This year, the high holy day that is Halloween falls on a Monday, so most of the clubs and live-music venues are getting their costume freak on a day or two early. So, get your costumes ready because there is a full weekend’s worth of parties, shows and other events in the area for a pleasantly fearful and freaky good time.
You can get full into character when Bucks County Playhouse presents “The Rocky Horror Show,” the musical that inspired the cult classic “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” through Oct. 30, 70 S. Main St., New Hope; 215-862-2121.
Get your Bingo dabbers ready for Zombie Homecoming Dance GayBINGO! 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at The Gershman Y, 401 S. Broad St.; aidsfundphilly.org.
The Borgata hosts a Hallowqueen Drag Show 9 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Music Box, 1 Borgata Way, Atlantic City, N.J.; 609-317-1000.
Tabu gets spooky with a Halloween Costume Ball hosted by Sutton Fearce 9 p.m. Oct. 29, 200 S. 12th St.; 215-964-9675.
Japanese all-girl pop-punk-rock trio Shonen Knife is in town this weekend and celebrating its 35th anniversary, performing 8 p.m. Oct. 29 at Milkboy, 1100 Chestnut St.; 215-925-6455.
Party with the Greater Philadelphia Flag Football League when it hosts its fourth-annual Halloween Party and Player Auction fundraiser with the theme of “A Night at the Movies” 8-11 p.m. Oct. 29 at William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St.; 215-732-2220. If you are still lusting after athletes after that, head over to Gryphons RFC’s Boos & Booze as the rugby team welcomes the Washington Scandals Rugby and the Baltimore Flamingos Rugby to The Bike Stop for a Halloween costume party, 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Oct. 29, 206 S. Quince St.; 215-627-1662.
Cutn Paste presents Hallowqueens, a queer Halloween takeover with performances by Quay Dash, Icon Ebony Fierce, Ann Artist and Pretty Girl 9 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Barbary, 951 Frankford Ave.; 215-634-7400.
Devil’s Night has some concerts on opposite ends of the spectrum. On the brighter alt-pop side, The B-52’s get the love shack (and rumps) a-shaking 8 p.m. Oct. 30 at The Fillmore Philadelphia, 1100 Canal St.; 215-625-3681. On the darker side of the rock spectrum, industrial-fetish rockers The Genitorturers sonically (and sometimes literally) spank that ass 8 p.m. Oct. 30 at Havana, 105 S. Main St., New Hope; 215-776-8293.
Back downtown, Henri David gets his annual Halloween Ball rolling 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Oct. 30 at Sheraton City Center Hotel, 17th and Race streets; 215-732-7711.
You can still have fun on Halloween night at some concerts. Indie-rock bands Foals and Bear Hands (we checked, no actual “bears” are in the group) get loud 8 p.m. Oct. 31 at the Electric Factory, 421 N. Seventh St.; 215-627-1332. Influential metal singer-guitarist and former Runaway Lita Ford rocks the house 8 p.m. Oct. 31 at Sellersville Theatre, 24 W. Temple Ave. 215-257-5808. At the Trocadero Theatre, the annual Dracula’s Ball features the only East Coast reunion of industrial-rock band Stabbing Westward, 9 p.m. Oct. 31; 215-922-6888.
Happy haunting!