BIG WEEK: Great Pumpkin edition—all you need to Halloween (and Día, too)

Welcome to our calendar feature BIG WEEK, wherein our expert Arts & Culture writers recommend the best things in Arts, Music, Food & Drink, Stage, Film, Nightlife, and more. Congratulations to new Drag Laureate Persia, we look forward to great things from you this Reina’s reign! Let’s get into some cute spooky time picks and kicks.

GENERAL ARTS
Marke B. is in the arts hot seat.

FRI/31: DANCE THRILL FEST V I adore this concept: short dance films by Bay Area artists “exploring themes of horror, thrill, comedy and everything in between,” curated by REYES Dance and featuring Babatunji Johnson and Charmaine Butcher; Bianca Cabrera; gizeh muñiz and Teaque Owen, and so many more. No ‘Thriller” flash mobs here, just some fun, pure art. 6:15, Roxie, SF. More info here.

FRI/31: KRONOS QUARTET & TIMO ANDRES: SPOOKY Who else but our own Kronos (along with celebrated pianist Andres) could mix the haunting score Philip Glass created for the classic film Dracula, plus music from Bernard Herrmann’s iconic score for Psycho, selections from George Crumb’s wild Black Angels, and the world premiere of a new Edward Gorey-inspired piano work by Gabriel Kahane, along with other works perfectly suited for a thrilling Halloween. 8pm, Herbst Theater, SF. More info here.

FRI/31-SUN/2: SUBSTANCE FESTIVAL Three days of darkwave, post-punk, goth, and other live goodies from the likes of adult., A Place to Bury Strangers, TR/ST, Pixel Grip, Bestial Mouths, Sacred Skin, Martin DuPont, and tons more. That costume will get worn out! Great American Music Hall, SF. More info here.

SAT/1: DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS: NIGHT OF CEMPASÚCHIL & YERBA BUENA Honoring Latin jazz maestro Eddie Palmieri, this free, family-friendly celebration bring music from the huge Bay Area Tumbao All Stars group, plus a night market, Indigenous blessing and procession, a community altar, food and artisan booths, live mural painting and performances by Indigenous dance groups and cultural musical acts. 4pm-9pm, Yerba Buena Gardens, SF. More info here.

SAT/1: DíA DE LOS MUERTOS AT THE SYMPHONY Conductor Lina González-Granados leads an all-Latin composer and traditional music program that will warm the fall air. Festivities begin at 1:30pm with art installations and altars created by local artists, and family-friendly activities such as sugar skull decorating, tissue-flower making, Day of the Dead facepainting, and a Mariachi instrument petting zoo. 1:30pm, performance at 3pm. Davies Symphony Hall, SF. More info here.

SUN/2: DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS 44TH ANNUAL PROCESSION IN THE MISSION Thousands of people line the sidewalks as lively musicians, huge displays, and community organizations march past colorful altars, delicious local food stands, and vendors selling handmade crafts. Expect live bands, Aztec dancers, lowriders, and dance troupes. Procession at 7pm-ish, Runs until 9pm-ish. 22nd and Bryant, SF.

SUN/2: DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS FESTIVAL OF ALTARS Designed in San Francisco by a Mexican immigrant woman and a group of marginalized creators back in 1992, this San Francisco tradition has now blossomed into a full-blown festival, with huge and gorgeous marigold-strewn altars decorating Potrero Del Sol Park and commemorating those who have passed. Festival installation begins at 8am; entertainment runs 5pm-9pm. Potrero De Sol, SF. More info here.

SUN/2: ANDRÉS MIGUEL CERVANTES The local troubadour brings back his Western noir desert soundscapes with new album Songs for the Seance out on Halloween, appropriately, and this release party will surely conjure up some haunting tunes and roadside ghosts. The record promises “a meditation on the collection of memories that live inside us all, experienced, dreamed, or inherited from our ancestors.” 6pm, Ivy Room, Albany. More info here.

MUSIC
Hit up John-Paul Shiver’s Under the Stars column for great tunes and shows every week.

THU/30: DRUGDEALER Before we dive into the ghoulish Halloween festivities of the season, how about locking in with a good show? Drugdealer, the Los Angeles-based project of psych-pop songwriter Michael Collins has a distinct “broken down” blue-eyed soul aesthetic that catches your “WTF” attention. Ask previous co-contributors, such as Weyes Blood, Jackson MacIntosh, or Kate Bollinger. Collins does that thing. A couple of summers ago, Collins, along with vocalist Sedona and guitarist Mikey Long, who possesses those deadly “get in, turn up, and get out” solo guitar skills, had hipsters and other younglings at The Chapel cupcakin’ to the rhythm all night long. 7pm, The Chapel SF. More info here.

FRI/31: SOUL SKA COSTUME BALL WITH ANGELO MOORE OF FISHBONE This is the party at ground zero. Formed in 2014, 10-piece Soul Ska is a Bay Area collective with a fresh take on the classic ska/rocksteady idiom. They cover the original Jamaican first wave, as well as the British second wave, with a rootsy, upbeat sound that leans heavily on vocal harmony and a three-piece horn section. So get your funk face and costume aligned because when Angelo Moore dives into the cosmic wave, it’s a Halloween party for moshing, dancing, and prancing all night long. Don’t be surprised if a Theremin makes an appearance. 7pm, Sweetwater, Marin. Grab your tix here.

SUN/2: XENO & OAKLANDER Round out the Halloween season with a little East Coast minimal wave, ehh? Sean McBride and Liz Wendelbo have shone a goth light, illuminating a new revival of synth and dark wave through their trademark sound of retro and futuristic attitude, constructed using analog synthesizer riffs and thudding, pulsating grooves, making that dark sparkle dance again. The play the three-day Substance Fest (see above) at Great American Music Hall, SF. More info here.

FOOD & DRINK
Tamara Palmer’s weekly Good Taste column tells you where to stick your fork. Sign up for the new Good Taste newsletter here!

THU/30: TRICK OR TREAT AT THE FERRY BUILDING Free, family-friendly trick or treating for the costumed will take place inside the landmark building. Find participating businesses by looking for signs in front of their respective spaces. RSVP here. Free, 4pm-6pm, 1 Ferry Building, SF. https://www.ferrybuildingmarketplace.com/

THU/30: DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS AND HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION AT MISSION COMMUNITY MARKET Thursday brings an extra festive edition of the seasonal weekly Mission Community Market at Bartlett and 22nd Streets, with pop-ups from ice cream impresario De La Creamery and Hayward indie cookie biz Tutuli Coyotas, family activities, and live music from Fil-Am songwriter Frances Ancheta. Free, 3pm-7pm, 84 Bartlett St. (at 22nd St.), SF

FRI/31: CHOTTO MATTE’S HALLOWEEN MENU + PARTY The fun downtown rooftop restaurant Chotto Matte, which serves stylish Nikkei Peruvian bites, will serve a one-day only Halloween-inspired à la carte menu called Kuro Yoru and then host a Tokyo Nightmare Lounge Party with the wonderful DJ Nina Sol from 8pm to midnight. The $50 party ticket price includes two cocktails. Make reservations here. 50 O’Farrell Street, SF

SAT/1: THROUGH SUN/9 FALL SF RESTAURANT WEEK The second of Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s annual week of food discounts returns this weekend. Almost 200 participating restaurants have the option of serving a two-plus item or course brunch or lunch for $10, $15, $25, $35, or $45; or a three-plus item or course dinner for $30, $45, $60, $75, or $90. Some of the best deals spotted: $15 lunch at Jane on Fillmore or Gumbo Social, $25 brunch at Brenda’s French Soul Food, $25 lunch at Piglet & Co. or Le Soleil Stonestown, and $45 dinner at Palette Tea House. More info here.

STAGE
Charles Lewis III checks out theaters and performance spaces every week for his Drama Masks column.

THROUGH NOVEMBER 1: TERROR VAULT’S HEXED Last chance to see! It’s safe to say that when Kat Robichaud welcomes you into a production that the show is more than likely to be enjoyable. I wasn’t expecting to see her as one of the goth-y ghouls inside Peaches Christ’s latest Hallowe’en horror, but an in-character Kat greeting we opening-night patrons was a good sign. This year has a much better balance of round-the-corner shocks and story details, making it much easier to follow the latter. The group I was with were invested in the story and paying attention to every noise, so they’d occasionally be pulled out of a scene by hearing another scene in the next room. Fortunately, there were plenty of rat-people and yetis to pull them back in. The San Francisco Mint. More info here.

THROUGH NOVEMBER 1: ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW Last chance to see! D’Arcy Drollinger and his gender-bending geniuses at club Oasis join forces with Ray of Light Theater to bring back this SF Halloween stage tradition on the 50th anniversary of the movie’s release. In tune with our times, the players have ramped up the naughtiness so the whole enterprise feels deliciously subversive—but also heartfelt and bittersweet, especially with Oasis closing at the end off this year. Dammit, Janet. More info here.

FILM
Dennis Harvey’s long-running Screen Grabs has tons more flicks to recommend.

NOW STREAMING: V/H/S/HALLOWEEN, the eighth feature in a V/H/S anthology series that began in 2012, is variable as usual but neither the best or the worst of its lot. This edition’s theme means there’s a lot of repetition—people go trick-or-treating or attend parties, then die horribly. The so-so wraparound material has unlucky volunteers taste-testing a new soda that has immediate, lethal effects. Probably best among the five individual segments are segments are the least snarky: [rec] series co-creator Paco Plaza’s Spanish-language “Ut Supra Sic Infra” finds police taking a sole survivor back to the site of a mysterious massacre, where unfortunately history repeats itself. The always-interesting Alex Ross Perry’s “Kidprint” finds a small town plagued by youth disappearances. It’s truly disturbing. Streaming on Shudder.

OPENS FRI/31: SPIKE & MIKE’S ANIMATION EXTRAVAGANZA Not exactly horror, but with plenty of deliberate grotesquerie for your delectation, is the latest Spike & Mike animation package, something which began in 1977 and began accruing a serious following once they launched the “Sick and Twisted” editions in 1990. The current approach appears to be a melding of prior ones, with some general-interest new ‘toons, a few revived golden oldies, and more new ones pushing the bad-taste envelope.  

NIGHTLIFE
Marke B. usually knows what’s up. Check out his club The Stud for more great Halloween parties.

THU/30: BEN KLOCK Major British techno champion being his ace stripped-down techno skills to plunge 1015’s Throttle party into the sweaty abyss. 9pm-3am, 1015, SF. More info here.

THU/30: KEN VULSION The DJ’s DJ who launched Honey Soundsystem back in the day, and whose fantastic selection always makes me feel smarter while working it out on the dance floor, is playing all night at new gay bar ZHUZH in the Polk. This is a nice one. 9pm-1am, ZHUZH, SF. More info here.

FRI/31: SQUISHOWEEN Terrific UK DJ Midland put out one of the albums of the year in 2024, and is finally in the US to show us what he’s been up to, amping up the Squish party’s always top-notch shenanigans, with  Laurel Halo, Jonny From Space, and more. 10pm-4am, F8, SF. More info here.

FRI/31: GREEN GORILLA LOUNGE HALLOWEEN Legendary party returns with legendary lineup: Doc Martin and Mark Farina, sure yo have you raving until the ghouls come up. 9pm-4am, Great Northern, SF. More info here.

FRI/31: HALLOWEEN WITH SAMA’ ABDULHADI Literally cannot praise this Palestinian techno star’s incredible talent enough, always showing us how to play tracks a new way. 9pm-3am, Public Works, SF. More info here. 

SAT/1: WE LOVE YOU, BOO! A HALLOWEEN-ISH BENEFIT FOR DISCO DADDY (AKA DJ BUS STATION JOHN) Our dear daddy of the decks, DJ Bus Station John, had quite a spill in SoMa last month, and was then robbed! A bunch of wonderful queers are coming to gather to boost his GoFundMe and raise money for his extensive hostpital and recovery bills, and to boost his spirits. Come and dance your keister off. 9pm-2am, SF Eagle. More info here.