Like a college kid celebrating a birthday, we just don't have one Halloween night this year, we have four. Starting tonight and running through Monday, the Boston area is flush with solid Halloween party spooktaculars, ranging from the usual cover shows to haunted house happenings to the bi-annual ManRay gathering (which is its own franchise at this point in Boston's chilly alternative nightlife game). It's impossible to capture everything that's going on, but below are Vanyaland's picks for what to do around town, particularly on a stacked-deck Saturday. There's enough happening to wear that Eleven or Harley Quinn or Sexy Ken Bone costume several times over, and don't forget, whatever happens this weekend, it's only for fun. The real horror arrives November 8, so get in the good times while you can.
October 29: Growing Up Spooky at the Plough & Stars
Boston is always well-stocked with Halloween cover shows, and since Vanyaland isn’t doing on this year, we turn our starry-eyed attention to Growing Up Spooky at the Plough. Organized by the Eye Design crew, the night features the Dazies as tragic early-’00s power-pop band the Exploding Hearts (an inspired gesture, raising a glass to the Portland gents whose run came to a sad end after three of its members died in a 2003 van crash, shortly after the release of debut album Guitar Romantic), as well as performances by Boston Music Award-nominated Dirty Bangs as Nirvana, Glass House as the Jesus and Mary Chain, and Bruvs as the Beatles. Evan Kenny as Kurt Cobain? That makes our box feel all heart-shaped. But if that wasn’t enough, the Cambridge bar will also be showing scary video scenes from horror classics, including Aliens, Evil Dead, and the recent 2016 Boston Red Sox playoff run.
912 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge :: 10 p.m. :: 21-plus :: $5 :: Facebook event page
