Cheap Date: 8 Ways To Get Spooky (Yet Frugal!) This Week

Fellow broke humans of the Bay Area! How’s your week going so far? Still trying to choose a Halloween costume? Stuck in limbo deciding between “The Dress” and “Lion Killer Dentist’’? (Please. Please listen. You’re better than either of those things.)

If you are, however, among those choosing to blow this week’s lunch money on, um, a Deez Nuts costume, never fear — here are some places to be this week that won’t break your piggy bank even further.

You know the rules: Nothing over $20. BYO fun-sized candy bars (or find a kid and go trick-or-treating, the finest of all penny-pinching holiday traditions). Here’s this week’s Cheap Date.

Wednesday, Oct. 28: Sugar Skull Decorating for Dia de Los Muertos, Mountain View. Celebrate Day of the Dead by practicing the delicate art of the calavera, or sugar skull decoration. Young people ages 16 and up are welcome. All you need is a shoebox (or some other way to cart your work of art home) — the Mountain View Public Library will have the rest. Free; details here. 

Thursday, Oct. 29: KALW Presents Kamau Right Now! at Freight & Salvage, Berkeley. The Berkeley comedian known for his whip-smart takes on politics, race relations, and more — all of which he offered to uproarious laughter at The Cooler’s launch party last month — takes the stage in his hometown for a live radio broadcast. $20; details here.

Thursday, Oct. 29: Peaches Christ hosts ‘Creatures of the Nightlife’ at the Cal Academy of Sciences, SF. What do you get when you cross San Francisco’s queen of all queens with the spooky side of science? Well, a drag show and costume contest, for one, along with a “haunted hall” of curiosities (like skulls), squid dissection, and monster makeovers. This one’s 21+.  $10–$12; details here. 

Friday, Oct. 30: Total Trash Halloween Bash at 924 Gilman, Berkeley. If the Bay Area’s seemingly ever-increasing number of squares in suits is getting you down, a solid weekend of punk, rockabilly, and undefinable yet loud-and-screamy retro weirdness is the antidote. Luckily, that’s what Total Trash Productions puts on every year: This kickoff night stars SoCal vets Redd Kross and New Jersey pizza-punk OGs (yes) Personal and the Pizzas. $15; details here.

Friday, Oct. 30: Scissors for Lefty and Fritz Montana at Bottom of the Hill, SF. A night of sweaty, dancey, blues-inflected indie rock from two staples of the local scene, at one of the last pretension-free live music rooms in the city. What’s not to like? $10 – $12; details here. 

Saturday, Oct. 31: Mystery Mystery Science Theater 3000 at the New Parkway, Oakland. Grab your best pals — be they human or lo-fi, early ’90s robot — and head downtown for a night of riffing, one-liners and sometimes sophomoric, always hilarious commentary, aka the stuff MST3K dreams are made of. Trivia (with prizes!) will reward your knowledge of all things Tom, Crow, and Joel and/or Mike ahead of the episode, which is TBD. (Fingers crossed for Rowsdower.) $8; details here. 

Saturday, Oct. 31: Beetlejuice! Halloween Party at Virgil’s Sea Room, SF. Yes, the sequel’s actually happening — Winona said so! — but if you can’t wait that long, put on some Harry Belafonte and calypso-groove your way on over to the patio of this laid-back bar. Costume contest at midnight — bonus points, we’re guessing, for pulling off Shrunken Head Guy. $3 – $5; details here.

Sunday, Nov. 1 – Monday, Nov. 2: Day of the Dead, all over the Bay Area. Nurse your post-Halloween hangover with one of the fine processionals and parties taking place in San Francisco, Santa Rosa and beyond. Remember, though, this is a holy holiday — traditional Mexican face paint very welcome. Please leave the sexy pizza rat at home.