From a secret bash in a Gothic mansion or a sc-fi-themed ball to exhibitions of jack o’ lanterns or mummies, the city’s art scene has you covered when it comes to Halloween plans.
PARTIES:
The Fifth Annual MoMA PS1 Halloween Ball: White House of Horrors. 2016. Courtesy of photographer Charles Roussel.
1. 6th Annual MoMA PS1 Halloween Ball with Susanne Bartsch at MoMA PS1
Nightlife legend Susanne Bartsch is promising “an otherworldly gathering of sci-fi cyber babes, glam-rock robots, and arty extraterrestrials” for this year’s sci-fi-themed take on her annual Halloween bash.
22-25 Jackson Avenue, October 28, 8 p.m.–11.55 p.m. $18.
Critical Halloween: Luxury. Storefront for Art and Architecture, October 29th, 2016. Courtesy of Fredrik Bauer.
2. Storefront for Art and Architecture Critical Halloween at the Museum of Sex
Storefront returns with its thought-provoking take on the costume party, taking on the themes of HOLES, which it calls the “feared ghost of art and architectural production.”
233 Fifth Avenue, October 31, 9:30 p.m.–late. $50 and up.
Brian De Palma, Carrie (1976). Courtesy of Photofest.
3. HallowSCREEN II: THE PROM at the Museum of Modern Art
Catch a screening of Brian DePalma’s Carrie (1976) and a tour of Louise Bourgeois’s spooky spider sculptures and prints before drinks and dancing. Pose for a traditional prom photo to really get into the spirit of things.
11 West 53rd Street, October 27, 9:30 p.m. $20.
Guggenheim Art After Dark party. Courtesy of the Guggenheim.
4. Art After Dark: Halloween at the Guggenheim
The Guggenheim hosts its first Halloween edition of its Art After Dark party series, with an after-hours viewing of “Art and China After 1989: Theater of the World,” a costume party, cash bar, and a DJ set from BEARCAT (Discwoman).
1071 Fifth Avenue, October 27, 9 p.m.–12 a.m. $65
Courtesy of You Are So Lucky.
5. You Are So Lucky Halloween Party featuring Matte Projects, House of YES, and the Danger
Held in a secret location just outside New York City, You Are So Lucky’s arty Halloween party, titled “Of Temptations & Consequences,” promises to “transform a 72-room manor into a landscape of music, myth, temptations, and consequences.” There will be 125 performers, including acrobats, fire spinners, and DJs.
October 27–28. RSVP for ticket information.
EVENTS:
A creature stands on a stage during “The Grand Procession of the Ghouls” at the Halloween Extravaganza and Procession of Ghouls, at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. The annual event features ghoulish characters by puppet and mask maker and theater director Ralph Lee, who created New York City’s Halloween Parade. Courtesy of AFP Photo/Stan Honda.
6. Halloween Extravaganza and Procession of Ghouls at the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine
Ralph Lee, founder of the Village Halloween Parade, leads the creepy puppets from his Mettawee River Theater Company in a ghostly procession down the aisles of the world’s largest Anglican church. The evening kicks off with a screening of the 1925 silent film The Phantom of the Opera, with the cathedral’s massive organ providing the score.
1047 Amsterdam Avenue at 112th Street, 7:00 p.m.–9:00 p.m.; 10:00 p.m.–12:00 a.m. $25.
A guest at Spooky City. Courtesy of the Museum of the City of New York.
7. Spooky City: Third Annual Halloween Party at the Museum of the City of New York
This children’s costume party includes a haunted New York scavenger hunt, a monster mash dance party, New York City-themed “treats,” and a chance to decorate pumpkins.
1220 Fifth Avenue at 103rd Street, October 31, 2 p.m.–5 p.m. Free.
An altar for a loved one from last year’s Day of the Dead, (2016). Courtesy of Peter Ascoli and Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders.
8. Day of the Dead Festival at St. Mark’s Church
Mano a Mano: Mexican Culture Without Borders presents this year’s Day of the Dead Festival, honoring deceased loved ones and family. Suitable for all ages, the weekend’s activities will feature altar building, paper flower making, folk music, and a marketplace where you can purchase folk art, papel picado banners, sugar skulls, pan de muerto bread, and Mexican food.
11th Street and 2nd Ave. October 27–29, 12 p.m.–6 p.m. Free.
A “haunted” building in Sag Harbor. Courtesy of the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum.
9. Spirits of Sag Harbor: A Haunted Walking Tour at the Sag Harbor Whaling & Historical Museum
Head to Long Island to learn the ghostly history of the village of Sag Harbor, in a haunted walking tour led by Annette Hinkle.
Friday, October 27, 6 p.m.–8 p.m. $25.
Harry Houdini. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
10. Harry Houdini Seance at the Houdini Home
Famed magician Harry Houdini died on Halloween in 1926. In the decade that followed, his wife marked his passing by holding an annual seance attempting to contact his spirit. Now an annual tradition among the magic community, one is being held at the escape artist’s childhood home by New York State Assemblywoman Rebecca Seawright, the Society of American Magicians, and the Childhood Home of Harry Houdini Foundation.
344 East 79th Street. Tuesday, October 31, 12 p.m. Free.
Halloween Harvest Festival at Socrates Sculpture Park. Courtesy of Socrates Sculpture Park.
11. Halloween Harvest Festival at Socrates Sculpture Park
Socrates Sculpture Park artists will be on hand to help guests make costumes and art at the annual Halloween Harvest Festival. Keeping with this year’s Día de los Muertos theme, Ballet Folklórico Mexicano de Nueva York will lead a procession and dance performance, while urban shaman Mama Donna will do a blessing of the animals.
32-01 Vernon Boulevard, October 28, 11 a.m.—3 p.m. Free.
Teens celebrate Halloween at the Whitney Museum. Courtesy of photographer Filip Wolak.
12. Halloween Teen Night at the Whitney Museum of American Art
The Whitney’s Youth Insights Leaders and other New York City teens can enjoy costume making, tarot card readings, dancing, and snacks on the museum’s third floor.
99 Gansevoort Street, October 27, 5 p.m.–7 p.m. Free.
A girl at Day of the Dead 2014. Courtesy of the National Museum of the American Indian.
13. Día de los Muertos at the National Museum of the American Indian
The National Museum of the American Indian celebrates the Day of the Dead with art activities such as making paper masks and painting plaster skulls, while Cetiliztli Nauhcampa performs traditional dances that honor their ancestors.
Alexander Hamilton US Custom House, 1 Bowling Green, October 28, 12 p.m.–5 p.m. Free.
EXHIBITIONS:
The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze. Courtesy of Historic Hudson Valley.
14. The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze at Van Cortlandt Manor
The Blaze takes the art of pumpkin carving to new heights, with such glowing wonders as a 20-foot carousel, a sea serpent next to the Croton River, and this year’s new Jurassic Park section, all made entirely of jack o’lanterns.
525 South Riverside Avenue, Croton-On-Hudson, daily through November 5, with additional days through November 25. Times vary. $20 weekdays, $25 weekends.
Painted Egyptian sarcophagus, c. 700–600 BC. Photograph courtesy John Weinstein, © The Field Museum 2015.
15. “Mummies” at the Museum of Natural History
That classic monster movie villain, the mummy, takes center stage in this exhibition, which examines specimens from two sides of the globe: ancient Egypt and pre-Columbian Brazil.
Central Park West at 79th Street, through January 7, 2018. $28.
Massive pumpkins arrive at the New York Botanical Garden. Courtesy of the New York Botanical Garden.
16. Scarecrows & Pumpkins at the New York Botanical Garden
This delightful display of carved pumpkins at the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden is accompanied by a selection of some of the world’s largest pumpkins, each weighing over a ton. It’s also the last chance to see “CHIHULY,” on view through October 29.
2900 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, through October 31. $23.
Richard Posner, Marbles in Birdcage Reliquary (2011). Courtesy of the Rakow Library.
17. “Curious and Curiouser: Surprising Finds from the Rakow Research Library” at the Corning Museum of Glass
Glass has been used in surprisingly creepy, some might say spooky, ways. In addition to a large selection of glass eyes, both for humans and animals, the Rakow Research Library’s collection includes a patent for preserving the dead in glass, invented by Joseph Karwowski, and a contemporary piece by Richard Posner, Marbles in a Birdcage Reliquary, in which he’s added human ashes to glass marbles.
1 Museum Way, Corning, through February 17, 2019. $19.50.
Baboon Applique from an Animal Mummy. Possibly from Saqqara, Egypt. Ptolemaic Period, 30 B.C. Courtesy of the Brooklyn Museum/photographer
Gavin Ashworth.
18. “Soulful Creatures: Animal Mummies in Ancient Egypt” at the Brooklyn Museum
Humans weren’t the only ones preserved after in ancient Egypt—learn more about the mysterious practice of animal mummification in this exhibition of mummies of birds, cats, dogs, snakes, and other animals.
200 Eastern Parkway, through January 21, 2018. $16.