12 ways to get your fear on in Vancouver this Halloween

'Tis the season to get the crap scared outta ya, and Metro Vancouver has a lot of choices for those in search of a shiver or 12.

The biggest annual scare event in Vancity is Fright Nights at Playland, which opens tomorrow (October 9) and runs to November 1 at the PNE. Billing itself as "Western Canada’s most terrifying adult themed Halloween event", Fright Nights features seven haunted houses and 15 "fear-inducing" rides. Anyone who's ever been on that new giant-pendulum ride The Beast knows what "fear-inducing" means. I haven't been on it. I get scared just watching it.

Forbidden Vancouver's The Lost Souls of Gastown is described as "a gothic theatre adventure that pulls you so deep into the swirling lamplight and darkened alleys of Gastown’s murky past, you may have a hard time finding your way back out…" That doesn't include that time you got shitfaced at the Town Pump because the Beat Farmers were in town and spent the hours between 2 and 5:30 a.m. stumbling around Blood Alley in a scary alcoholic haze.

Ghostly Gastown Tours are 90-minute walking tours where participants "will learn about a town renowned for its wild west legacy of drinking, gambling, and harsh justice in the form of hangings." Whoa. I never know they used to string people up in these parts. Good thing Country Dick Montana wasn't raising hell back then. "The tour will appeal to those who crave a deeper look into the history of Gastown," reads the promo material, "as well as anyone who has an interest in the realm of the supernatural."

The Haunted Vancouver Trolley Tour kicks off this Wednesday (October 14), and runs nightly (except Sun.-Mon) through Oct. 31. It's a two-and-a-half-hour tour that departs Canada Place and visits "eerie locations" such as Stanley Park, Shaughnessy (scary millionaires!), Mountain View Cemetary (no pets allowed), and the Vancouver Police Museum. "You climb the stairs to the city of Vancouver’s first city morgue where over 15,000 autopsies have been performed," reads the bumph. "You never know if you will stumble onto another autopsy in progress…"

This year's Halloween shocks aren't confined to Vancouver proper, though. Potter's House of Horrors out in Surrey has been bringing the fear for 13 years now. Hell, just try clicking on its website without getting freaked out.

Halloween isn't all about getting spooked into Nightmareville, though--especially if you've got kids who want to get in on the action. The Ghost Train in Stanley Park--which opens tomorrow (October 9) and runs through November 1--is a 14-minute trainride with lights, sounds, and live performers playing classic horror characters. It includes "the Haunted Maze", face painting, and live music on select nights.

Another seasonal event that's light on scares and fine for kids is Halloween at FlyOver Canada, which runs from October 16 to November 1. According to the website, "guests have a chance to earn their official ‘Witch Academy Diploma’ as they make their way through the ‘Haunted Hallway’, and then onto the ride for a thrilling flight across Canada."

The Vancouver Halloween Parade and Expo is an "annual festival of arts, cosplay, films, comics, anime, games, toys, costumes, and makeup" that runs from October 15 to 18. It includes a family-friendly parade and live music, so should be fine for scaredy-cats.

Haunted houses and ghost tours are great, but a lot of folks experienced their first real scares through horror movies, and there's no shortage of scary flicks in line for Vancouverites this month--starting with tonight's showing of the slasher flick Friday the 13th at the Vancouver Police Museum. Movies in the Morgue also includes a screening of the Stephen King-spawned terror classic The Shining on Saturday night.

The Andean Horror Film Festival runs October 16-17 & 23-24 at the SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. It features films produced in the Peruvian Andes that are audiovisual adaptations of local folktales, featuring the Pishtaco (the foreign assassin), the Kharisiri (the evil shaman), and the Jarjacha (a part man-part llama demon). Yikes! Llamas!

The Shivers Film Society presents the 13-Hour Horror Film Festival October 24 at UBC's Norm Theatre. "13 hours of vampires, psychos, killer machines, bugs, chainsaws, eyeballs, giallo, and general friggin' mayhem!" promises the promo material supplied by local horror kingpin Vince D'Amato. He won't say which films he's gonna screen, but does say that he will be paying tribute to famed fearmonger Wes Craven, who passed away recently. As long as he doesn't go with My Soul to Take, we're good.

And the Rio Theatre is really stepping up with the fright flicks in the spirit of All Hallow's Eve. As well as the Halloween night triple bill of The Shining, Halloween, and From Dusk Till Dawn, they've got Deathgasm tomorrow night, The Editor on Sunday (October 11), and The Final Girls on Monday (October 12). The Final Girls looks like a real meta-hoot, along the lines of The Cabin in the Woods. Plus, you know, Malin Akerman. Check it out: