a real scream

18 scream-worthy events for a frightfully fun Halloween weekend in Houston

Get your scream on at 13th Floor Haunted House Houston.

13th Floor Haunted House Houston/Facebook

It's time to break out those costumes, Houston. Halloween is here and myriad events and spectacles are vying for your patronage. From haunted houses to pet-friendly activities to boozy bashes, these 18 events are a real scream.

Some events are already on; many start Thursday, October 28 and run through Halloween weekend.

The 13th Floor Haunted House features three separate attractions, including Dead in the Water, Bad Blood, and The Dollmaker. It also features axe throwing, mini escape games, the shooting game Zombie Apocalypse Live, and Bar13, where patrons 21 and over can enjoy spooky libations before or after experiencing the haunted house. Through Saturday, November 6. 7:30 pm (7 pm on Halloween).

The Big Bounce America’s 2021 tour stop continues in Houston, Friday through Sunday at AVEVA Stadium. To celebrate Halloween, the largest touring inflatable event in the world will give out prizes for “best dressed” costumes and candy, alongside its four inflatable attractions. 9 am.

Over in Rosharon, Creepy Hollow Haunted House features three haunted attractions — 288 Scare Factory, Dark Woods, and Pitch Black — as well as Freak Show, Creepy Hollow World Of Oddities, Voodoo Lounge, Axis Pole, and Fire by the Pits. Through Saturday, November 6. 7:30 pm (7 pm on Halloween).

Haunted Trails boasts acres of mortifying scenes and unnatural creatures await eagerly to quench the monsters' undying thirst for screams. What lurks among these trees? What sinister beings have you in their sights? It also features Pyscho Hollow 3D and the new Escape the Guillotine escape game puzzle. Through Sunday, October 31. 8 pm (7:30 pm on Halloween).

During the day, Haunted Houstonopoly will be decked out in seasonal decor and ready to welcome little ones of all ages with Halloween photo ops and plenty of family-friendly fun. When the sun sets, it’s transformed into an interactive fright fest for 16-and-older souls, as sets change and creatures lurk in the darkness, waiting for players to roll the dice and attempt to make their way around the game board. Through Sunday, October 31. 5:30 pm.

The Heights House Hotel & Space Cowboy will host two Halloween events on Saturday. The first is “A Dog Pop,” a Halloween party for dogs at 11 am. There will be a variety of vendors, DJ and three categories of dog costume contest with cash and other prizes. Later that evening, there will be a “Noche de los Muertos” Halloween party at 7 pm. The party will also include several vendors, a DJ and costume contests with cash prizes, as well as Loteria.

House of Spirits: A Haunted Cocktail Soirée is a peculiar experience unlike any other. Visitors can freely roam a bizarre residence and experience a night of themed cocktails, mystifying magic, sinister séances, tarot readings, strange roaming specters, live music, hidden secret games, giant Ouija boards, and more. Guests are encouraged to dress up for the soirée in any time period specific fashion, costume, or elegant dress. Through Saturday, November 6. 6 pm (3:30 pm on Halloween).

On Thursday night, the Houston BARC Foundation presents Tails from the Crypt, its second-annual, Howl-o-ween cocktail party. Along with frightfully fantastic cocktails and fun surprises, there will also be a thrilling auction full of items sure to disappear quickly like a ghost into the shadows. 5:30 pm.

The Houston Scream Fest prides itself on being the first haunted event in Texas with a midway featuring carnival games and a food court with adult beverages. Guests can also participate in the Zombie PaintBall attraction. Through Saturday, November 13. 8 pm.

Channelview’s Houston Terror Dome is the most terrifying of all Houston haunted houses. They will have improved rooms, new effects, and new characters. New for 2021 is the Nightmare Alley Selfie Saloon, a one-of-a-kind experience that combines a haunted bar with haunted house themed selfie adventures. Through Sunday, October 31. 7 pm.

The Kemah Boardwalk’s annual Boo on the Boardwalk celebration returns with Freaky Fridays, Scary Saturdays and Spooky Sundays, each night featuring free activities, live music and ghostly entertainment. Guests of all ages can enjoy a variety of festive and spooky thrills, including the Little Boo Haunted Fun House, Halloween-themed crafts, balloon artists, vampire stilt walkers, creepy creatures, and live concerts. Through Sunday, October 31. 6 pm (2 pm on Halloween).

Speaking of Kemah, Kemah Aquarium will present the Halloween Kids Bash on Sunday, offering families Halloween events and activities. Ghouls and boys can enjoy a variety of games and activities including Keeper Chats, trick-or-treating, Halloween-themed arts & crafts, and more. Mummies of the year can also treat their little ones to .99 cent kids meals at the Aquarium Restaurant with the purchase of an adult entrée. 11 am.

There’s something for every ghost and goblin at Margaritaville Lake Resort during the Second Annual Halloween Adventure, going down on Saturday. The all-day shindig will have a Supernatural Morning Stretch, Pumpkin Painting, a Family Costume Contest, a Halloween Bar Crawl and an Adult Costume Contest. 9 am.

Ouzo Bay and Loch Bar will go all out on Halloween night. The Halloween party will include a toga-wearing stilt walker dressed as Barbarella’s Pygar and special performances featuring a belly dancer and a sword and candle show. Additionally, Loch Bar will transform into a retro-futuristic “Loch Barbarella” costume party featuring retro sci-fi posters, disco balls and entertainment by stilt walkers. 8 pm.

Phobia Haunted Houses features five single attractions, including Dawn of the Machine, Mind Control, Genetic Nightmare, Clown Mania, and Darke Institute, as well as the triple attraction Exile, featuring Darke World, Savage Ground, and Contagion. Through Saturday, November 6. 8 pm.

Formerly known as the Kingwood Asylum, Purgatory Scream Park in Porter is a nationally-ranked haunted house featuring intense and realistic haunted houses. The experience features over 27,000 square feet of pure terror and lasts around 40 minutes. Through Saturday, November 6. 8 pm.

Redrum Fear Park in Richmond features four different attractions, including Twisted Circus Rewired, Cinegore, Deadwood Asylum, and Redrum Lazer Fury. The park offers a wide array of entertainment, as well as live music, outdoor seating, food, outside crowd actors, merchandise, and indoor climate-controlled restrooms on-site. Through Saturday, November 6. 7 pm.

For the weekend, Space Center Houston’s Galaxy Frights features a number of Halloween-themed activities. Visitors can dress up and join the costume parades in the main plaza, see Spidernaut, NASA’s spider-like robot prototype, and visit multiple candy stations for socially distanced and safe trick or treating. 10 am.

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weekend event planner

Here are the top 14 things to do in Houston this weekend

Steve Aoki/Facebook

See Steve Aoki in concert at NOHO in EaDo.

This weekend, it’ll be a brand new year. Although some may be partied out after New Year's Eve, some cool stuff will be happening.

Welcome 2026 with a festive brunch. Music from Nat King Cole and Steve Aoki will be played on Friday night. Saturday begins with a matcha pop-up and ends with a salute to goth/darkwave at Wonky Power. And, on Sunday, you can get in a fun run/walk and see the Thin White Duke on the big screen.

Thursday, January 1

The Union Kitchen presents New Year’s Day Brunch
The Union Kitchen is kicking off 2026 with a celebratory New Year’s Day brunch at all Houston-area locations. Customers will enjoy festive brunch sips, including $2.50 mimosas, $4 Bloody Marys, and $4 bellinis. Additionally, in true Southern tradition, the restaurant will offer cabbage, black-eyed peas, and cornbread — the classic good-luck trio for prosperity in the year ahead. Walk-ins are welcome, but reservations are encouraged. 10 am.

EZ’s Liquor Lounge presents New Year’s Day Hangover Brunch
For those who know they’ll be party-hopping this New Year’s Eve, here's a place to go and deal with that gnarly hangover the day after. The annual Hangover Brunch will feature fried chicken, biscuits, champagne specials, and caviar at cost. 11 am.

MKT Bar presents New Year's Day Brunch
While some people are known to eat black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day – for good luck and prosperity for the year ahead – head over to MKT Bar (located inside Phoenicia Specialty Foods' location downtown) and get their famous chicken and waffles for half-off. The Danielle Reich and Bruce Saunders Quintet will also be on the premises, performing some eclectic, jazz/pop numbers. Noon.

Friday, January 2

Punch Line Houston presents Sam Jay
Stand-up comic Sam Jay will be doing a two-night stint at Punch Line Houston this weekend. The Emmy-nominated former Saturday Night Live writer has been seen on HBO’s Pause with Sam Jay, a weekly late-night series on which she served as host and executive producer, as well as Bust Down, the Peacock sitcom she co-created and co-starred in. Recently, she did her solo show Sam Jay: We the People at the Edinburgh Festival and New York’s Lincoln Center Theater. 7 and 9:15 pm.

Houston Symphony presents "A Nat King Cole New Year"
The Jones Center for the Performing Arts will have an “Unforgettable” start to 2026 as Byron Stripling, Denzal Sinclaire, and the Houston Symphony Big Band perform the timeless hits of Nat King Cole, along with well-known songs by other jazz legends. The program will include songs like “Mona Lisa,” “Nature Boy,” “When I Fall in Love,” “Just One of Those Things,” and more. (We wonder if we’ll get Cole’s “The Christmas Song” one last time.) 7:30 pm (2 pm Sunday).

Theatre Southwest presents Murder on the Orient Express
Agatha Christie’s legendary, literary masterwork will be brought to the stage at Theatre Southwest. On a train traveling through Europe, a wealthy American tycoon is found dead in his compartment, the door locked from the inside. Enter world-famous detective Hercule Poirot, who must navigate a train full of suspects and solve the murder before the killer strikes again. Through Saturday, January 17. 8 pm (3 pm Sunday).

NOTO Houston presents Steve Aoki
Did you know that DJ/producer Steve Aoki invented the trend known as “caking”? That’s when he throws a huge cake out into the crowd while playing Autoerotique’s “Turn Up the Volume,” a song whose video features people getting splattered by exploding cakes. We bring this up because Aoki will be doing a late-night DJ set at NOTO Houston, and there’s a very good chance people in the crowd will get hit with a very delicious dessert. Stay in the back to avoid getting icing on your outfit. 10 pm.

Saturday, January 3

Kazzan Ramen & Bar and Tomo Matcha Pop-Up
Houston’s ramen scene is getting a green tea glow-up. Kazzan Ramen & Bar is teaming up with Tomo Matcha for a one-day pop-up this weekend. For the collaboration, guests who dine in at Kazzan Ramen will receive 20% off Tomo matcha, and customers who purchase a matcha drink will enjoy 20% off their meal. If you can’t make it, Tomo will also do a Sunday-afternoon pop-up at GLO Pilates. 11 am.

The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston presents Resurrection
Bi Gan (whose Long Day’s Journey into Night screened at MFAH in 2018) directs this ambitious, 160-minute, sci-fi detective movie starring Chinese superstar Jackson Yee (Better Days) and actress Shu Qi (The Assassin). In a future where humanity has surrendered its ability to dream in exchange for immortality, an outcast finds illusion, nightmarish visions, and beauty in an intoxicating world of his own making. 2 pm.

Archway Gallery presents June Woest: "Weather Inside Out" opening reception
Archway Gallery will present an exhibit of new work by June Woest that captures the interplay between photography, sculpture, and AI. "Weather Inside Out" explores Woest’s experiences with the unpredictable nature of the weather by challenging the notion that we are helpless against it. Her works are an invitation to embrace change and find comfort in the unpredictable.Through Thursday, February 5. 5 pm.

Wonky Power presents Dia de los Darks
The first Dia de los Darks of the year kicks off this weekend, bringing a night powered by darkwave, goth, rock en español, and cumbia. Scheduled to perform are El Turko Sonidero, DJ Fredster and guitar-playing masked man Orpheus Von Doom. Expect haunting beats, immersive visual installations lighting up the night. A night market will be open late with art, fashion, and local vendors — giving attendees that dark underground vibe. 8 pm.

Sunday, January 4

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium presents Saint Arnold Social Fun Walk/Run
Saint Arnold Fun Runs are back for 2026. Close out the first weekend of 2026 by getting some exercise, taking a social run/walk, and purging yourself of everything 2025-related. Participants get a guided and marked, 3.5(ish)-mile run/walk with beer pacers, three tasty brews from Saint Arnold, a Saint Arnold pint glass, and a Texas tamale breakfast. Rain or shine. 8 am.

Cousins Maine Lobster at Car Spa
Get your car shining and your cravings satisfied all in one stop as Cousins Maine Lobster rolls its truck over to Car Spa this weekend. Whether you're cleaning up your ride or just passing through, swing by and sample such delicacies as Maine, Connecticut, and garlic butter lobster rolls, lobster tacos and quesadillas, lobster tots and lobster tails, lobster grilled cheese, creamy lobster bisque, clam chowder, whoopie pies, and more. 11 am.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema LaCenterra presents The Man Who Fell to Earth
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema’s “Art Decade: Films of David Bowie 1973-1983” series begins with this 1976 sci-fi curio. The story of an alien (Bowie, of course) on an elaborate rescue mission provides the launching pad for Nicolas Roeg’s examination of alienation in contemporary life. The film’s hallucinatory vision was obscured in the American theatrical release, which deleted nearly 20 minutes of crucial scenes and details. This screening is of Roeg’s full, uncut version. Noon.

Steve Aoki in concert

Steve Aoki/Facebook

See Steve Aoki in concert at NOHO in EaDo.

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