Your Guide to Spooky October Happenings in the Champaign-Urbana Area
October in the Champaign-Urbana area means haunted houses, horror films, witchy weekends, and just about every kind of spooky fun you can imagine. We're talking screams, laughs, and even a cozy night in with 20 adoptable cats and a vampire. Here's a selection of upcoming events worth shivering over.
Haunted Houses & walks
Get your scares in at Necrosis Haunted House in Rantoul, named one of the top ten haunted houses in Illinois. It sells out fast, so grab tickets early! Nearby, Hardy's Reindeer Ranch has an intricate steampunk-themed corn maze. Do it the right way—at night with flashlights! Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery hosts two Haunted Trails at the Farm: one for the kiddos who just want candy, and one later for the more adventurous (October 24). And on Halloween, step back in time at the Mt. Hope Cemetery Walk, hosted by the Urbana Free Library and Champaign County Genealogical Society, where local history gets a little spookier. Venture out if you dare!
Horror Flicks
For more chills and thrills, catch a few classics as part of the Shocktober Horror Film Festival: The Black Cat, a 1934 pre-Code classic starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff (October 8, The Scratching Post Cat & Board Game Café); Santa Sangre, Alejandro Jodorowsky's surrealist 1989 masterwork (October 17, Cloud Mountain Kombucha); The Hunger, a sophisticated, genre-defining 1980s vampire film starring David Bowie! Susan Sarandon! Catherine Deneuve! I mean, how stylish can you get?(October 20, Amy's Place); The Fly, David Cronenberg's fusion of science fiction, romance, and body horror (October 24, Analog Wine Library); and The Witch, a landmark of atmospheric modern horror (October 31, The Literary).
If you prefer your horror with some furry feline company, catch Nosferatu at The Scratching Post, where you can watch the 1922 original alongside 20+ adoptable cats in a cozy lounge setting (October 22). Of course, no Halloween season is complete without Night of the Living Dead (October 27) and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (October 31), both done up right at the Virginia Theatre.
Theater & Live Performances
Champaign-Urbana's stages go all-in on mystery and mayhem this month. Head to the Virginia Theatre for We Interrupt This Program, a premiere stage play from four-time Emmy winner Bill Odenkirk imagining an alien invasion interrupting a War of the Worlds rebroadcast (October 16–17).
You can also enjoy some Halloween whodunits. The Monticello Theatre Association presents Lights! Camera! Murder! set on a 1948 movie set gone very wrong, while Rantoul Theatre Group stages Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Close out the month on a different note (see what we did there?) with Sinfonia da Camera: Spellbound, a not-to-be-missed orchestral experience exploring magic, ritual, and transformation (October 31).
Game Nights
Board game fans have plenty to look forward to at Parcadia: test your trust in Blood on the Clocktower (October 14), or face off in Dead by Daylight: The Board Game (October 21)—no experience required!
Witchy Festivities
The witches are out in full force! Events kick off with the Third Annual Witches Weekend at The Hive Honey Beetique in Mahomet (October 10–11), followed by Witches Night Out in downtown Monticello, where shops stay open late for a fun night of broomstick-friendly shopping (October 15).
Gather your coven and keep the spell going with Witch Party! Karaoke at Rose Bowl Tavern (October 15), then dismount from your broom and unwind at the Witchy Weekend Wind Down at Allerton Park, featuring potion-inspired pours, basket weaving, tarot readings, and yard games (October 16).
Family-Friendly Fun
There’s plenty of spooky-lite happenings for the whole family, too. Head downtown for the Urbana Fall Fusion Festival, complete with pumpkins, photo ops, live music, and community activities (October 10). Later in the month, don't miss Spook-tivity Spectacular, an adapted Halloween program for youth ages 5–12 with disabilities, hosted by the Champaign Park District and Champaign-Urbana Special Recreation (October 17); and the Scairie Prairie Bash at Prairie Farm, with trick-or-treating and hayrack rides (October 17).
Educational Events
Learn something new this spooky season. Look to the stars (and their spookier counterparts) at Spooky Space at the William M. Staerkel Planetarium. Little scientists can watch everyday ingredients bubble, fizz, and change color at the Kids Potion Adventure: Bee-Lieve in Magic workshop at the Hive Honey Beetique in Mahomet (October 24).
Dig into local lore with Eerie Illinois at the Museum of the Grand Prairie, featuring s'mores, Illinois cryptids, and a hayrack ride (October 24). For those ages 16+, the Glow in the Park Rock Hunt at Meadowbrook Park takes you on a black-light scavenger hunt through the Wandell Sculpture Garden (October 29). Finally, history buffs should check out Haunts & Legends of UIUC at the Illini Union for a tour of the university's most enduring ghost stories (October 30).
Nightlife & Entertainment
For a night out, Parcadia hosts Tavern of Terrors Drag Night, featuring a stacked lineup of local drag performers (October 15). Climbers can test their skills (and costumes) at the Halloween Climbing Party at Horizon Climbing (October 29), and shock-rock fans can head to The Cadillac in Paxton for The Subliminal Verses & Wonkzilla’z Zombie Experience, a tribute night honoring Slipknot and Rob Zombie (October 30). And if the last time you went trick-or-treating was the actual 1990s, you'll love the 90s Daughter Halloween Party at the Cowboy Monkey (October 31).
Of course, this is just a sampler of all the frightfully brilliant October events in the Champaign-Urbana area. For more, check out our Event Calendar!