All Hallow’s Eve is creeping up on us. For those who cannot get enough thrills and chills on October 31, there are plenty of opportunities around the state to get a jump on the frightful fun of the autumn holiday.

On the light side, right here in town the Newtown Pumpkin Festival takes place Saturday, October 11, from 3 to 9:30 pm. Creativity is encouraged. Carved pumpkins can be brought to Fairfield Hills, where they will light up the night in a huge display. Find out more at NewtownPumpkinFestival.com, or call 203-304-9264.

Newtown Lions Club is again hosting the Great Pumpkin Race, Saturday, October 18, from 10 am to 2 pm, in the lower parking lot behind Edmond Town Hall. Rev up the pumpkins and get ready to roll — or merely observe the fun. This event includes pumpkin painting and the Lions’ drawing for the Mustang convertible. Details and registration forms are found at NewtownLions.org.

Newtown Parks and Recreation invites town youth to age-appropriate Halloween parties. Ages 9-12 can party at the Teen Center, 53A Church Hill Road, from 7 to 9:30 pm, Friday, October 24. The cost is $8 per person, and registration is required at the Parks and Recreation link at Newtown-ct.gov.

The night before, Thursday, October 23, children up to age 9 are welcome to take part in Halloween festivities at Dickinson Park on Elm Drive, from 4:30 to 6:15 pm. Registration online is also available for this event, as well. There is a $2 fee, and participants are asked to donate a bag of candy for Main Street residents.

Main Street residents need all the help they can get when thousands of trick or treaters from all around the area will scare up treats, house to house, on October 31. It is a mecca for anyone wishing to see creative costumes and home decorating at their best. The first goblins usually appear just before dusk on Main Street.

During the week leading up to Halloween, Main Street resident Mackenzie Paige will be receiving carved pumpkins for her Fourth Annual Great Pumpkin Challenge. All are invited to carve and drop off a pumpkin, and a requeted $5 doantion, at 14 Main Street beginning Sunday, October 26. All pumpkins will be lit by dusk on October 31, and all of the money collected will be donated to Paul Newman's Hole in The Wall Gang Camp.

If Halloween means spine-chilling screams, the Haunted Graveyard at Lake Compounce in Bristol is open weekends, beginning at 5 pm, through November 1. Most of the rides are open, offering a break from the terror of the graveyard. Find out more at LakeCompounce.com.

At GhostsofNewHaven.com, discover ghostly and ghastly walking tours available this month and next, in New Haven, Wallingford, and at Yale. It is a chance to have a little history with the hysteria. In the same breath, check out TrailofTerror.com, for the outdoor adventure in Wallingford, located at 60 North Plains Highway. Open weekends through November 1, here is another chance to laugh and scream.

The more literary Halloween reveler will want to carve out Sunday, October 19, from 2 to 4 pm, when the Historical Society of Easton welcomes author Richard G. Tomlinson to speak about his book, Witchcraft Prosecution: Chasing the Devil in Connecticut. The lecture will take place at the Easton Public Library’s Community Room, 691 Morehouse Road, Easton.

The Fairfield Museum and History Center, 370 Beach Road, Fairfield, presents “Museum After Dark: New England’s Other Witch Hunt,” Thursday, October 23, at 6 pm. Fairfield witch trials of the 17th Century are highlighted in this exhibit, as well as the evolution of witches. Admission is $5, and more information can be found at FairfieldHistory.org, or by calling 203-259-1598.

Join the area’s renowned psychic researcher, Lorraine Warren, Friday, October 24, at 7 pm, for a discussion of her career ghost hunting. Held at Shelton High School in Shelton, tickets will be sold at the door.

For those who will travel a little further to get into the Halloween spirit, Evil Dead: The Musical, plays at the Belding Theater at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, in Hartford, Saturday and Sunday, October 25 and 26. The musical comedy melds classic cult films into a Rocky Horror-like experience for theatergoers. Admission is $35 to $79.50, and complete information is found at Bushnell.org.

Massachusetts horror author Edgar Allen Poe comes to mind this time of year before Connecticut’s Mark Twain, but the Mark Twain House at 351 Farmington Avenue in Hartford has some scary offerings this month. Among them are the Graveyard Shift Ghost Tours, weekend nights through October 30, at 6 pm, 7 pm, 8 pm, and 9 pm. Tours are $22, and ticketing information is available by calling 860-280-3130.

Tom Sawyer’s Trick or Treat at the Mark Twain House is for the whole family, Saturday, October 25, from 2 to 3:30 pm. Artie Bennet, author of Belches & Burps & Farts, Oh My!, Poopendous, and The Butt Book will evoke more laughter than fear, and there will be performances by the Mark Twain Players. Costumes are encouraged for trick or treating; $10 for adults, $5 for children 16 and under gains admission. Call 860-280-3130 for tickets.

Also at the Mark Twain House, take in Capital Classic’s radio theater performance of Dracula, Tuesday, October 28, and Wednesday, October 29, at 7 and 9 pm, each evening. Reserve tickets by calling 860-280-3130; $20 per ticket, or $14 for Mark Twain House members.

Visit for a complete listing of spooky and not so spooky events there.www.marktwainhouse.org

A Classic Night Reading of Dracula is on the schedule for the Theatre Artists Workshop, 5 Gregory Boulevard, in East Norwalk. Tickets for the October 31, and November 1 and 2 performances are $10. Friday and Saturday shows are at 8 pm, and on Sunday, at 3 pm. Details are at taworkshop.org.

Numerous other opportunities for haunting and being haunted are available statewide, with a bit of online sleuthing. It is not hard to scare up the fun.