Halloween falls on a Wednesday this year, which means the weekend is jammed with holiday celebrations. If you're not sure where to start, here are three biggies in Harlem and beyond oozing with spooky spirit:
Friday, October 26, 7pm and 10pm
Few things set the Halloween mood better than gothic architecture, and this cathedral has it in spades. Making things even creepier is tonight's screening of the 1922 silent horror film "Nosferatu," accompanied by live organ music. The nave then welcomes a parade of goblins and ghouls courtesy of Ralph Lee and the Mettawee River Theatre Company. The whole thing starts all over again at 10pm.
Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm
Want to see what this year's largest pumpkin looks like? Head to the New York Botanical Garden, where the 2,528-pound gourd is on display through Halloween. Kids are sure to enjoy the Spooky Pumpkin Garden, filled with more than 100 scarecrows (apparently they're "friendly") and 1,000 rare and unusual pumpkins.
Sunday, October 28, 4pm-7pm
You've got two more days to find the perfect pumpkin and carve it into the scariest jack o'lantern ever for the annual pumpkin flotilla in the Harlem Meer. All the instructions for submitting your gourd are online (the most important: space is limited to the first 50 pumpkins, and no artificial decorations are allowed), then prepare to watch it float across the water–the flotilla is pulled by a witch–once dusk falls.
Top photo: Central Park Conservancy
