Get away from the Hilltop this Halloween

If Leo’s orange-frosted pound cake hasn’t gotten you into the Halloween spirit yet, don’t worry. From embassies to theme parks, D.C. offers plenty of chances to don a costume and forget about those last few midterms for the weekend.
Just off of Dupont Circle and a short GUTS bus ride away, trick-or-treating awaits. Continuing a longtime D.C. tradition, embassies will be handing out candy to costumed students from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. this Friday. The School of Foreign Service Academic Council provides maps of participating embassies when you get off the bus, but if you’re short on time, plan strategically—the Japanese and Korean embassies hand out green tea and lychee flavored candies, while Indonesia usually sticks to Kit Kats.
This year, the Japanese embassy has expanded its festivities, presenting a program called “Spooky Japanese Cinema.” The last film of the series airs this Friday at 6:30 p.m., and while tickets are free, you’ll need to RSVP on the Japanese Cultural Center’s website before heading over to the embassy. Friday’s movie, The Great Yokai War, offers a nice contrast to the typical Exorcist viewing and tells the whimsical story of a boy who fights evil monsters and trickster spirits in a supernatural battle shot with stop-motion puppetry.
Those looking for real horror, however, will have to venture a bit further off campus. Despite its corny motto—“Slicin’ and dicin’ for 19 years!”—Markoff’s Haunted Forest in Maryland offers a genuine terror-inducing experience. Located in the middle of the woods, Markoff’s tells its guests to ditch their costumes and bring hiking boots and warm clothes.
Once there, you choose between two trails through the forest, where actors wait, ready to horrify. The event offers zip-lines and ghost hunts in addition to the forest fright tour, and runs from Friday to Monday starting at dusk. In the same vicinity, Nightmare Screamer, a less campy, theme park version of Markoff’s, offers a corn maze and a haunted insane asylum in addition to its own forest tour. Tickets for both events are $25,and can be purchased online.
Back in D.C., the Georgetown Theatre Company offers a classy way to enjoy a Halloween free from fake corn syrup blood and plastic masks. On Saturday night at 8 p.m., the theatre troupe will read works by Edgar Allan Poe at the Grace Church on Wisconsin Avenue. Admission is free, although the Company suggests a $10 donation.
Also on Saturday, the Smithsonian’s Air and Space museum offers “Air & Scare.” From 2 p.m. to 8 p.m., the museum displays exhibits on space aliens, screens episodes of The Jetsons in its Imax Theater, and offers karaoke.
If you still haven’t put together a costume for this weekend’s events, Georgetown Park Mall houses the temporary Halloween store Total Fright. A self-proclaimed “boo-tique,” Total Fright offers elaborate costumes, accessories, and makeup. Those on a budget can pick up their “Nerd Wig” and glasses, don a trench coat, and masquerade as the Ninth Doctor Who. Better yet, you could buy a two-dollar bottle of glitter and say you’re Ke$ha—creativity at its finest.