Halloween is just two days away, and there are lots of treats in store for the weekend.  However, there’s no need to wait until Saturday for fun! 

• Kids Halloween Craft Night - Theo Chocolate (3400 Phinney Ave N) hosts an evening of crafts for the kiddies from 5:30-7:30 p.m tonight (Thursday).  It begins with chocolate bingo, followed by decorating 2 oz. chocolate bars.  Cost is $7+ tax per child.  Costumes are optional.  No reservations required.
• Stone Soup Theater (4029 Stone Way N) opens it’s 14th season with “Durang 7″, a series of seven one-act plays from award-winning playwright, Christopher Durang.  Preview show is tonight at 8:00 p.m.  Regular shows begin Friday and run through November 22 (with matinees on Sundays at 2:00 p.m.)  Tickets are $16-$20 and can be bought online here. 
• Pumpkins, Knives and Beer - You heard right.  The Traveler (4354 Leary Way NW) is hosting a pre-Halloween pumpkin carving contest on Friday from 6:00-8:00 p.m.  Show up at 6 and start cutting away (they’ll also have 22 oz. Dead Guy Ale for 5 bucks).  Judging takes place at 8.  Winner gets a big bottle of Rogue XS Old Crustacean Barley Wine.  Click here to RSVP.
• “Tweak Show” at evo (122 NW 36th St) - Friday from 7:00-10:00 p.m.  Costume contest, games, prizes and showing of Ride snowboard team’s video, ”Along for the Ride”.  First 50 people get a swag bag with a special Tweak Jones Soda bottle, Ride beanie and more.  Free and open to all ages.
• Trick-or-Treat Fremont - More than 100 businesses are handing out treats to children in costume on Saturday from 2:00-6:00 p.m.  An orange flyer will hang in windows of participating stores.  You can also click here for a map of places to go, or to find where you can pick up a map in person.  (The photo is from a stop at the Fremont Library during last year’s Trick-or-Treat.  Photo courtesy of K. Lindsay.)

• Trolloween - Halloween marks the Fremont Troll’s 20th birthday and the annual celebration is expected to be huge.  More than 400 performers and artists are expected to parade through Fremont.  SPD will escort the procession that begins at N. 36th St. and Troll Ave N. and ends under the Fremont Bridge with a performance of “Dante’s Inferno”. 
• Trolloween After-Party at OmCulture (2210 N. Pacific St) - Live music and dancing at the recently-opened yoga/music/dance space.  Costume contest at midnight.  Cost is $10.   
• BOO Costume Extravaganza - The neighborhood’s newest Halloween costume and dance party is at Fremont Studios (155 N. 35th St) on Saturday from 8:00 p.m.-2 a.m.  Costume contest, live music, light show and more.  Tickets are $30 in advance or $40 at the door.  Must be 21 to attend.

As usual for live music, check the calendars at High Dive, ToST and Nectar. 

If you have any events to add to our events calendar, email us at tips@fremontuniverse.com.

Halloween is just three weeks away, and this year it’s on a Saturday.  That means lots of trick-or-treating and parties on the horizon so it’s time to start thinking about what costume to wear.  Fremont Studios staged the first Halloween Costume Fashion Show presented by Halloween Express last Sunday.  We took lots of pictures to get your creative juices flowing.

Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, was the special guest of honor. 

The first act of the show featured more than 50 family-friendly ideas.

Even four-legged family members were included.  I’m not sure if devil dogs are supposed to be this cute, though.

This pretty much looks like my refrigerator.

Anyone for a bowl of cereal?

This couple is fresh from Oktoberfest.

This keg actually works!

Elvira met with fans (and signed this tattoo of her) after the show. 

We couldn’t possibly post all of the pictures from the fashion show so we created a Flickr account where you can see more.  

If you’re all dressed up with no place to go, bring your dolled-up self to the BOO Costume Extravaganza at Fremont Studios on Halloween night.  Click here for more information or to buy tickets.  Happy Halloween!

Here’s a unique way to celebrate Halloween. Two guys put pumpkins on their heads and streaked naked around Fremont on Saturday to honks and cheers.

(Thanks Michael for the tip and photos!)

Trolloween kicked off at 7 p.m. tonight with some revelry, a dance-off and a melodrama all under the watchful metal eye of the Fremont Troll, who celebrated his 19th birthday tonight.

The Fremont Arts Council organizers, dancers, and drummers Vamola proceeded to parade through downtown Fremont where they were watched by spectators from bars, restaurants, and homes.

The parade proceeded to the Outdoor Cinema, where volunteers gave a dance lesson to the crowd. After the exercise, the melodrama continued with another short scene intended to encourage the crowd to pursue the protagonists to the Fremont Bridge’s underbelly, where another dance group performed the Vampire Tango. The short play concluded with a dramatic stabbing scene:

When the mini-play was completed, the Fremont Philharmonic began playing ‘Thriller’ for the concluding dance party under the bridge.

Best costumes of the night: The Robot, who was so popular that the crowd nearly threw the play off-track trying to encourage the protagonist to dance with it; and Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything, who spent the entire parade hoisting a boombox. Hats off to you two!

If you have additional photos from Trolloween or competitors for best costume, please share them with us in the comments!

Fremont is known for its “whimsical counterculture” — at least if you believe the New York Times (see the post below) — and one of the best times to take that in is during Halloween, when for a day, counterculture is on full display. Among the Halloween events in Fremont, there’s a costume extravaganza, a burlesque carnival and a mass gathering of Carnivale-style revelers who parade through neighborhood streets. Here are the details:

• Boo- A costume extravaganza and fundraiser for the Fremont Chamber of Commerce at Fremont Studios. The 21+ dance party will feature costume contests, a full bar, and a cigar lounge.
• Circus Contraption’s Blowout Bash- The one-ring circus’ 10th annual Scary! Insane!! Blowout Bash is sold out, but you may be able to find tickets on Craigslist, etc. The burlesque carnival will feature aerialists, clowns, ninjas, and a seance. This event, held in Theo Chocolate’s building is also 21+.
• Trolloween- An unpublicized gathering of costumed Fremonsters has been going on for 18 years, and will feature a free performance put together by the Fremont Arts Council. Sources say the crowd gathers at 7, and will disappear like aether shortly after the performance to parade through Fremont. Samba dance lessons will commence, and the evening will end with a dance under the Fremont Bridge.

If you have any Halloween haunts to add, please leave us a comment or e-mail tips@fremontuniverse.com