoguessr challenge made up of five spooky Duluth photospheres. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Halloween Happenings 2024
Map out your Halloween high jinks with this week’s quiz, which spotlights a few of the many spooky season events happening over the next few weeks. And don’t forget the PDD Calendar has a Halloween tag that filters in the creepiest stuff.
The next PDD quiz will review the month’s headlines; it will be published on Oct. 27. Please send question suggestions to at [email protected] by Oct. 24. (more…)
Spookin’ at the Irvin: An Inside Look at the Duluth Haunted Ship
All photos by Erik Poffenberger
Most Duluthians can say they have taken the Duluth Haunted Ship tour, but how many have been on the other side? Every year this haunted attraction reaches out to invite volunteers to participate in the spooking instead of being spooked. I was able to get behind the scenes, uncover the creepiness and see how organizers of this historically haunted attraction keep things afloat (get it?) throughout the season. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Halloween Happenings 2023
This week’s quiz previews area Halloween hijinks. For even more spooky events, check out the Halloween category on the PDD event calendar.
A current events PDD quiz comes your way on Oct. 29. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Oct. 26. (more…)
People are Strange
For your Halloween viewing pleasure, a video montage of retro creatures, compiled by Duluth’s Jean Kirwan and set to the Doors’ “People are Strange.”
Philip Blackburn’s Ghostly Psalms
I hadn’t heard of Philip Blackburn until I found this recording online. Blackburn “was born in Cambridge, England, and studied music there as a Choral Scholar at Clare College (BA, MA). He earned his Ph.D. in Composition from the University of Iowa.” At some point, he relocated to Minnesota. (more…)
PDD Quiz: Halloween Happenings 2022
Get your spooky on with this week’s quiz about upcoming Halloween events! For more seasonal hijinks, check out the Halloween filter on the PDD calendar.
The next PDD quiz will review this month’s headlines; it will be published on Oct. 30. Submit question suggestions to Alison Moffat at [email protected] by Oct. 26. (more…)
Spooked in Duluth
Oopsy Annie tells spooky tales from her recent visit to Duluth — featuring ghostly tales from Fitger’s, Old Central and Glensheen. (more…)
Steve’s Overpopulated One-man Band – “Ranger Things”
Straight from the Iron Range comes this Halloween medley by Steve Solkela. The music was recorded at Kaleva Hall in Virginia. The medley includes: “Ranger Things Parody,” “Ghost of John,” “Play that Scary Music Bite Boy,” “Pass the Witch’s Broomstick” and “Zombie Taylor Swift.”
Halloween spookiness awaits at the Icebox Radio Theater
Recently, a post appeared on my Facebook feed announcing the Halloween season of the Icebox Radio Theater in a creepy way. Jeff Adams, artistic director of the community theatre company that records in International Falls but is heard around the world, wrote:
We’re finally ready to tell this story. Years ago when my daughter was still at home, we worked together on a photography project taking pictures of our century-old Minnesota home. When we exported the photos to a computer for editing, this image was among them. (more…)
The Slice: Spooky Scenes at Two Harbors Lighthouse
The Lighthouse at Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast in Two Harbors gets a little eerie on stormy days near Halloween.
In its series The Slice, WDSE-TV presents short “slices of life” that capture the events and experiences that bring people together and speak to what it means to live up north.