October plans are officially getting weird.
Haunted houses. Witchy wine nights. Drag dinners. Tarot cards. Halloween pop-up bars. Spooky book fairs. And apparently an entire haunted pirate ship has washed ashore on the North Shore.
Whether your group wants to be genuinely terrified, make something cute while drinking wine, or simply put on a Halloween outfit and order an unnecessarily spooky cocktail, Pittsburgh understood the assignment this year.
Send this one to the group chat.
Here’s the spooky sh*t actually worth leaving the house for this Halloween in Pittsburgh.
If You Want the Full Halloween Experience
Halloween Hangout: The Plaza x ScareHouse
October 1st – 31st | The Plaza at North Shore
This Halloween, The Plaza is going off the deep end with ScareHouse.
The creative team behind Pittsburgh’s iconic ScareHouse has taken over The Plaza at North Shore for Halloween Hangout, a month-long Halloween destination with haunted experiences, movies, spooky tailgates, Haunted Happy Hours, themed food + drinks from SugarBird, family-friendly events and more.
And this isn’t just a haunted house that you walk through once and call it a night.
Free and ticketed experiences are happening throughout October, leading up to The Final Hangout on Halloween night, when The Plaza’s haunted pirate ship fully comes to life with performers, mysterious mermaids, ghostly sailors, live entertainment, themed food + drinks, immersive photo moments and a costume contest.
Basically: Halloween has its own headquarters on the North Shore this year.
Before You Go:
Check The Plaza + ScareHouse schedule before heading over since events change throughout the month and include a mix of free and ticketed experiences. Make a night of it with Halloween-themed food + drinks from SugarBird, and keep an eye on the calendar for Haunted Happy Hours, movie nights and the bigger Halloween weekend events.
🥟👑 Pierogi Princess Pick: This is the move when half the group wants spooky and the other half just wants a drink. Check the calendar before you go because different events are happening throughout the month.
Phantom Fall Fest at Kennywood
Select Dates Through November 1st | West Mifflin
You can do cute fall festival during the day. Or you can wait until the sun goes down and make questionable decisions involving roller coasters and people with chainsaws.
Phantom Fall Fest is back at Kennywood with 30+ rides and attractions, haunted houses and scare zones after dark. New for 2026, there’s also a Fall Fest Tasting Experience with seasonal food, beer and wine if your group’s idea of bravery is riding the Phantom immediately after eating a potato kielbasa skillet.
Do Halloween your way.
Before You Go:
Buy admission online ahead of time, especially if you’re planning a Saturday night. If food + drinks are part of the plan, add the Fall Fest Tasting Card: it’s $39.99 for five food or drink samples from locations around the Lagoon, including seasonal beer + wine and things like hot apple dumplings, maple cinnamon sweet potato fries and a potato kielbasa skillet. If your priority is fitting in as many haunts as possible, Kennywood also offers a Speedy Pass for select Phantom Fall Fest attractions.
If You Actually Want to be Scared
Hundred Acres Manor
Select Nights Through Early November | Bethel Park
For the friend who hears “one of Pittsburgh’s scariest haunted houses” and says, perfect.
Hundred Acres Manor’s 2026 haunt includes five themed attractions packed into one nearly mile-long walkthrough, plus a black-panel maze, midway games, food and plenty happening outside the actual haunt.
More importantly for girls’ night: there’s a Scream Bar by Cinderlands. It’s 21+, admission to the bar is free, and you don’t need a haunted-house ticket to get in.
So yes, one friend can voluntarily get traumatized while another waits safely outside with a cider.
We support women making their own choices.
Before You Go:
Tickets are date-specific, so grab them before rallying everyone to Bethel Park. If someone in the group is more “cocktail” than “chainsaw,” the 21+ Scream Bar by Cinderlands doesn’t require haunted house admission – meaning she can very happily volunteer to hold everyone’s purses.
Portals of Fear
Select Dates Through October 31st | West Mifflin
If your group wants less cute spooky and more why did we agree to this?, Portals of Fear is waiting.
The West Mifflin haunt has built its 2026 experience around a series of portals designed to tap into different fears with creatures, special effects and plenty lurking in places we’d personally prefer nothing to be lurking.
There’s also The Raven Room experience if apparently the regular amount of fear isn’t enough.
Do not volunteer to go first.
Before You Go:
Buy your haunt tickets ahead of time, or upgrade the night with The Raven Room experience, which has its own ticket and includes VIP parking plus one alcoholic drink for guests 21+. Regular Portals of Fear parking is free but off-site, so factor that into your arrival plan.
Zombies of the Corn
Select Dates Through October 31st | Freedom
Your group chat versus the zombie apocalypse.
Zombies of the Corn puts you aboard a specially designed Zombie Fighting Vehicle, hands you a paintball gun and sends you out to stop Pittsburgh’s zombie outbreak.
Up to 24 people can ride together, making this an especially fun option for a bigger group willing to fully commit to the bit.
There will absolutely be one friend who takes this way too seriously. Let her lead.
Before You Go:
This one is ticketed, so book your date before making the drive to Freedom – especially with a larger group. Dress for being outside, wear shoes you don’t mind getting a little dirty and maybe determine who your group’s apocalypse captain is ahead of time.
If You’re a Little Witchy
The Witches’ Girl Dinner Experience
October 15th | Joyful Commons, Homestead
The Cheese Queen said girls’ dinner, but make it witchy.
This one combines small bites + cheese pairings, Halloween candy pairings, wine tasting and the main event: creating your own spooky coffin charcuterie board. Come dressed as your favorite witch and prepare to take cheese significantly more seriously than necessary.
Only 25 tickets are available, so this isn’t one to leave sitting in the group chat for three weeks while everyone checks their calendars.
Before You Go:
Definitely reserve this one in advance: there are only 25 spots. Your ticket includes the small bites + cheese pairings, Halloween candy pairings, wine tasting and coffin charcuterie experience, so come hungry-ish and dressed as your favorite witch.
🥟👑 Pierogi Princess Pick: Cheese. Wine. Coffin-shaped charcuterie. No notes.
Witch & Sip: Paint Your Own Tarot Cards
Multiple Dates | War Streets Art Salon, North Side
Your craft night has entered its witchy era.
War Streets Art Salon is hosting candlelit Witch & Sip workshops where you’ll drink hot apple cider potions, pull tarot cards, explore their symbolism and then paint your own cards using guided intuitive painting techniques.
No artistic experience is necessary, complimentary hot cider is included and the event is BYOB. Basically paint-and-sip for the friend who owns crystals.
Before You Go:
Reserve your workshop date through War Streets Art Salon. Hot apple cider is included, but the event is BYOB, so bring whatever you actually want to sip while you paint. No art experience or tarot expertise required.
Tea & Tarot with Oh So Frilly
October 24th | Oh So Frilly, Sewickley
Tea party, but someone might also tell you about your future.
Oh So Frilly‘s Tea & Tarot brings together two things we didn’t know we needed in the same girls’ night: an elevated tea experience and tarot.
Come for the tiny cups. Stay to find out whether the cards think you should text him back.
Before You Go:
This is a reservation-required experience with limited seating, so book the group together rather than trying to add people later. Come ready for the full tea-party moment and perhaps emotionally prepared for whatever the cards decide to bring up.
Monongahela Aquatorium Witch Festival
October 17th | Monongahela Aquatorium
For the girls who would happily spend an afternoon wandering through oddities and curiosities.
The 8th Annual Witch Festival brings juried vendors to the Monongahela Aquatorium for a day of shopping, costumes, food, drinks and dancing.
Dress accordingly. Obviously.
Before You Go:
Costumes are encouraged, so don’t be afraid to commit to the witchy bit. Plan to spend some time shopping the juried vendors and grabbing food + drinks while you’re there. The organizers note that some vendors carry mature items and the event may not be ideal for little kids—which, frankly, sounds promising for us.
If You’d Rather Make Something Spooky
Brush Lettering + Pumpkin Lettering at Bakery Square
October 25th at 10:30 a.m. | Bakery Square
A crafty little Sunday morning for anyone whose Pinterest board gets especially aggressive in October.
Sip & Script is hosting a beginner-friendly brush lettering class where you’ll learn the basics and finish by lettering your own mini faux pumpkin.
The $70 class includes 90 minutes of instruction plus your own beginner brush lettering kit to keep, and food + drinks are available to purchase. No good handwriting required.
Before You Go:
Reserve your seat in advance; your $70 ticket includes 90 minutes of instruction, a beginner brush lettering kit and a mini faux pumpkin to letter and take home. Food + drinks are available to purchase at Bakery Square, so this could very easily become pumpkin lettering to brunch.
Haunted Village Halloween Cookie Decorating
October 20th | Bethel Park
Come decorate a spooky little village made entirely of cookies – which is considerably less stressful than visiting an actual haunted village.
Becca Bakes Cookies walks you through five Halloween designs, including tombstones, black cats, jack-o’-lanterns and haunted houses. Very cute. Very low risk of being chased by a clown.
No decorating experience necessary, and everything you need is included.
Before You Go:
Grab tickets ahead of time so everyone has a seat and decorating kit waiting. Everything you need for the five-cookie haunted village is included, so the only real preparation required is deciding whether you’re actually eating your tiny haunted house afterward.
If Your Love Language is Books
Spooky Book Fair
October 24th | Velum Fermentation, South Side
Remember the Scholastic Book Fair? Now imagine everyone grew up, developed a taste for dark romance and gained access to alcohol.
The 21+ Spooky Book Fair at Velum brings together local authors, indie bookstores and bookish vendors with horror, thrillers, dark fantasy, paranormal romance and plenty of other things you probably shouldn’t start reading alone at midnight.
There are also themed photo ops, friendship bracelet making, bookmarks, buttons, a glitter bar and other bookish crafts.
Book girls, this is your Super Bowl.
Before You Go:
Tickets are required, and this event has sold out in the past, so don’t wait until October 24th to make the group chat commit. You’ll choose either the 3 – 5:30 p.m. or 6:30 – 9 p.m. session when booking; one ticket does not cover both. It’s 21+, and Velum is a brewery, so grab a drink before you begin making financially irresponsible book decisions.
If You Want Dinner + a Show
Lola LeCroix Presents Drag Me to Dinner
October 13th at 7:30 p.m. | City Winery Pittsburgh
Brunch is dead.
Lola LeCroix is taking her signature City Winery drag experience into the dark for the first-ever Drag Me to Dinner: A Halloween Drag Dinner Experience.
Expect drag, dinner, cocktails and Halloween chaos all without having to wake up early enough to call it brunch. Frankly, we support this development.
Before You Go:
This is a ticketed City Winery show, so reserve your table ahead of time – especially if you want the whole group sitting together. Plan to actually make dinner part of the night: City Winery has a full food + wine/cocktail menu, so this can be the main event rather than just a stop before going somewhere else.
Haunted Horror Fashion Show
October 30th | Brookline
Spooky meets runway at this Halloween fashion show featuring eerie, edgy looks inspired by horror.
If your group would choose a fashion show over a haunted house every single time, congratulations: we’ve found your Halloween plan.
Come for the looks. Stay for the drama.
Before You Go:
Tickets are required, and the show runs from 6:30 – 11 p.m., so treat this as the night’s main event rather than a quick stop. Halloween looks are highly appropriate here. If there were ever a night to wear the thing that’s “too much,” this would be it.
If You’re Mostly Here for the Drinks
Haunted SPOOKeasy at Omni William Penn
October 2nd – 31st, Wednesday–Saturday | Downtown
The Omni William Penn’s hidden 1920s Speakeasy gets a darker makeover for October.
Head downstairs for the Haunted SPOOKeasy, where the already moody space gets taken over by eerie décor, Halloween-inspired cocktails and bites.
This is the move when you want Halloween ambiance without anyone jumping out from behind a wall.
Before You Go:
Plan to arrive earlier in the evening if you want a better shot at grabbing a table. This is one to order from the Halloween cocktail menu, settle into the speakeasy and stay awhile rather than treating it like a quick drink-and-run stop.
House of Burton 4Ever at Mixtape
October 1st – 31st | Garfield
Mixtape has officially entered the Tim Burton universe.
The bar’s month-long House of Burton 4Ever takeover transforms the space with immersive décor plus themed cocktails and mocktails inspired by the wonderfully weird world of Burton.
Go Wednesday or Thursday for drinks. Go Friday or Saturday if the group chat has decided we’re actually going OUT.
Before You Go:
Decide what kind of night you want before you go: Wednesday + Thursday lean more toward hanging out over themed cocktails and mocktails, while Friday + Saturday are the move if you’re looking for more of a late-night party. Either way, charge your phone, the décor is part of the experience.
Cocktails from the Crypt x The Haunting
October 9th – November 1st | Downtown
If your preferred Halloween activity involves significantly more cocktails and significantly fewer chainsaws, start here.
Pittsburgh’s Cocktails from the Crypt is back for 2026 and this year it’s joining The Haunting, a national Halloween cocktail pop-up filled with horror-inspired drinks and over-the-top spooky atmosphere.
Make the reservation. Wear the Halloween outfit you bought without having anywhere to wear it. Order something unnecessarily dramatic.
This is why October exists.
Before You Go:
Make a reservation rather than banking on a walk-in, especially closer to Halloween weekend. This is very much an order-the-weirdest-cocktail-on-the-menu situation, so don’t come here and get a vodka soda. Respect the assignment.
Witchy Wines at The Wine Library
October 28th, 6:30 – 8 p.m. | The Pennsylvania Market, Strip District
No spells required.
The Wine Library at The Pennsylvania Market is hosting a 21+ Halloween wine night filled with spooky sips, Halloween vibes and an extremely valid excuse to get dressed up on a Wednesday.
Whether you’re the friend who knows exactly what she’s tasting or the friend whose wine vocabulary consists of “I like this one,” you’re invited.
Before You Go:
This is a ticketed 21+ event with a set 6:30 – 8 p.m. window, so reserve your spots ahead of time. Make dinner in the Strip part of the plan before or after and you’ve basically built an entire Wednesday girls’ night without trying very hard.
BOOze Bar at Barry’s Pub
Open for the Halloween season | McCandless
Barry’s Pub does not believe pop-up bars should be reserved for Christmas.
Its seasonal BOOze Bar transforms the North Hills pub for Halloween with over-the-top décor and plenty of spooky-season drinks.
A solid option when Downtown Halloween traffic sounds scarier than the actual decorations.
Before You Go:
This one’s easier to keep spontaneous than the ticketed pop-ups, but check Barry’s current hours before heading to McCandless. Come for a seasonal drink and the over-the-top décor and maybe use it as your North Hills option when convincing everyone to go Downtown is absolutely not happening.
The Nightmare Bar
October 8–31 | Eleventh Hour Brewing, Lawrenceville
Halloween takes over Eleventh Hour Brewing for this 21+ pop-up experience combining themed cocktails, creepy décor, music, games and plenty of photo moments.
The experience runs for about 90 minutes and includes a welcome drink, so this is less random bar with a plastic skeleton in the corner and more Halloween is the actual activity.
Costumes are encouraged. As they should be.
Before You Go:
Book your 90-minute session ahead of time rather than treating this like a regular brewery visit. Admission includes a welcome drink, and the experience is 21+. Costumes are encouraged, so yes, this is permission to make the group chat pick a theme.
If You Want Spooky Without a Haunted House
Haunted Three Rivers Cruise
Fridays + Saturdays Through October 30th | Gateway Clipper
Pittsburgh ghost stories hit differently when you’re floating down a dark river.
Gateway Clipper’s Haunted Three Rivers Cruise takes you onto the water after dark for spooky Pittsburgh stories, creepy crewmates and tarot card readings while you sail the city’s three rivers.
Cruises are offered at 6:30 and 8 p.m., which makes this a very easy dinner / haunted boat / drinks kind of girls’ night. And nobody is chasing you with a chainsaw. We consider that a plus.
Before You Go:
Book the cruise in advance and pay attention to your departure time. Sailings are offered at 6:30 and 8 p.m. on Fridays + Saturdays. We’d personally book the 8 p.m., do dinner beforehand and leave room for a drink Downtown or on the North Shore afterward. Dress warmer than you think you’ll need to; Pittsburgh river air in October is not interested in your cute outfit.
If We’re Going OUT Out
Haunted Fest
October 30th | Stage AE, North Shore
For the girls whose preferred Halloween scare comes with a bass drop.
Haunted Fest takes over Stage AE on October 30 with electronic music, horror-inspired visuals, performers, costumes and full Halloween festival energy.
Book this one when the group chat says, “we want to GO OUT go out.”
Costume planning starts now.
Before You Go:
Get tickets before Halloween weekend and treat this like your actual night-out plan, not something you’re casually adding after dinner. Costumes are part of the fun, and since you’re already at Stage AE on the North Shore, check what’s happening at Halloween Hangout at The Plaza beforehand for a very easy spooky pregame.
The Group Chat Has Spoken
You don’t have to love haunted houses to have a very good Halloween in Pittsburgh.
Get chased through one anyway. Paint tarot cards. Drink wine dressed like a witch. Buy three books you absolutely don’t need. Decorate a pumpkin. Take a haunted boat ride. Watch drag over dinner. Order the drink with smoke coming out of it.
Or put on a costume, meet the girls somewhere spooky and call it festive.
October is short. Do something weird.
No backing out when someone chooses the haunted house.
🥟👑 Pierogi Princess Challenge: Send this guide to the group chat and let everyone pick one thing. Majority rules.
