Halloween fun is wrapping up in the valley with a number of spooky events on the calendar!
• Get your Halloween costumes ready for a spooktacular party from 9 p.m.-midnight, Friday, Oct. 26, at Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack. Tongue ’n’ Cheek will be performing live, and there will be cash and free play prizes for best costumes. Admission is free for those in costume; $5 for those not All masks and face paint must be removed before entering the gaming floor, and no real or fake weapons are permitted on the property.
• River City’s annual costume party is set for 9 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, with more than a dozen prizes and a cash drop. River City is located at 1400 Main St., Wheeling.
• Hey ghouls and goblins! You are invited to the Monsters’ Ball, Saturday, Oct. 27, at Vagabond Kitchen. The party kicks off at 9 p.m. with spooky jams, complimentary snacks, and Halloween-themed drink and food menus. Sport your most terrifying attire and have a chance to win gift cards for Vagabond or Hot Rod Tattooing. $10. $5 with costume.
• West Liberty University will celebrate Frankenstein’s 200th anniversary with a film festival Oct. 28-30 with all films beginning at 6 p.m. at the Elbin Auditorium in College Hall. Each night will feature a film adaption of the classic horror film followed by discussion. Prior to the screening of each film, Chris Lee, WLU associate professor of communications, will speak about historical and cultural contexts for the film. The film nights and titles include: Oct. 28, the original film adaptation of Frankenstein (1931), starring Boris Karloff; Oct. 29, Mel Brooks’s Young Frankenstein (1974), starring Gene Wilder; Oct. 30, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994), starring Kenneth Branagh.
• Learn the details of Mary Shelley’s life from her own mouth at the Ohio County Library Lunch With Books program at noon, Tuesday, Oct. 30. Living historian Susan Marie Frontczak will perform an in-character monologue followed by an in-character Q&A and a Q&A session as a historian. Frontczak is one of only two Mary Shelley living historians in the United States. www.ohiocountylibrary.org
• Check out one of the scariest places behind bars. Get lost in the maze and experience the terror of an eerie walk through the Dungeon of Horrors at the West Virginia Penitentiary in Moundsville. Dungeons of Horrors, North Walk and Kids’ Night. 304-845-6200; wvpentours.com/events/halloween-specials/dungeon-of-horrors
• This weekend is the last chance to head out to Boo at the Zoo at the Oglebay Good Zoo in Wheeling! The event is set for 6-8:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26, and 4-8:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, and Sunday, Oct. 28. Children are encouraged to dress in costume as they experience trick-or-treat stations, a spooky train ride, zoo animals and other family-friendly entertainment. Admission also includes access to an eight-minute, scare-free LASER show at the zoo’s Benedum Theater. This must-see show features the music of Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash” and Oingo Boingo’s “Dead Man’s Party.” This year, a new Haunted Hayride attraction will take guests on a spooky journey through the Good Zoo’s haunted scarecrow patch! Limited Haunted Hayride seats are sold exclusively online. Boo at the Zoo admission and train ride tickets can be purchased online.
• How about some Extreme Bingo with a Halloween theme at the YWCA, Friday, Oct. 26. Doors open at 5 p.m.; bingo at 6:30 p.m. There will be black lights, music, snacks, pull tabs, raffles and more. 1100 Chapline St., Wheeling; 304-232-051
• Wear your Halloween costume Friday, Oct. 26, through Sunday, Oct. 28, to the Children’s Museum of the Ohio Valley and get a treat! Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. 1000 Main St., Wheeling; 304-214-5437
• Grab your favorite costume and race over to Oglebay for a spooky Halloween-themed Thrill on the Hill 5K Fun Run, 9 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. Race day registration ($20) takes place at 8 a.m. at the main entrance of Oglebay Good Zoo. The race will begin and end in the upper parking lot of the Good Zoo. The race course will consist of the Susan Wheeler and Arboretum trails weaving throughout the park. This hard-surface course is stroller friendly. Dogs are encouraged to participate but must remain on a leash at all times. Prizes will be awarded. Registration, which closes at 11:55 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 25, is available online.
• Trick or Treat Around Town (all are Oct. 31 unless otherwise noted)
Benwood, 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Bethany, 5-7 p.m.
Bridgeport, 6-7:30 p.m.
Brookside, 4-6 p.m., Oct. 27
Clearview, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Glen Dale, 6-7:30 p.m.
Martins Ferry, 6-7 p.m.
McMechen, 6-7 p.m
Moundsville, 6-7:30 p.m.
Shadyside, 6-7:30 p.m.
St. Clairsville, 6-7:30 p.m.
Triadelphia, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Valley Grove, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Warwood, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Weirton, 6-8 p.m.
Wellsburg, 6-8 p.m.
Wheeling, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
READ MY LIPS
A Special Wish Ohio Valley will a Lip Sync Challenge in the Ohio Valley on Saturday, Oct. 27, at the Wheeling Island Hotel-Casino-Racetrack Showroom. This one-of-a-kind fundraising event kicks off with Travis “The Terror” Clark as emcee, and guests will jam to the beat of DJ Reggie Rock-It. The challenges include: David Blomquist vs. Corey Klug; Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger vs. Christy Schwertfeger; and Scott Connors vs. his sister Joelle Moray. $25. Doors open at 6 p.m., a pre-show event at 6:45 p.m.; show at 7 p.m www.spwishov.org
QUIET THE HORSES
Gallop on over to Towngate Theatre for “Quiet the Horses,” an evening of story and song with some of the Ohio Valley’s most prolific songwriters and musicians, at 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27. Joe Zelek, Matt Heusel, Adrian Niles and Michael Iafrate will each perform solo sets, leading up to a full set performed together in the round. Guests can expect an evening of passionate, powerful and poetic rock and roll that blends Americana, indie-rock, soul and blues. $10. 304-242-7700; www.oionline.com
NAILED IT
Nail City Record is celebrating its first anniversary and official grand opening at its downtown location with a number of events beginning with a ribbon cutting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 25. From 6-7:30 p.m. Oct. 25, enjoy “The Elephant Awakens” — a promo event for Saturday’s “Quiet the Horses” concert at Towngate Theatre, with Joe Zelk, Adrian Niles, Matt Heusel and Michael Iafrate. The Elephant Awakens will be a Q&A series and acoustic set with the local musicians. At 6 p.m., Oct. 26-Oct. 31, Nail City hosts Sales from the Crypt with “spooky good sales” and a trick or a treat with purchase! It’s Record Swap Saturday from noon to 1:30 p.m. on Oct. 27. Hear Pocket Vinyl and Weird Lightning perform in the Landwehr Listening Lounge from 8-10 p.m. Monday, Oct. 29. Top three best musician look-a-likes will win prizes. Special guest Chad R. of Lunaris Records, an independent record label from Pittsburgh specializing in horror and cult film soundtracks, will offer anecdotes about the business of horror soundtracks as well as spinning some of his favorite soundtracks, from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 30. On Wednesday, Oct. 31, there’s a Halloween Horror Movie Marathon with popcorn compliments of Mmm … Popcorn. Hundreds of classic horror titles from which to choose will be available in two rooms. Movies from 7 p.m. to whenever! Nail City Record is located at 40 12th St., McLain Building, third floor. 304-281-1188; www.nailcityrecord.com
A MIRACLE
The West Liberty University Hilltop Players’ production of “The Miracle Worker” continues onstage at Kelly Theatre at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 25-27, and 3 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 28. The play is directed by Maggie Vos Balsley, a member of the WLU theater faculty. “The Miracle Worker” first premiered in 1959 as an adaptation of “The Story of My Life,” an autobiography by Helen Keller. The play reveals the struggles and successes of Helen and her marvelous teacher, Annie Sullivan, and takes place during the 1880s in Tuscumbia, Ala., where a young Helen Keller becomes overwhelmed by tantrums and rage after a disease left her deaf and blind. On the verge of being sent to an institution, the Kellers reach out to Sullivan from the Perkins Institute for the Blind. Annie soon begins to work with Helen, teaching her how to communicate and turns her life around. Tickets available online. For more information, email maulick@westliberty.edu.
LEGENDARY PIEDMONT
As the leaves fall and the crisp fall air sets in, it is a fitting time to rediscover the reds of Italy’s legendary northwest Piedmont region — Barolo, Barbaresco, Barbera and Dolcetto. The wine tasting at Good Mansion Wines is set for 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 26. The evening will start off with the region’s beloved white Arneis followed by a light and rose-like red Grignolino wine. The evening will finish with a sweet sparkling Brachetto. Served with Piedmont cheeses and baguettes. $15 at the door, no reservations needed. www.goodmansionwines.com
FESTIVAL OF BOOKS
The Upper Ohio Valley Festival of Books will present several events on Saturday, Oct. 27. At 1 p.m., a panel discussion addresses “Mared & Karen: The WVU Coed Murders,” hosted by journalist J. Kendall Perkinson. At 2 p.m., hear about the Sister Roberta Elam mystery. Elam, a 26-year-old Postulant nun, was raped and murdered on the grounds of Mount Saint Joseph’s Convent in the middle of the day. The case remains unsolved. A workshop about choosing, investigating and telling local stories is set for 3 p.m.
