Scary how Halloween tension is already building

Oct 27, 2008 (The Miami Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- CAKE | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Halloween is two weeks away, but the spooky fun has already started in South Florida with haunted houses, ghost tours and fright-filled festivals for adults and kids alike. Halloween, which is on a Friday this year, is the best bet for thrills and chills, but there is plenty to do beforehand.

Here are some of the more promising events happening now and a few to plan on for Oct. 31.

EARLY FRIGHTS

ScareFest House of Horror takes over a portion of Miami's popular CocoWalk shopping center with 15 rooms on two floors; 20,000-square-feet of space filled with animatronics, flashing lights and ghoulish sounds.

Tickets are $20 Wednesday through Sunday nights at 3015 Grand Ave., Miami. Kids ages 7 to 12 can attend during Family Night, when they can tame scary ghosts by saying "Monster be good!" from 5-7 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays and 5 to 10 on Sundays. Call 305-803-7174 or visit www.scaremiami.com.

Fright Nights, which bills itself as a "collection of strange people, human oddities and freakish entertainers," takes over the South Florida Fairgrounds on select weekdays and weekends. It includes multiple haunted houses and Sick Flicks Cinema, an outdoor theater of classic horror films, plus a midway with rides and games.

Advance tickets: $10-$20 or $15-$25 at the gate. Open 6-11 weeknights and until midnight Friday-Saturday, Oct. 23-25 and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at 9067 Southern Blvd, West Palm Beach (enter at Gates 3 or 12). Call 561-793-0333 or go to www.southfloridafair.com/frightnights08.

Ghost Mysteries and Legends of Fort Lauderdale: Christian Rieger has organized 1 1/2 -hour tours along the banks of the New River for 3 1/2 years, where guides tote incense and amulets to bring out the paranormal, Rieger says. Find out which historic hotel is haunted and what riverside restaurant has spirits in its dining rooms. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and under and free for children 3 and under for tours that depart at 7:45 p.m. every night from outside the Museum of Art, 1 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-931-5957 or go to www.flghosts.com. Reservations required.

Fort Lauderdale Ghost Tour: This 1 1/2 -hour tour is led by John Marc Carr, founder of Southeast Florida Ghost Research and author of Haunted Fort Lauderdale. Also along the New River, the tour passes by the historical Stranahan House and the New River Inn, built in 1905. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for kids 12 and under and free for children under 5 for tours that meet at 8:45 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays by the Cheesecake Factory, 600 E. Las Olas Blvd. For reservations, call 954-290-9328 or go to www.fortlauderdaleghosttour.com.

Nightmare: Ghost Stories, New York's Most Horrifying Haunted House is an interactive 30-minute experience in Miami's Wynwood neighborhood, open till Nov. 1. Throughout 17 rooms, a cast of 20 acts out creepy, nightmarish experiences shared by New Yorkers in an online poll. There's also Nightmare: Old School (a haunted house with zombies and vampires) and Mortuary (a funeral parlor where the dead rule).

Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 at the door, $45 for VIP express entry (children 12 and younger not admitted without an adult, youngsters under than 7 prohibited).

Hours: 7-midnight Friday, Oct. 24, Oct. 30 and Nov. 1, 5-midnight Saturday and Oct. 25, 5-10 p.m. Sunday and Oct. 26; 7-10 p.m. Oct. 22-23 and Oct. 27-29; 4 p.m.-midnight Oct. 31. Closed Oct. 20-21. Soho Studios, 2136 NW First Ave.; 888-695-0888 or www.nightmaremiami.com.

Ghost Tours of Coconut Grove: Sandy Walker has led two-hour, 1 1/2 -mile walking tours of one of Miami's oldest neighborhoods for three years. "You walk in the paths of rum runners, pirates, buccaneers. . .and one very determined man," Walker says. The year-round tour is as much about history as about ghosts and that "determined man" is Ralph M. Munroe, a early settler who lived in The Barnacle, a historic home still intact today.

Tickets are $23 for adults, $15 for kids 12 and under. Tours meet at 7:50 nightly in front of Senor Frog's restaurant, 3480 Main Hwy., Miami. Reservations required. Call 786-236-9979 or visit www.ghostgrove.com.

Ghost Tours of Key West: This 12-year-old, 1 1/2 -mile lantern-led stroll through Old Town Key West takes ghost seekers on a walk past old buildings and grounds that are part-history, part-legend.

Tickets are $15 with reservations, $18 without reservations. Tour groups meet every night at 8 and 9 in the lobby of Crowne Plaza-La Concha Hotel, 430 Duval St. Call 305-294-9255 or visit www.hauntedtours.com.

Key West Fantasy Fest: The Halloween festival kicks off Friday night with a free Goombay street party in Bahama Village at Duval and Petronia streets that continues noon to midnight Saturday.

Check www.fantasyfest.net for a long list of events, including the famous Captain Morgan Fantasy Fest Parade, at 7 p.m Oct. 25.

COMING UP

MetroBoo! at Metrozoo: The weekend before Halloween, Miami Metrozoo invites kids ages 12 and under to visit in costume to participate in contests, crafts, watch performances and trick-or-treat. Zookeepers will be feeding tigers, elephants and chimpanzees Halloween treats like orange coconuts and edible scarecrows.

Tickets: MetroBoo, included with zoo admission, Oct. 25-26; $15.95; $11.95 (ages 3-12); free for under age 3. MetroBoo hours: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.; regular zoo hours 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m., 12400 SW 152nd St., South Miami-Dade. Call 305-255-5551 or visit www.miamimetrozoo.com.

Halloween Family Day at the Miami Beach Botanical Garden: Kids are encouraged to wear costumes for pumpkin carving and painting, crafts, a costume parade and games and treats.

Free, noon-3 p.m. Oct. 25; 305-673-7256 ext. 201 or www.mbgarden.org.

Treat or Treat on Second Street: Three Fort Lauderdale city blocks will be closed while kids trick-or-treat and play games during Halloween. The event is free.

Kids can pick up a "passport" at the Museum of Discovery and Science Grand Atrium -- and get free admission to the Gross-Out Science exhibit; Esplanade Park, where there are carnival games; the River House (transformed into a haunted house); or Fort Lauderdale Historical Society (with trick-or-treating). Once the passport has been stamped at each location, drop it in a box to win prizes including museum membership, sports lessons and fitness classes.

It's from 3-7 p.m. Oct. 31, Southwest Second Street between Fifth and Second avenues. Parking is $5 before 6 p.m. at the Arts and Entertainment garage on Southwest Fifth Avenue. Call 954-467-6637 or visit www.mods.org.

Anime Supercon: Expects lots of funky costumes at this convention for fans of anime and manga (Japanese comics), which kicks off on Halloween night with pumpkin carving, trick-or-treating and a late-night dance party.

Tickets $35 (three-day pass), $20-$25 (single-day pass); 4 p.m-3 a.m. Oct. 31; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 1; 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Nov. 2; Hilton Miami-Downtown, 1601 Biscayne Blvd., Miami; 954-882-2950 or www.animesupercon.com.

Monster Splash Nighttime Halloween Bash at the Miami Seaquarium offers haunted houses, trick-or-treating, rides, slides, a skeleton walk, nightly fireworks and more. Daytime visitors are invited to stay for the evening events.

Tickets $24.95; $21.95 for children 3-12; 5-10 p.m. Oct. 24-26 and Oct. 31, 4400 Rickenbacker Causeway, Key Biscayne; 305-361-5705 or www.miamiseaquarium.com.

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