St. Helens, the town 30 miles northwest of Portland where the 1998 Disney Channel movie Halloweentown was filmed, becomes a citywide Halloween party every October. Actors from the movie show up. Haunted houses, a vendor village, and oddities museum fill the town, and several scenes are restaged for photo ops. It’s great. Most impressive, perhaps, is the replica of the huge jack-o'-lantern from the movie—which is ceremoniously lit each night. It’s an all-day affair, but staged events turn up the block-party feel. Look out for the St. Helens Dancing Witches and drag duo Izohnny. Oh, and psychic, medium, and life coach Kathy Dering’s seance at the Klondike Tavern, “the most haunted hotel in Oregon.”

Half haunted house, half spooky bar, this three-nights-only pop-up party takes over the Old Pawn Shop, the historic building that hosts the 82nd & Woodstock Night Market. Organizers promise blood bag cocktails, syringe Jell-O shots, and enough ghoulish paraphernalia to make such beverages feel appropriate. 

OK, this one is a performance, but when it’s working right, a comedy show is basically a party. Portlanders Mack Lee and Ally J Ward (Willamette Week’s Funniest Person 2025) host a lineup of queer, trans, and nonbinary comics, including Jane Dillinger, Moisés Araguaney, and Gwen Rose, for a night of spooky laughs. Heckle at your own risk. “Wear a costume and you just might win a prize,” says the press release. 

A-ha from the “Take On Me” video. Madonna as seen in her “Like a Prayer” video. Run-D.M.C. or Aerosmith or both from “Walk This Way.” De La Soul, the Beastie Boys, OutKast. Guns N’ Roses, Nirvana. Again, Madonna. These are all costumes you could wear to Rev Hall’s music video–themed Halloween extravaganza, which takes over both floors of the music venue and adjoining Show Bar, blasting MTV’s greatest all night long. 

“Coven on Quads” is the best pun on this party’s flyer—witches and four-wheeled roller skates. They’re also calling the costume contest the “Monster Mash Skate Bash.” Expect various vendors, snacks, two roller rinks, a full bar, and everyone you meet ending their explanations of their costumes with “on roller skates.” Proceeds benefit the domestic violence shelter Raphael House of Portland. 

Holocene’s monthly throwback dance party—running strong for nearly two decades!—is playing necromancer this spooky season. That said, the party, fueled by tunes from the ’90s and the aughts, hews more pop-culture costume (calling out Hocus Pocus, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and Charmed) than truly saturnine occultism.

The Midnight has a kind of off-duty undertaker vibe all year, which makes it a natural spot to hang on Halloween. For Goth Christmas weekend, the bar and its basement event space are hosting a blood-tinged party, with live music from a triple banger of tribute bands: the Candy Oh’s (the Cars), Kiss Me Kiss Me Kiss Me (the Cure), Noise Annoys (the Buzzcocks). 

For 25 years running, the Portland Erotic Ball has lived up to its name. Burlesque dancers, aerialists, circus acts, contortionists, and stilt walkers fill all three floors of the Crystal Ballroom, one of which is devoted entirely to fetish and kink performances. The Blazers’ DJ OG One is on the bill, and drag superstar Sasha Scarlett hosts.