Halloween’s spooky and often mysterious atmosphere can be the perfect setting for a cuddly date night. Whether you’re clutching your partner in a haunted house, getting lost in a corn maze, or taking cute selfies along an illuminated pumpkin trail, there are plenty of options for a spooktacular date night in and around Minneapolis Northwest.

1. Halloween Haunt at ValleySCARE

Fridays and Saturdays, Oct. 2 - 31, 2021

Fear and fun are waiting for you and your date at ValleySCARE’s Halloween Haunt with thrills and chills to last all night. The usually bright amusement park transforms into the upper Midwest’s most terrifying Halloween attraction with more than 75 rides, haunted mazes, walkway scare zones and monsters prowling the park. Get lured into the Blood Suckers Brew Bar and get a taste of tempting beer, wine, mixed drinks and tasty snacks. If you want a dinner date, head to the Blood Suckers all-you-can-eat buffet for a Haunt-themed dinner experience. Afterward, you’ll have no choice but to clutch each other when you wander through a number of haunted houses with dank smells and mysterious sounds…and creatures!

2. Twin Cities Harvest Festival & Maze

Open daily, Sept. 18 - Oct. 31, 2021

Looking to get in the Halloween spirit without the blood-curdling screams? Make a day date out of the charming Twin Cities Harvest Festival & Maze, which shows off one of the state’s largest corn mazes! Each year, the maze is designed with a different theme in mind; this year it celebrates the nearby University of St. Thomas. Meander through the maze and put your heads together to tackle the maze trivia and win prizes. Stay warm with hot chocolate or apple cider and split a bag of fresh mini donuts while listening to live music on the grounds. End your date with a friendly competition at the Pumpkin Slinger! And on your way out, take home a pumpkin from the patch to design and carve together. 

3. Minnesota Zoo Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular

Oct. 1 - Nov. 7, 2021

Snap the perfect selfie with your date against a backdrop of thousands of lighted pumpkins at the Minnesota Zoo’s Jack-O-Lantern Spectacular. Stroll hand-in-hand through the Pumpkin Promenade, a fall wonderland of 5,000 pumpkins of different sizes, shapes, faces and designs, creatively carved from ground to tree-top. LED lights ensure the pumpkins never go dark. Throw in the delightful musical vignettes and fog, and you’ve got a truly boo-tiful date night. The entire experience is outdoors, rain or shine, so dress comfortably – matching flannels, perhaps? 

4. Walking Ghost Tours and Anoka Halloween

Select dates Oct. 2021

Discover the history and experience the mystery of the Ghosts of Anoka Walking Tours! The historic city of Anoka brings about costumed guides to lead groups through old neighborhoods where odd happenings and eerie encounters occur every year. Catch a glimpse of the rocking chair that rocks with nobody in it and window displays that change on their own. All tours originate at the Anoka County History Center. Get tickets to view available dates and times. 

Famous for being the official Halloween Capital of the World, Anoka Halloween offers lots of activities throughout October. Don a couple’s costume and partake in the 35th annual Gray Ghost 5K Run & One Mile Fitness Walk on Saturday, Oct. 30. Awards will be given to the best five individual and group costumes. Dress as 20’s flappers or gangsters, Mario and Luigi, zombies, pirates or skeletons. Get creative! 

5. Como-Harriet Streetcar Line Trolley Rides

Select dates Oct. 2021

Step aboard one of the unique Como-Harriet Streetcar Line Trolleys during October for special Halloween themes. The Graveyard Ghost Stories trolley ride on Friday, Oct. 22, features well-known Twin Cities storytellers reading classic ghoulish tales in the dark as you pass by local cemeteries. (Note: This event is one night and one show only.) Then there’s The Late Show: The Car Barn Murders, a ride not recommended for children or the humor-impaired! This trolley ride uncovers little-known chapters in streetcar history…with something slightly off. What could go wrong?

6. Twin Cities Horror Festival

Online: Oct. 21 - 24, 2021
In-person: Oct. 28-31, 2021

You’re guaranteed a fang-tastic date night when you take in an original terrifying show during the Twin Cities Horror Festival at the Crane Theater. This ultra-cool cult event features 11 days of onstage horror expressed through theater, dance, music and film all delivered by performers dedicated to the macabre. The shows are delightfully perverse and epic in their storytelling. See a play inspired by Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein and other monsters, witness unimaginable horrors in space, and explore the wicked line between infatuation and obsession. 

7. 4th Annual Halloween Bar Crawl

Saturday, Oct. 30, 2021

If you and your date are the partying type, hit up the 4th Annual Halloween Bar Crawl in Minneapolis! Check-in at Pourhouse Downtown between 4 - 6 p.m. and enjoy the crawl to these other great bars: Brothers Bar & Grill, Gluek's, Sneaky Pete's, The Brass Rail, The Exchange, The Gay 90's, and an after-party at Wild Greg's Saloon. 

8. First Avenue Halloween Party and Costume Contest

Sunday, Oct. 31, 2021

Looking for a wild date night at the hottest Halloween party in town? Look no further than the legendary music club First Avenue in Minneapolis. Each year, First Ave’s Halloween bash brings down the house with an epic costume contest with $1,000 in cash prizes. Impress your date with your creativity or come up with a couples’ costume together. Take advantage of drink specials as you dance the magical night away to multiple DJ’s, including DJ Espada, DJ Keezy, DJ Smitty and more. This is arguably the best Halloween party in the Twin Cities!

9. Canine Costume Party

Friday, Oct. 29, 2021

If you or your date have a dog (or are simply dog-lovers), spend the Friday before Halloween at the Canine Costume Party at OMNI Brewing Co. Is there a better date than sipping quality craft beers, enjoying food from Peppers and Fries, and watching dogs in costume wiggle-waggle around the patio? The heated tent will also be open, so you're guaranteed to stay warm. Though feel free to bring a blanket and cuddle up for this unique date night. 

10. Haunted Basement Bar

Select dates 2021

You'll be one cool ghoul when you treat your date to a night of fancy Halloween cocktails and eats at the Haunted Basement Bar at Travail Kitchen & Amusements! Travail teamed up with the horrifically talented Haunted Basement to set the stage for an all-new lineup of curated cocktail flights and a la carte eats based on horror movie classics. A drink flight must be purchased in order to attend. The lighter, citrus-forward cocktails include BirdS.C.R.E.A.M., the Toki Eyeball, and An Old Addam's Family Recipe; the bolder drinks include A Bloody Old Fashioned, 5 Candy Men, People Under the Stairs, and Final Nightmare. Then there are extra goodies like Leaky Cauldron Butter Beer and Candy Corn Jello Shots. Come hungry for an all-new 10-course, small-bite, Halloween-themed tasting menu featuring salmon, red wine chicken, beef tartare, tortellini, chocolate cake and lots more.

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