Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, which means most of Dallas-Fort Worth is treating it as a two-night affair. Here’s where to eat, drink and show off a costume on Friday, October 30, and Saturday, October 31, plus a few places that keep the kids fed between trick-or-treat runs.
Friday Night
Downtown, the Sheraton Dallas is staging A Party to Die For, a masquerade murder mystery inside The Parlor, its speakeasy-style lounge at 400 N. Olive St. It runs from 7 to 9 p.m., with doors at 6:30. Tickets start at $60 and include Venetian-style masks, hors d’oeuvres and desserts, and free self-parking. Guests mingle with masked suspects and work the clues until the final reveal. It’s 21 and up.
If a movie on the lawn sounds better than a crowded bar, Little Ruby’s and Élephante are running Outdoor Cinema Club at 23 Springs, 2323 Cedar Springs Rd., through Friday. Thursday night is The Nightmare Before Christmas and Friday is Beetlejuice, both from 7 to 11 p.m. There’s popcorn and candy, and dinner from either restaurant gets delivered to your seat. Book a spot through the Experiences section of Élephante’s OpenTable page.
Rooftops and Cocktail Bars
Catbird, the ninth-floor rooftop bar at Thompson Dallas, is going all in with Nights of Horror on both Friday and Saturday from 5 p.m. to midnight. The bar team built a limited Halloween menu for the occasion, including the Beeting Heart, a tequila drink with a bleeding-heart garnish, the Forbidden Fruit, an apple whiskey cocktail with a black caramel rim, and the Witching Hour, a plum-infused gin cocktail finished with smoked sage. Costumes are encouraged, but masks aren’t allowed, and the door staff has the final word on what counts as appropriate. Reservations are through SevenRooms.
For a skyline view, Monkey Bar on 9, the Mi Cocina team’s rooftop bar on top of the Tru by Hilton at 1949 N. Stemmons Freeway, has a DJ and costume contest Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. Entries close at 9, winners are named at 9:30, and the top three take home Mi Cocina gift cards worth $150, $100 and $50.
Columbian Country Club at 3314 Ross Ave. is turning into a jungle for its Columbian Rainforest party on Saturday. Doors open at 5 p.m., a live band plays from 7:30 to 10:30, and a DJ takes over from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Expect a photo booth, an ice luge, animal entertainment and a list of Halloween cocktails. Tables require a reservation, which you can make by calling 214-484-1555.
In Frisco, Spookeasy has taken over the Lounge by Topgolf at Omni PGA Frisco Resort & Spa through November 1. The menu runs to eight themed cocktails, including a Pumpkin Spice White Russian and a shareable Dead Head Punch, along with Vampire Killer Wings in chili garlic and Bloody Red Velvet Brownies. Kids and nondrinkers get their own list, with mocktails and a drink called Worm Juice.
If you’d rather drink somewhere with a ghost story already built in, we rounded up the Dallas and Fort Worth bars and restaurants with the best-known hauntings in Where to Drink with Ghosts in Dallas and Fort Worth.
The Big Halloween Parties
The biggest party in town is probably Nightmare on Main Street at The Village Dallas, 5670 Village Glen Dr. It runs Saturday from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. along Main Street and inside Over Under, with live DJs, scare actors, drink specials and a costume contest with a $5,000 grand prize. Entry to Main Street and Over Under is free with an RSVP. Village Beach Club has a separately ticketed Halloween show that night with Bryce Alakai, the Season 8 winner of Love Island USA, in his first Dallas performance. The underground bar La Mina is throwing its own party as a $25 add-on to either ticket. Parking in the underground garage is free, though the Village is pushing rideshare for the night.
In Uptown, Calabrian Piazza, the open-air space that’s home to Burrito Bellas at 2523 McKinney Ave., is hosting a Zombie Ball Saturday from 7 to 11 p.m. Fog machines, lasers and horror movies will be running in the loft and courtyard, and three bars will be pouring drinks like the Dead Man’s Hand Spicy Margarita and Bourbon and Brains. Costume categories are scariest, funniest and sexiest zombie.
Irving’s Toyota Music Factory is hosting Fright Night on Saturday from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. Admission is free with an RSVP on Eventbrite, and the costume contest pays out $3,000 in cash and prizes. A $25 VIP upgrade adds two drinks, a souvenir cup and a separate bar.
Haunted Houses
If a costume contest isn’t scary enough, every major haunt in North Texas is open this weekend, and our full guide to the best haunted houses in Dallas-Fort Worth has the details on each one. The headliner is Cutting Edge Haunted House, inside a century-old meatpacking plant at 1701 E. Lancaster Ave. in Fort Worth, which USA Today readers just voted the best haunted house in America. Dark Hour in Plano plays more like a stage production, and Hangman’s House of Horrors in Fort Worth and Moxley Manor in Bedford both wrap up their seasons on Halloween night.
Closer to downtown Dallas, the Junkyard Haunted House has taken over Old City Park at 1515 S. Harwood St. this year, with seven haunts set inside the park’s historic buildings from 8 p.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday. Further out, there’s Fright Fest at Six Flags Over Texas in Arlington and Thrillvania in Terrell. Buy tickets ahead of time. Halloween on a Saturday means the lines will be long, and if you’d rather skip them, Cutting Edge and Dark Hour stay open into November.
Dinner and a Show
In the Design District, Delilah is dressing up its supper club at 1616 Hi Line Drive for a Saturday performance by Mike Posner, the singer behind “Cooler Than Me” and “I Took a Pill in Ibiza.” Dinner and cocktails come first, including a Pumpkin Espresso Martini made for the night, before the room shifts into the late show.
Up north, Legacy Hall in Plano is partying like it’s 1999 on Saturday. A costume contest starts at 8 p.m., followed at 9 by Prince Again, a live Prince tribute. Contest entry comes with a concert ticket.
Pete’s Dueling Piano Bar in Fort Worth and Frisco has its own Saturday night of sing-alongs and a costume contest, and the winner gets a VIP table for four on New Year’s Eve.
For the Kids
Burger Schmurger at 718 N. Buckner Blvd. in East Dallas is holding a kids’ costume contest on Saturday, with voting at 5 p.m. so everyone can still make it out for trick-or-treating. The winner eats a free kid’s meal every day in November.
At El Chico in Rockwall, 503 Interstate 30, kids 12 and under who show up in costume on Saturday get a free kids’ meal with the purchase of an adult entrée.
For more ideas that won’t keep the little ones up all night, see our guide to a family-friendly Halloween in DFW.
Something Sweet
If you’re bringing dessert to someone else’s party, SusieCakes has its Halloween cakes, cupcakes and cookies through Saturday at its Hillside, Preston Center, West Village and Fort Worth bakeries. Some items need advance notice, so call ahead.
Staying In
Not every Halloween needs a costume contest. If your plan is takeout and a movie, our retro review of The Silence of the Lambs makes the case for a film that still holds up 35 years later.
After Halloween
The celebrating doesn’t end when the costumes come off. Día de los Muertos follows on November 1 and 2, and our guide to planning your Dallas Día de los Muertos has everything you need to plan the weekend.
