Things to do in Omaha in October 2026: the grown-up Halloween guide

Published September 22, 2026 · HMNTY — Find things to do. Meet people who go.

October is the one month Omaha doesn't need selling. The weather finally cooperates, every bar in town puts up a pop-up, and there is a rooftop showing Scream on a Thursday for free. The problem isn't finding something to do. It's that October has five weekends, most of them are already spoken for, and the good stuff sells out or ends before you've texted anyone about it.

So here's the month, sorted the way you'll actually use it: the things running all month that you can drop into any night, then the dated events week by week. Most of what's below is adults-only, because most Halloween guides for Omaha are written for parents and this one isn't.

Dates and prices were checked September 22 against organizer listings. October events change; confirm before you drive.

Running all month: pick any night

Free movies, four different ways. Little Riot's rooftop in Benson (6201 Maple) runs Fall Movie Nights every Thursday at 7:30, free, 21+: Beetlejuice on the 1st, The Nightmare Before Christmas on the 8th, Scream on the 15th, Hocus Pocus on the 22nd, Halloween on the 29th. Ditmars Orchard across the river does free Friday screenings at dusk (Hocus Pocus Oct 2, Ghostbusters Oct 16, Beetlejuice Oct 23). Film Streams On The Green at Sonny's in the Builders District has Death Becomes Her Oct 12 and The Witches Oct 26, free, pre-show at 6:30. And Falconwood Park in Bellevue runs Fright Nights outdoors for $6 (Monster Squad Oct 8, Hocus Pocus Oct 22, Nightmare Before Christmas Oct 29). If you want a plan that costs nothing and needs no reservation, this is it.

The Halloween pop-up bars. Three this year. Boos on Q at Tavern on Q (18010 R Plaza) runs through Oct 31 with themed nights and photo spots. Black Lagoon at Nite Owl (3902 Farnam) runs Sept 30 through Nov 1, the more cocktail-serious of the three. Fizz to the Future at Fizzy's Fountain & Liquors (1408 S. 13th) opens Oct 2 with a DeLorean parked out front from 5 to 7, and runs through Nov 1, 21+. Pop-up bars are the easiest low-commitment plan in the city: nobody needs a ticket, you can show up at 8 and leave at 10, and the decor does the conversational work for you.

Haunted houses. Scary Acres in West Omaha is open Wednesday through Sunday in October: 7 to 10 on Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday, 7 to midnight on Friday and Saturday. Three attractions (Master's Castle, House on the Hill, Haunted Woods) at $35 for the combo, or $11 to $15 each. Bellevue Berry Farm turns into the Ranch of Terror after dark, with a haunted woods and a zombie jail. A haunted house is the single best thing to do with people you've just met: forty minutes, everybody screaming at the same thing, no small talk required.

Wicked Plants at Lauritzen Gardens, Oct 3–31, included with admission. A whole exhibit of poisonous, carnivorous and otherwise disreputable plants. Good daytime option when the weather turns.

Pumpkin patches, if you haven't gone. Vala's Pumpkin Harvest Festival runs Oct 1 through Nov 1; Skinny Bones' Fall Festival Oct 2 through Nov 1. Our full fall guide covers every patch, orchard and corn maze within an hour. The short version: go on a weekday if you can, and go early in the month.

Evil Dead: The Musical at Omaha Community Playhouse, Oct 2 through Nov 8. A splatter zone. Bring people who will find that funny.

Week by week

### October 1–4

The Omaha Zombie Walk is Saturday the 3rd in Benson. Makeup starts at 3 p.m. ($5), the walk starts at 5, costume contest after. Theme this year is "horror movie." This is the kind of event where showing up alone is fine because nobody is really alone at a zombie walk.

Highly Spirited in the Midwest at Joslyn Castle is Friday the 2nd (and again the 24th), 9 to 11:45 p.m., $45, 18+: a history presentation, then split into groups for a paranormal investigation of the castle with a bar open all night. Sells out.

The downtown Farmers Market wraps its season on Saturday the 10th, so the 3rd is your second-to-last chance.

### October 8–11

Legends & Libations: Scary on the Prairie, Joslyn Castle again, the 8th and 9th, 7 to 11 p.m., $40 with three drinks, 21+. Six storytellers and a guided tour.

Blood Ball: A Vampire Masquerade at The Sydney in Benson, Saturday the 10th, 9 p.m. to midnight. Burlesque, a DJ, costumes strongly encouraged. $15 advance, $25 door, 21+.

Heartwood Fall Festival, the 10th and 11th, noon to 6, free. Pumpkins to decorate, giant pumpkin sculpting, bingo, putt-putt. The most low-key thing on this list.

### October 14–18

Zootacular at the Henry Doorly Zoo starts Wednesday the 14th and runs the 16th–18th, 23rd–25th and 30th, 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. The zoo after dark, with live entertainment and animal encounters. It's billed as all-ages, but the zoo at night in October is a legitimately good adult plan.

The Old Market Witches Walk is Sunday the 18th. Meet at 13th and Howard at 3 p.m. for a group stroll to 10th Street, costume contest included. Free, and about as easy as Omaha events get.

Camp HullaBOOloo at Falconwood Park, the 16th–18th, is the 21+ camping weekend with costumes, campfires and crafts. Tent, RV or glamping, all meals included.

### October 22–25

The strongest weekend of the month.

Durham After Dark, Thursday the 22nd, 6 to 10 p.m., 21+. Live entertainment, tarot readings, and a tour of the museum's haunted trains.

Spooky Spirits at Lauritzen Gardens, Friday the 23rd, 6 to 10 p.m., $30 advance with one drink, 21+. Themed cocktails in the gardens, live entertainment, eerie games.

Boos & Brews at The Dubliner, Saturday the 24th, 8 to 11 p.m., $25. Live music, costume competition, proceeds to Midwest YouCan. Same night: Halloween Havoc at Reverb Lounge and Latino Landia: Halloween Edition at The Waiting Room, both in Benson.

The *Omaha Symphony plays The Nightmare Before Christmas live* at the Holland Center, Saturday the 24th at 7:30 and Sunday the 25th at 2.

Highly Spirited at Joslyn Castle repeats Saturday the 24th if you missed the 2nd.

### October 29–31

Edgar Allan Poe Speakeasy at Founders ONE | NINE, the 29th–31st. Poe stories read live over four crafted spirits or mocktails, $59, 21+.

Macabre at the Manor, Joslyn Castle, Friday the 30th, 7 to 10, $40, 18+. Tarot, medium readings, handwriting analysis, music, a memento mori exhibit.

Night Light: The Unknown at Kiewit Luminarium, Friday the 30th, 7 to 10 p.m., $20, 21+. The science museum's after-hours series, this one on underworlds and the edges of knowledge. Come in costume.

Halloween Massive takes over six venues in Benson the 30th (bands and DJs, 7 p.m. to 2 a.m.) and the 31st (EDM, 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.). Costumes required, tickets from $23, 21+.

Halloween night itself: the Omaha Halloween Bar Crawl checks in at The Dubliner from 4 p.m., $15 advance or $40 at the door, drinks included, 21+. Little Riot's Retro Halloween Rooftop Party runs 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. with a costume contest. Steelhouse has a 2000s Halloween party at 9. And the Alano Club on Vinton has a potluck and pumpkin-carving contest if you'd rather do Halloween sober and low-key.

The part nobody puts in the listicle

You now have more October than you can use. That was never the hard part.

The hard part is that "we should do something for Halloween" is not a plan, and every year it quietly turns into a Saturday on the couch with a pop-up bar you meant to visit. The fix is boring and it works: pick a date first, then the people. "Spooky Spirits, Friday the 23rd, I'm getting tickets tonight" is answerable with one word. "Something Halloween-y sometime" is not.

Then put it somewhere beyond your group chat. A group chat reaches the same six people you'd have seen anyway. If you post the plan where people nearby can see it, someone you haven't met yet will say yes, which is how you end up at a zombie walk with a new friend instead of skipping it because your usual crowd was busy.

That's what HMNTY is for. It's a free app, Omaha first, where you post a plan (the time and the place, that's it) and people nearby can join, or you browse what other people have posted and tap into one of theirs. No feed, no algorithm, no DMs from strangers. Just plans, and the people who show up to them.

Five weekends. Scary Acres closes with the month, the pop-ups close Nov 1, and the movies are free. Pick one date.

Dates, hours and prices verified September 22, 2026 from organizer and venue listings. Events change; confirm with the venue before you go.