With Halloween around the corner, UMD students will be taking to the streets of Duluth in search of ways to spend their next holiday. However, with the William A. Irvin still out of Canal Park in repair, the Haunted Ship that is often students’ first destination in October will not be available.

Some students may feel that their October fun in Duluth may be at risk of fading away faster than the ghosts they hoped to see on the freighter’s deck and halls. 

Duluth, however, is full of other ways for students and faculty alike to celebrate the scariest of holidays.

Dracula and The Rocky Horror Picture Show at The Duluth Playhouse

The Duluth Playhouse will be adapting two classic Halloween season shows for those looking to spend their night at the theatre. The playhouse will be playing “Dracula” from Oct. 3rd to 19 at 7:30 p.m. each night.

Directed by Justin Peck, the Duluth Playhouse describes the adaptation on their site, saying it “restores the suspense, seduction and gothic horror of Bram Stoker’s classic novel to the stage… This heart-pounding thriller paints a wickedly theatrical picture of Stoker’s famous vampire.”

The Playhouse will also host an adaptation of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” which will premiere on Oct. 30 at 7:30 p.m. 

Based on the 1975 horror-comedy musical of the same name, the theatre form of the musical has become equally as popular across the country. It’s found its way to modern popular media, ranging from an episode of “Glee” to a 2016 televised remake called “The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let's Do the Time Warp Again.” 

The Playhouse’s website notes that the adaptation will include many of the unique choices that have made “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” so popular. 

“The cult-classic returns with actors bringing the characters off the screen and into the theatre,” The Playhouse explains. The performances will use, “live, lip-synching performances, prop bags, and audience interaction.”

The Great Pumpkin Train

The Northshore Scenic Railroad will be host to a Halloween themed ride named the Pumpkin Train Express. 

A ticket for “The Great Pumpkin Train”, as it’s called on the Northshore Scenic Railroad website, is $20, with a $18 ticket available to kids for the Oct. 20 Sunday trips.

The 10-mile round-trip, marked at one and a half hours, will take place from Oct. 17 to 20 with departure times of 10 a.m., 11:20 a.m., 12:50 p.m., 2:20 and 3:50 p.m.

The trip will partner a scenic journey along the north shore with Halloween music, magic shows, Halloween movies and other activities. On top of that, partakers will be given a chance to pick out pumpkins from a specially prepared pumpkin patch.

Films to Watch

There are plenty of options for thrill seekers to take advantage of at the movie theater. In addition to some September releases, like It Chapter Two, which will carry over into October at some venues, several horror, thriller, and otherwise Halloween-related films will be coming out this month.

The dark and R-rated “Joker,” inspired by the DC Comics villain, comes out on Oct. 4, while the more family friendly “Addams Family,” an animated rendition of the classic haunted family, comes out on Oct. 11.

The comedic “Zombieland: Double Tap,” a sequel to the 2009 cult classic, will come out on Oct.  18, the same day as “The Lighthouse,” a black and white horror film and period piece starring Robert Pattinson and Willem Defoe.

The films above, and many others soon to come, range from R-rated Oscar contenders to family friendly affairs but all will provide Halloween lovers a unique way to celebrate.

Local theaters include the Marcus Theater in Canal Park, the Zinema at the Zeitgeist building, the West Theater in West Duluth and Lakes Cinema in Hermantown. Ticket information can be found online at the websites for each theater.

Editors note: A previous version of this article discussed visits to Nopeming. It has since been announced that Nopeming will not be open this year and that portion has been removed.