By Linda Scales
Ottawa has an abundance of Halloween activities to inspire you to either suit up for the haunting season or to simply partake in a bit of spooky fun. If you don’t know what to do (or where to go), consider some of the suggestions below.
A campus Halloween
♦ Get in the Halloween spirit on October 30 by watching a scary movie.
♦ The super active and social Halloween lunch at University Square is for the uOttawa community. Show up in your most imaginative costume on October 31, at noon, for the annual campus walk or join the Zumba class.
♦ Decorate small pumpkins on October 31.
♦ Get your Halloween makeup done by a professional makeup artist on October 31.
♦ Need games, movies or books for Halloween night? These 15 Li-boo-ary picks will give you a fright!
A budget Halloween
♦ Halloween at Rideau Hall is a time-honoured occasion. Visit between 5 and 8 p.m. on October 31 to see the invasion of the residence grounds by aliens from outer space. Whoooo knows who you might see there! FREE
♦ Celebrate one of Mexico’s most important holidays, the Day of the Dead, on November 3 at Lansdowne's Horticulture Building! Lively music, mariachi performances, workshops and food all are part of the fun. FREE
A cultured Halloween
♦ What is Halloween without the 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show? On cue, the Mayfair Theatre, located just south of TD Place, is showing the film on October 26, 27 and 31. You can also attend the live musical version at the Arts Court Theatre from October 26 to 31. Let’s do the Time Warp again?
♦ From October 30 to November 3 at Academic Hall, The Small Room at the Top of the Stairs by uOttawa’s theatre department will have you sitting on the edge of your seat.
♦ If you want more suspense and intrigue on the stage, see a performance of Cliffhanger, until November 3, by the Ottawa Little Theatre, uOttawa’s neighbour on King Edward near Rideau.
A very scaaaary Halloween
♦ The Haunted Walk tours are guaranteed to scare the daylights out of you! On October evenings, “Ghost and the Gallows: Are You Afraid of the Dark?” and “A Night on Death Row” — along the haunted hallways of the old Carleton County Jail (now HI Ottawa Jail Hostel) — are special Halloween offerings. Boo!
♦ Incident at the Bunker: A Zombie Adventure is a one-of-a-kind interactive (and unearthly) experience happening at the Diefenbunker, Canada’s Cold War Museum! It takes place October 27, 28 and November 3.
♦ On Friday and Saturday evenings until October 27, the Billings Estate National Historic Site becomes the Haunted House on the Hill, a spooky 19th-century estate. Reservations are recommended.
A unique Halloween
♦ On October 26, Nature Nocturne party-goers at the Museum of Nature will scale the walls in fright, when it becomes the creepiest place in town. The “Back in Black” masquerade soirée will celebrate creatures that roam after dark.
♦ Ghoulish treats and crafts will meet learning all about bats and visiting the farm animals at the Canada Agriculture and Food Museum’s Barnyard Halloween on October 27 and 28. The pumpkin pie ice cream being served sounds delish!
♦ If you want to be awed and dazzled, visit Upper Canada Village’s Pumpkinferno, in Morrisburg on selected evenings in October, for an outdoor art exhibit of 7,000 hand-crafted pumpkins.
♦ And finally … it’s the haunting season at Saunders Farm until October 31, where there are lots of things to scare you and make you laugh. Be careful not to get lost in one of the many mazes!