Ongoing - Pumpkin Patches
for all the pumpkin patches, corn mazes, harvest festivals, and more, visit Tacomamama.com/harvest

September 15 - October 27th, Dia de Muertos Workshops
Epworth LeSourd Church, 710 S Anderson Street, Tacoma, WA, Saturdays 10 am to 12 pm. - Free papier-mâché workshops, in preparation for Dia de los Muertos on November 2nd. Bring some newspaper, paper rolls, empty cereal boxes and some black and white latex paint and your own colorful decorations such as ribbons, glitter, artificial flowers and such. Create a Dia de los Muertos celebration of life with a Northwest flavor. Symbols like the raven, mariposas, umbrellas with colorful ribbons, Native American designs all come to mind. Work in teams to create larger puppets. Dia de Muertos Myspace

October 4th-November 4th - Tacoma Art Museum
Ofrendas on display at TAM, to memorialize loved ones who have passed. In preparation for Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead.) Tacoma Art Museum

October 19th - Boo Bash at Portland Avenue Community Center
3513 E Portland Ave, 591-5391, 6-8 pm. FREE. Bring the kids out for a night of safe trick-or-treating and fun. Enjoy a coloring contest, edible spiders, cake walk, trick-or-treating, costume contest and more.

October 20-21st - Zoo Boo/Call of the Wild
Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium, 5400 N. Pearl St, Tacoma, 253-591-5337, 9:30 am to 4 pm. Celebrate the Red Wolf and Autumn with two days of treats and fun. Wear your costume. pdza.org

October 26th - Boo Bash at South End Neighborhood Center
7802 South L St, 591-5098, 6:30-8:30 pm. $1.00 per person. Bring the kids out for a night of safe trick-or-treating and fun. Enjoy a coloring contest, edible spiders, cake walk, trick-or-treating, costume contest and more.

October 26-27th - Hallowed Dances
Tacoma City Ballet, Pantages Theatre, 9th and Broadway, Tacoma, 253-591-5894, 7:30 pm. Five premiere ballets bring the mysterious fantastical world to life. Featured in this lavish celebration of dance is a novel one-act ballet introducing the Daughters of the Crazed Architect. Broadway Center Website

October 26-27th - Bonfires, Beaverpelts, and Bogeymen
Fort Nisqually Living History Museum, inside Pt Defiance Park, 5400 N Pearl St, Tacoma, 253-591-5339, 7 to 9 pm. "Follow a line of glowing jack-o-lanterns through the pitch-black meadow to a blazing bonfire. The music of a fiddle will lull you into a sense of peaceful years gone by but storytellers from the past will send shivers down your spine as their words bring forth the spirits of the fur trade. The evening begins with “gentler” tales appropriate for all ages. After a break for complimentary cider & cookies, the stories get increasingly scarier." Admission is $4/ adults, $2/ children. Plan to arrive early as parking and seating are limited. Some bleachers and hay bales are provided for seating; blankets, tarps and small lawn chairs are welcome. October nights can be as chilling as the stories so dress accordingly. fortnisqually.org

October 26-27th - Hoot n Howl at NW Trek
NW Trek Wild Animal Park, 11610 Trek Drive East, Eatonville, 360-832-6117, 6-10 pm. Trick or treat around the park, decorated indoor centers. (Event happens rain or shine) Pumpkin carving judging, games, night time tram ride, eerily lit animal exhibits, and more. NWTrek.org

October 27th - Halloween Spooktacular
Museum of Glass, 1801 Dock St. Tacoma, WA. 1 - 4 pm. "Join us for a fun-filled afternoon of All Hallows Eve festivities. Design a Halloween mask or costume--the most creative design will win a one-year family membership and a glass pumpkin! Decorate your own cookie in the Halloween spirit and listen to spooky stories as you paint a mini pumpkin." museumofglass.org

October 27th - Ghost Town Galleries
Washington State History Museum, 1911 Pacific Ave, Tacoma, 1 - 3:30 pm. Just in time for Halloween, the History Museum offers visitors a fun – and not too-scary – way to learn about people and places from Washington’s mysterious past. As visitors make their way through the Great Hall, they’ll encounter living-history actors portraying characters such as the only survivor of an 1899 shipwreck, a prospector from a real ghost town in Washington searching for his lost gold, and the washerwoman of Tacoma’s Stadium Gulch. Free with paid admission. Washingtonhistory.org

October 27th - Fall Costume Party
Hands-On Children's Museum, 106 11th Ave SW, Olympia, WA, 360-956-0818, noon-5pm. Come in costume, win prizes, no scary masks please. hocm.org

October 28th - Howl o Ween at Wolf Haven
Wolf Haven Intl, 3111 Offut Lake Road, Tenino, 800-448-9653, 360-264-4695, check with them for times. Pumpkin feed with the wolves, costume contest, storytelling, wagon rides, cider, and more. Wolfhaven.org/howloween.html