October 22nd - October 28th Triangle 2015

by Pam & Michael Davison

Halloween is just around the corner! It looks like the weather is going to be awesome so whether you are looking for spooks and screams or science and music, have a great weekend! Feel free to go to the ParkGeek.com Events Search if you want to get an early view of the holiday events.

The fun starts Thursday! Head on over to the Halle Cultural Arts Center Thursday evening for Pizza and a Movie Night featuring the family favorite Hotel Transylvania.

Is Science Fiction Good for Science? will be the topic of Science Thursday at the Nature Research Center. The panel discussion will include three local authors; John Kessel, James Maxey and Josh Leone.

Thursday night, the Natural Science Center of Greensboro presents a Fright Light Laser Show on their 40 foot dome theater featuring a star studded soundtrack including the songs Thriller, Dead Man's Party and a Monster Mash.

Wake Forest starts things off early with a Halloween Spooktacular at Flaherty Park Community Center this Thursday. This year's festivities will include a costume contest, face painting and a cupcake walk, along with a variety of other ghostly games and activities, and free pumpkin giveaways.

You are invited to Thursday morning's Walk Your City Event along the House Creek Greenway. Come check out the new signage and enjoy the trail.

Leading up to Halloween

There are so many fun options for you and your little gouls and gobblins. Some of these events do have admission fees and many require pre-registration (and some sell out fast) so make sure you click through for all the information.

Koka Booth Amphitheater at Regency Park is getting in the spirit Thursday, Friday and Saturday with a Reel-ly Scary Cary Film Series . There will be both a Spooktacular Haunted Trail and Reel-ly Scary Cary Movies all three nights. Thursday night will feature "The Ring." Friday is "ParaNorman" and Saturday is "Frenzy." The Haunted Trail is recommended for ages 13 and up.

The Witches on Salem Street will be out in Apex for a Ladies Night of shopping, dining and fun Friday! Wear your witches hat while shopping and dining to receive special discounts at downtown Apex restaurants and businesses. Come back with the kids Saturday to Trick or Treat on Salem Street.

Mordecai Historic Park goes all out on Saturday with the Haunted Mordecai Free Festival and Haunted Mordecai Lantern Tours. Friday & Saturday nights this weekend and next Friday night they will be running Haunted Trolley Tours.

Morrisville Community Park will sponsor Trick-or-Treat the Trail on Saturday. The early portion of the evening will feature a family friendly trail with mild scares. Later in the evening the trail will become spookier, and is suitable for adults and children ages 10 and older.

Lurch, shamble or crawl downtown as the undead invade in a mindless, unceasing search for brains Saturday night for the Raleigh Zombie Walk starting at Moore Square.

Trick or Treat from Trunk to Trunk in downtown Holly Springs Saturday afternoon.

Head on over to the North Carolina Zoo this weekend and, in addition to the beautiful drive amongst the fall color, you can enjoy a weekend of Boo at the Zoo. The weekend will be full of trick-or-treat games, magic and storytelling, live entertainment and a children's costume contest.

Hear spooky legends, ghostly legends, and bit of mystery dramatized by Cary Players during Haunted Tales of Yesteryear Saturday night at the Page Walker Arts & History Center.

Friday night you can enjoy Stories Under the Stars at the Carrboro Town Commons with spooky music, ghost stories and a costurme contest. Saturday is a Spooky Movie Night over at the Carrboro Century Center. They will be showing Hotel Transylvania along with selling concessions.

Cary's Howlin' Good Halloween will bring festivities to the Performance Green in Downtown Cary Saturday. Join them for a Costume Dance Party, Cary's Great Pumpkin Carve and Family Friendly Halloween TV Specials. They will even have two sessions of a 3D Pumpkin Carving Class.

Also in Cary on Saturday, check out Herbert's Haunted House and take a spooky walk through the Cary Teen Council's house of horrors at the Herbert Young Community Center or brave Fright Fest at The Cary Theater. They will feature several spooky movies this week and Nosferatu with live accompaniment by Mallarme Chamber Players on Halloween.

Downtown Hillsborough's Halloween Spooktacular Saturday boasts carnival games, face painting, pumpkin bingo, and a cake walk along with a bounce house. This year you can purchase tickets and wristbands in advance. Stay downtown after dark to take a Spirits of Hillsborough Haunted Walking Tour.

Fun Fall Festivals!

The first ever North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences Open House will take place Saturday with opportunities to get up close and personal with a wide array of animals from the Museum's Living Collections, check out a 3D movie in the WRAL 3D Theater, and talk to Museum staff about everything from scientific research, education and exhibit design to marketing and citizen science.

Heart of Cary Association's Downtown Harvest Festival will bring an afternoon of Fall fun with carnival games, corn hole, bounce houses, food, and entertainment to Downtown Saturday afternoon.

This Saturday is Fall Contest Series at Sk8-Cary for Skateboard riders.

The North Carolina State Fair runs through Sunday if you haven't had gotten there yet. Thursday is Food Lion Hunger Relief Day and five cans of food will get you a free admission ticket.

Come join 14 local food trucks and 3 local craft breweries for an evening in Downtown Garner for a Trick-or-Eat Food Truck Rodeo Sunday.

Culture & History

Explore the inner workings of Historic Yates Mill and witness the power of water as it turns the milling machinery during a Saturday at the Old Mill Tour and on Sunday, a Mill Heritage & Local History Tour. Enjoy the last day to get out on the water Saturday to Paddle the Pond or have some Family Fishing Fun.

The Holly Springs Cultural Center kicks off the Discovery Series Friday night with Carlos Velasquez:: The Inuit: An Ancient Art Today & A High Arctic Adventure. Each month, a North Carolina artist takes the stage to spark your interest about the cultural arts through music, filmmaking, visual art, history, dance, and more.

Art in the Evening with the band Beauty World and College Night will kick off the weekend Friday night at the North Carolina Museum of Art. Starting Friday with College Night and carrying into a Family Fun Saturday, a BetaBox Workshop will give you the opportunity to use 3-D printers and laser cutters to design and create miniature works of art inspired by M. C. Escher.

Live & Local Music & Art on the Plaza continues this Friday night in Downtown Chapel Hill with singer/songwriter Jon Sebastian,

Historic Preservation Society of Durham volunteers will lead an Civil Rights Heritage Walking Tour through downtown Saturday morning focusing on many of the sites in downtown Durham that were important during the 1950s and 60s Civil Rights movement

The movie Monsters Inc. will be shown Saturday morning at the Holly Springs Cultural Center. Come back Monday morning for the film Casper.

The Hill Street Community Center will sponsor Creative Crafts throughout the Holidays. This Wednesday you are invited to make a Halloween craft.

Halloween Fun at the Parks

Lake Crabtree County Park invites you to join them Saturday for Creepy Crabtree! This free park wide event will investigate the darker side of nature. Join the freakish festivities, featuring scary scavenger hunts, creepy crafts,and gruesome games.

Join them at Harris Lake County Park Friday after the sun goes down as they are Going Batty! Come back Saturday for Super Spiders. Bring your camera Sunday to take a Fall Colors Photography Hike and Monday they will explore Catching and Cooking your own fish.

Friday night, come explore Spooky Birds like crows, owls and vultures with the rangers at Eno River State Park.

Owls will also be the focus Friday after dark at Durant Nature Park as they investigate Whoo's Awake?

Blue Jay Point County Park's Family Wildlife Series Program Saturday will celebrate Howl-o-Ween as you learn all about the reintroduction of Red Wolves into the NC and about the expansion of coyotes.

Its Pumpkin Time Sunday at Crowder District Park. Explore the uses of pumpkins, past and present, then study pumpkins inside and out.

Take a Full Moon Halloween Hike Tuesday evening on the American Tobacco Trail. Come as you are or dress up in your Halloween costume for a hike down the Trail by the light of the full autumn moon as you learn about and search for bats, owls and other nighttime wildlife.

Urban Forester Jennifer Rall will host a Fall Foliage Tour Wednesday morning and afternoon at Carroll Joyner Park.

In addition to all the Halloween events, there are more guided hikes this week at Prairie Ridge Ecostation for Wildlife Learning, Umstead State Park, Occoneechee Mountain and Annie Louise Wilkerson Nature Preserve