From John Waters to Edgar Allan Poe to a mascot with only one eye, Baltimore has no shortage of creepy inspiration for ways to spend (or dress for*) Halloween.

Everyone knows that Fell’s Point is a Halloween madhouse and that The Great Halloween Lantern Parade and the annual “Zoo Boo” at the Maryland Zoo are can’t-miss options for celebrating.

(The Lantern Parade promises giant praying mantis stilt walkers! A long, wavy caterpillar lantern that looks like a Chinese dragon puppet!  Talking sunflowers! Bands! Zoo Boo promises games, costumes, and elephants smashing pumpkins!)

But what about more under the radar possibilities, like a death-themed concert conducted by a 17-year-old, or a party full of video game-playing villains?

It is in this spirit of the obscure – and the undead – that we offer 10 other ideas for Halloween fun on the weekend of October 29-31.

Ghosts of Hikers Past
Fri, Oct. 29, 7:30-9pm, Oregon Ridge Nature Center (Cockeysville)
Want to really scare yourself? The Oregon Ridge Nature Center in Cockeysville is taking visitors on a hike in the Oregon Ridge, a former mining town, where “you will encounter unsettled souls who still roam the Ridge 150 years later.”

Bmore Musically Informed’s Halloween show at the G Spot
Fri, Oct, 29, doors at 8pm, G Spot (2890 Falls Road)
What hipper way to celebrate Halloween than rocking out to Celebration in a former duck cotton mill on already-spooky Falls Road? The band, along with Sri Aurobindo, Microkingdom, and Dustin Wong (of Ponytail) will be performing short sets in the G Spot arts space Friday night. Tickets are $12 and you can buy them here.

Set times are here:

Last but not least, here’s a preview of Celebration to get you in the mood for tonight’s show, which also has one of the coolest fliers we’ve ever seen.

The Heroes & Villains 2 Halloween Ball
Fri, 10/29, 9pm at the Windup Space.
Want a recipe for Halloween magic? How about one of Baltimore’s coolest indy bookstores teaming up with one of Baltimore’s coolest music venues for a (free) Halloween party that includes music by someone named “DJ Miracle Ear,” Rock Band 3-playing, and a costume contest that will undoubtedly feature some of the city’s most creative costumes.  The contest winner gets $400 and there will also be prizes for “Best Hero” and “Best Villain.” What else would you expect from a bookstore with one of the best comic book collections in town?

Tilted Torch’s Halloween Spook-O-Rama
Fri Oct 29, 8pm, The Patterson
Creative Alliance’s Halloween event this year definitely falls into the “Halloween for adults” category.  Held at the Patterson, the evening will include, among other things, fire play, bellydancing, ragtime and burlesque. $15 for non-members; $13 members & students. Tickets available online.

“Spooky Science,” the Maryland Science Center’ annual family Halloween costume party
Sat, 10/30, 12 – 4 pm, Maryland Science Center
This year’s theme for the Science Center’s annual party revolves around the MSC’s “SHIPWRECK! Pirates and Treasure,” exhibit, and will feature live music by Pirates for Sail, the eight-man group of pirate musicians, a “swashbuckling swordplay” lesson given by the Lyon Wolves troupe, creepy craft-making; and “hair-raising” “mad scientist” experiments.

The Composer is Dead
Sat. 10/30, 11am performance; 10am pre-show, Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall
The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra will host a special Halloween program of Lemony Snicket’s ‘The Composer is Dead,’ conducted by the young Venezuelan conductor Illyich Rivas, who is only 17! Rivas is an Assistant Conductor for BSO-Peaboy Bruno Walter. 
(Tickets: $12 to $20, available online)

Hansel & Gretel opera
Sat Oct 30, 7:30pm; Sun Oct 31, 3pm, Memorial Episcopal Church
The Chesapeake Chamber Opera is putting on a “family-friendly opera for all ages” featuring Hansel, Gretel, the Witch, and the Children’s Chorus of Maryland. Audience member costumes are encouraged. Tickets are pricey – $45 – but apparently that’s the price you pay for spending Halloween in an enchanted forest.

Creepy Crawly Halloween Cuisine
Sat, Oct 30, 1-2pm, Willow Grove Nature Education Center (Cromwell Valley Park)
There are 1,417 species of edible insects and Will Grove is going to help people eat some of them on Saturday.  What better way to get in the spirit of Halloween than to hunt for and then eat your own bugs? (Reservations required. $3 members/$5 for non-members).

Hauntingdon Avenue 2010
Sun, Oct 31, 6-8pm
Not only does the Greater Remington Improvement Association (GRIA) help the area’s residents negotiate their rights in terms of the 25th Street Station development, it also helps them celebrate Halloween! GRIA, along with the Black Cherry Puppet Theater are hosting Remington’s third annual Halloween celebration. The 2900 block of Huntingdon Avenue will be filled with decorated porches, puppet shows, trick-or-treating, and a costume contest, “all in a safe environment.”

Telltale Hearts and Twilight Fancies: Songs of Mystery and Imagination
Sun, Oct 31, 3pm, Harford Community Center
Mezzo-soprano Madeleine Gray and pianist Bill Scanlan Murphy will perform a program of songs inspired by “the life and words” of Edgar Allan Poe, according to the singer’s Twitter page.
Adults $10

* From the Sun, a quirky guide to Baltimore-themed Halloween costumes, including John Waters and Omar Little. We’d add the Utz Potato Chip girl to this list.