FrightTown
Halloween is just around the corner, which means if you love a good scare, youâll shriek in joy over the best haunted house in Portland, FrightTown. Celebrating its 12th year, this walk-through scare fest features three separate attractions, including crowd-fave Baron Von Gooloâs Museum of Horrors, the Witch House, and brand new this season, Grimthorne Manorâstarring all manner of monsters. Not for little kids or the faint of heart, but FrightTown is perfect for a depraved ghoul such as yourself. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
Rose Quarter Memorial Coliseum, 7pm, $20-40, all ages
Squeeze, Look Park
Like the Kinks before them, Squeezeâs best material never connected with American audiences. The group is best (if not exclusively) remembered here in the states for their blue-eyed soul detour âTemptedââthe only song in their catalog sung by former keyboardist Paul Carrackâbut they were one of the skinny-tie eraâs most original and reliable hitmakers in their native England. MORGAN TROPER
Revolution Hall, 8pm, $45
Chills & Thrills: The Gimmick SeriesâThe Tingler (in Percepto!)
This month, the Hollywood Theatre has Chills & Thrills: The Gimmick Series!, featuring films presented with their original, weird promotional gimmicks. John Waters' Polyester will screen in âOdoramaâ (with scratch 'n' sniff cards!), Earthquake will boast the âroom-rumbling bassâ of âSensurround,â and the Creature from the Black Lagoon will lurk in old-school 3D. Tonight it all kicks off with Vincent Price's 1959 thriller The Tinglerâin âPercepto,â with certain seats set to vibrate at key points in the movie! ERIK HENRIKSEN
Hollywood Theatre, 7pm, $9, all ages
Lubec, Talkative, Radler, Two Moons, Dog Thieves
Portland noise pop trio Lubec play an all ages release show in support of their terrific new album, Cosmic Debt, the eagerly awaited follow-up to 2014's The Thrall. Also read our story on Lubec.
Black Water Bar, 7:30pm
DJ Shadow
A rare Portland appearance from one of the finest sonic alchemists the world has ever known.
Roseland, 9pm, $25
Prost! Portland Oktoberfest
Can't really be Oktoberfest season without Prost! getting in on the fun, transforming the Mississippi marketplace into a Bavarian beer garden, hosting games, kids activities, live music, and a host of special German Oktoberfest beers from a beer truck.
Sept 30-Oct 2, Prost! Portland, 11am
The Lavender Flu, Pushy, Sleeptalker
If you dug garage punk in Portland during the '00s, you remember the Hunches, the most explosive local group of the era. Frontman Hart Gledhill turned antagonizing an audience (and torturing himself) into high art. But the Hunches were more than crashing punk prankstersâthe songs were serious and strong. Much of the writing was done by guitarist Chris Gunn, who returns with the Lavender Flu. Gunn is also full of righteous energy, but he channels it inward, the opposite of Gledhill. And while in performance the new band reminds at times of the Hunchesâparticularly Gunn's songwriting sense, his sharp, bending, circular riffs, and the buildup/breakdown/loud/quiet surges of drummer Ben Spencer (also of the Hunches)â, the Lavender Flu employ a wider, more dynamic musical vocabulary, free from garage punk's narrow trappings. There are bits of plucky fingerpicking, spacey delay, noise washes, and more, swirled in purposeful arcs. Gunn has been working on a soon-to-be-released double album, Heavy Air, practically since the Hunches' 2009 demise. It's been a long time coming, and if a fabulous first show and a few snippets on Soundcloud are any indication, it will be worth the wait. ANDREW R TONRY
Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8pm
The Moondoggies, Banditos, The Jackalope Saints
Washingtonâs Moondoggies really didnât work hard enough on their name, which makes them sound like some cheesy Grateful Dead cover band thatâd probably have an indefinite Thursday night residency at Calamity Janeâs on 26 up near Mt. Hood. Plusâdogs on the moon? Thatâs just nuts. Despite all of this, the Moondoggies are fantastic, one of the best Pacific Northwest mountain-country bands around. This month the bandâs celebrating its 10th anniversary by re-releasing its 2008 full-length debut, Donât Be a Strangerâ13 tracks of ghostly fingerpicking and echoing harmonies that exemplify the haunted beauty of a misty winter in the Cascades, especially on tracks like âAinât No Lordâ and âThe Undertaker.â But theyâre also experts at capturing boot-stomping bouts of twangy joy on tracks like âLong Time Coming.â Donât Be a Stranger is great, but donât forget to revisit their latest full-length, 2014âs Adios, Iâm a GhostââRed Eyeâ is one of my personal favorites, particularly the moments when frontman Kevin Murphy sighs, âSheâs up and gone/Up to Washingtonâ between the hissing squeals of hot-poker guitar riffs. CIARA DOLAN
Mississippi Studios, 9pm, $12-14
The Wedge
First we conquered the realm of beer. Now Portland sets sights on annexing the world of cheese. The Wedge features more than 50 cheesemakers sharing their product at a farmers market-style showcase, including special bites and drinks from other vendors that go perfectly with the cheeses you're putting into your face.
Green Dragon Bistro & Brewpub, 11am, $15-20
Frankenstein's Comicbook Swap
Portlandâs got a ton of comic book shows, but Frankensteinâs Comic Book Swap is a standoutâinstead of costing a fortune and focusing on cosplay instead of comics, Frankensteinâs costs ONE MEASLY DOLLAR, takes over the charming Eagles Lodge, and features collectors selling their beloved comics, toys, movies, and weird old crap. Itâs a friendly, low-key, and fantastic affair; chances are youâll walk out with a few bizarre finds you'll love more than life itself. ERIK HENRIKSEN
Eagles Lodge (F.O.E. #3256), 11am, $1-5, all ages
Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children
I haven't liked a Tim Burton film since Batman Returns, and I'm saying that now to illustrate how much I did like his latest, Miss Peregrineâs Home for Peculiar Children. Coming from an overly precious book series and an eccentric director, I don't know how MPHPC turned out so relatable, exciting, and heartwarming, but it's a friggin romp. It's like a good Harry Potter movie without the awkward mandate to follow the book's plot. MPHPC the film throws MPHPC the book out the window. (Polite opera claps.) Plus, Asa Butterfield is the perfect empty persona for the audience to latch onto, and Samuel L. Jackson actually has fun for once! But wait, my space is running out and I have to warn you about the messy time travâSUZETTE SMITH
Various Theaters, see Movie Times for showtimes and locations
Sad Horse, White Shark Shiver, Weird Cactus
Despite their name, Portland punks Sad Horse can put a smile on any pony's face. NED LANNAMANN
The Know, 8pm
Spellbound: DJ Action Slacks, DJ Wildman James
DJ Action Slacks' annual Halloween dance party just got an upgrade for its fifth anniversary, with some special effects enhancements to go along with the classic soul, Motown, R&B and blues grooves from both her collection and DJ Wildman James'.
(The World Famous) Kenton Club, 9pm, $5
Portland Fresh Hops Fest
Beer is a staple in Portland. Hoppy beer is also a staple in Portland. Fresh-hopped beer is an ephemeral thing, arriving only during hops harvest season, with its piney, citrusy taste and delicate fizz. Beer festivals abound in Oregon, but the Portland Fresh Hops Beer Fest is the only fresh hoppy one at Oaks Park, where you can get drunk and go on amusement park rides. Wheeeeee! SHELBY R. KING
Oaks Amusement Park, 12pm, free ($20 a glass + 8 drink tickets)
Frankenstein: A Cabaret
First seen at the Fertile Ground Festival, Frankenstein: A Cabaret is everything I want in a play: Itâs creepy, itâs weird, and it explores themes of gender and sexuality by adapting a well-known piece of literature with an almost exclusively female cast. Plus musical theatre. Thereâs a lot going on: a six-piece band onstage, some of whom were also actors; a full cast and storyline; a group of three dancers performing in most scenes; a chorus narrating between numbers; and not one but two Monsters (for reasons that remain unclear to me). There was a dance number with neon rope lights and mirrors on a pitch-black stage. On their own, each of these things would have been pretty great (and they were), but the sum of the play's parts felt complex and hard to follow. AMELIA AYRELAN IUVINO
Clinton Street Theater, 8pm, $15-20
Erotic City
This long-running tribute to Prince becomes a combination of celebration and memorial for the dearly departed legend.
Club 21, 9pm, $5