REGION — Halloween is no longer a kids-only celebration, and it’s not really confined to October 31 anymore.

Granted, this year the spooky holiday falls on a Tuesday—who set that up?—but the fun starts on the Friday before. 

Take a look.

Friday, October 27

Start in Sullivan County, NY, in Loch Sheldrake at 4 p.m. at SUNY Sullivan with the 10th annual trick-or-treat event. 

Attendees are asked to park in Lot 1.

The college is located at 112 College Rd.

Admission is free.

For questions, call 845/434-5750 ext. 4255.

Then move on to Parksville—with or without a dog—because that’s where the second annual HO&WL Halloween Trail Walk starts at 5:30 p.m. at the trailhead by Cabernet Franks.

You, your family and your leashed dog can hike the Parksville segment of the Sullivan O&W Rail Trail.

Participants will meet at the trailhead at Cabernet Frank’s, 38 Main St. 

Walkers and their families can wear costumes. 

Dogs, again, must be leashed. And please clean up after them.

“Come and join us as we stroll the trail corridor and be on the lookout for unique creatures trolling the trails under the full moon,” said Liberty supervisor Frank DeMayo.

Learn more about the HO&WL at bit.ly/SullivanHOWL or call 845/807-0531.

In the evening you can swing by New Memories, also in Parksville, for the first day of the Decrepit Ghouls variety show. It takes at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday.

The art center is located at 862 Parksville Rd. 

Costumes are encouraged, live music will be performed, and there will be food, monsters, mazes and more. The cost is $20 per person. Tickets are available at decrepitghouls@gmail.com.  

You’ll find the art center at 862 Parksville Rd.

Saturday, October 28

There’s plenty going on.

Clouds permitting, we’ll see a full hunter blood moon (there are likely no hunters—with or without blood—and space.com adds that the moon might look more brown than red). 

But even so! 

Consider Wayne County, PA, where it’s Halloween at the Cooperage in Honesdale, co-sponsored by the Wayne County Arts Alliance. The annual Halloween Bash starts at 7 p.m.

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The cost of tickets is $15 online and $20 at the door. The center asks that you BYOB, and you must be age 21 and older.

Group Du Jour will play, and you’ll find free fries and popcorn. There will be tarot readings (by appointment, and at the cost of a donation). There will be a costume contest and basket raffles.

Contest categories include the hottest costume, the best duo, the fiercest costume, the best group, the best handmade costume, the funniest and the most terrifying costumes, the most bizarre and the best overall costumes. 

All proceeds will support programming and events in the community.

The Cooperage Project is located at 1030 Main St.

Purchase tickets at www.bit.ly/3QxYs0V.  

Learn more about the Cooperage at thecooperageproject.org/, and find out about the Wayne County Arts Alliance at www.waynecountyartsalliance.org/.

Looking for something to do while you wait for the Cooperage to open? A train from Steamtown National Historic Site (NHS) will take you to Gouldsboro, PA—renamed Ghoulsboro for the day—for the town’s annual Halloween parade. The train leaves at 11 a.m. from Steamtown NHS in Scranton, PA.

Steamtown National Historic Site will offer a special excursion train to Gouldsboro, PA for the annual Halloween parade.

Bring your kids—they’re encouraged to dress in their Halloween costumes.

Tickets cost $35 for people aged 12 to 61, $30 for seniors age 62 and up, $23 for youth aged three to 11, and $1 for children from birth to age two.

To purchase tickets, visit www.bit.ly/3tKygXC. 

In Pike County, PA, at Milford’s Grey Towers National Historic Site, they’ve got something for fans of the jack-o-lantern: the carved-pumpkin display.

Fifteen pumpkins will line the carriage path, on view from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. 

For over 20 years, the Grey Towers volunteer horticulture team has been creating the pumpkins. 

At the same time, Grey Towers will host a dramatic reading of Edgar Allen Poe’s work. 

The ticketed Poe readings take place at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the Great Hall of the museum. 

Dramatic readings were a popular form of entertainment during the 19th century. 

The performers come from the American Readers Theatre. Tickets can be purchased at www.Greytowers.org.  

Over in Sullivan County,  the Town of Highland Lions Club will hold a Halloween penny social from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Shirley Reuter Community Center in Eldred. Doors open at 11 a.m. and calling starts at 1 p.m.

Or you can find a Halloween parade in Parksville at 1 p.m. on Main Street. Post-parade festivities will take place at New Memories, 864 Parksville Rd.

Adults can head off to the North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) in Highland Lake, NY, at 6 p.m., and dance to the music of time with other future ghosts.

Aerialists and dancers Hilary Chapman and Corinna Grunn will perform at NACL on Saturday, October 28.

Are we all future ghosts?

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NACL will join the artists of the Seasonal Affective Disorder Dance Party (SADDP) for “an immersive, participatory festival for your disembodied soul,” a spokesperson wrote.  All can dance in homage to “the ghosts we someday will be.” And don’t forget to wear a costume!

Refreshments—Kai’s Korean delicacies from the BiBimBus—will be available, and all can watch the moon rise (6:39 p.m.) from the deck. 

Dancing begins at 7 p.m. to the music of the Basic B*tches. Aerialist/dancers Corinna Grunn and Hilary Chapman will perform, and the future will be told by Calla Sun.

Tickets cost $20 (including one free drink), and proceeds benefit both the artists and the fund for producing more seasonal fare. 

Reserve a space at www.nacl.org. 

Sunday, October 29

Bethel Woods in Sullivan County will hold Halloween at the Woods from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at 200 Hurd Rd. It’s a free day of games, arts and crafts, costume contests and more. And afterward, attendees have access at a discount to the Peace, Love and Pumpkins trail. 

For more information, visit www.bethelwoodscenter.org/events.

Many thanks for the press releases sent to me, which formed the bones of this story.