Halloween Comes To Las Vegas

Halloween in Las Vegas? Many claim that it’s always Halloween in Las Vegas. On the Strip, befeathered showgirls, parades of tiarea-ed bachelorettes and costumed characters like Super Mario frolic daily among the gawking tourists.

It’s true that many Sin City attractions are spooky all year round. But Las Vegas gets extra made-up for Halloween. This year, revelers will put on masks to toast the death of COVID. The action can be found all over town, from the Strip to Downtown to the Arts District to Area 15 and beyond.

The party starts the weekend before Halloween, on a Monday this year. On Sunday, October 30, FREAQSHOW at the Cosmopolitan’s Marquee nightclub features Lil Jon doing a DJ set. Lil Jon may unleash a “sinister circus” on the dance floor, but the Marquee offers a sweet treat to the best-dressed guests: $10,000 in prizes.

At the Wynn, the epic 80’s band Duran Duran (“Rio,” “Hungry Like the Wolf”) is doing a Halloween show. “For the first time ever, Duran Duran will present a Halloween-themed performance in celebration of their love for the holiday on Oct. 31, 2022, incorporating haunt-inspired decor onstage and performing covers of Halloween classics alongside their beloved hits.” Guests are encouraged to attend in costume. However, “Costumes are subject to Wynn Las Vegas and Nevada Gaming Control Board restrictions.”

Area 15, an ultra-cool entertainment area just off the Strip, is a surreal destination 365 days a year, with a spinning, drinking ride, nouveau art, halls of lights and mirrors, indoor ziplines and spots like Lost Spirits Distillery. It has what Thrillist describes as a “turn-of-the-century carnival-meets-opium den aesthetic, burlesque dancers, snake charmers, contortionists, and magicians—should be on every human’s bucket list.”

Area15 is dressing up for Halloween this year as “scAREA15.” There will be music, DJs, costume contests and ‘experiences,’ such as an immersive viewing of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. The Friday night screening at The Portal will include live performers and immersive digital projections. On Saturday, scAREA15 will feature Gorgon City | Halloween Dance Party. Gorgon City, a performing duo of global dance movement pioneers, have sold more than 10 million singles. The event will include special guests, bands, roving performers and a costume contest. Thrillist says “think: EDC outfits with a spooky theme, lots of slutty pumpkins.”

On Saturday October 29, Sin City Halloween Ball kicks off with go-go dancers, top musical artists, fire breathers, aerial performers, and lasers. More on the sexy than the scary side, the 21 and over event at the Palms’ Pearl nightclub encourages costumes including fantasy and fetish wear like leather, lingerie, latex, rubber, and feathers.

If one Halloween Ball isn’t enough for you, Ticketmaster is offering three. In addition to the Sin City event, there’s the 15^th Annual Thriller 80’s/90’s bash on October 28 at Kaos (costumes requested) and the Living Dead Nightclub Afterlife on October 29^th. No nudity is permitted.

In downtown Las Vegas, the Mob Museum naturally has a speakeasy with a still in its basement. The Underground will be the site of a Halloween party on October 29 from 8pm to midnight. The theme is “Return to the Mad Decade” influenced by the horror films of the 1920s. Guests are encouraged to dress the part. The Dixie Flats jazz band performs starting at 8 p.m.

Halloween-themed seasonal cocktails will be available throughout the night for $12. These include:

· Ghost of Bloody Mary: Vodka, Clarified Tomato Juice, Horseradish, Beets

· Itsy Bitsy Sour: Pisco, Guava, Aperol, Lemon, Egg Whites

· Smashed Pumpkins: Bourbon, Pumpkin, Lemon, Soda

Better yet, admission (21+) is free with password “Jeepers Creepers”

And in the DTLV Arts District, the live show Particle Ink: Speed of Dark at 8PM on October 31 will be followed by a Lightmare Halloween party at 9:30. Particle Ink: Speed of Dark, described by theater experts as the “best thing in Las Vegas right now,” just announced its final extension through December 4.

Viewers of Speed of Dark visit the ‘2.5^th dimension’ with this immersive, mixed-reality experience. The show fuses live performances and street art with lighting, interactive animation, and other tech-driven special effects.

The theme of light and dark is perfect for Halloween and Day of the Dead. The Lightmare party will feature an open bar along with DJs and pop-up performances throughout the night. Guests are encouraged to wear “their most inky black Halloween attire.”

Also in the Downtown Las Vegas Arts District is Zak Bagan’s Haunted Museum. Open year-round, it’s perfectly creepy for Halloween. The museum, ideal for those obsessed by true crime reality TV, has a late-night flashlight ghost tour plus 30 themed rooms containing supposed objects like Dr. Jack Kevorkian’s “Death Van” and Charles Manson’s bone fragments.

And if you want to take something home to the kids, Nightmare Toys, also in the Arts District has Freddy and Halloween masks, dolls, Funko figures, clothes, costumes, action figures, toys and horror collectibles. After Halloween, its long-awaited Nightmare Café may finally host guys and ghouls.