Howl With Laughter Or Scream

Are you frightfully fond of teeth-chattering chills?

Or do you favor fall fun without ghouls and gore?

Choose from this lengthy list of events, from haunted houses and costume contests to hayrides, harvest happenings and the Barnyard Bonanza.

Today

•Teens are invited to a monster movie and costume contest from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the New River Branch Library, 34043 State Road 54, Wesley Chapel. Guys and gals with the best get-ups score prizes in two categories.

•Games, contests, prizes and refreshments are in store at a Halloween Spooktacular from 6 to 9 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, 14333 Hicks Road, Hudson.

Friday

•Wee ones ages 1 to 6 will parade in costume at 11 a.m. from the New Port Richey Public Library, 5939 Main St., to city hall. Afterward, each youngster will model for a Web slide show, and prizes will be awarded.

•The New Lakes of Regency Park Civic Center, 8330 Civic Drive, Port Richey, will have a haunted house, costume contest, food and a disc jockey from 7 to 10 p.m. Admission is $3. Call (727) 861-3484.

•Ann's Dance Halloween Party is from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the New Port Richey Recreation Center, 6630 Van Buren St. Call (727) 841-4560.

•Shady Hills Park, 15840 Greenglen Lane, will host a Halloween party with games, music and a children's haunted house from 7 to 9 p.m. Call (727) 856-7831.

Friday Plus

•Faith United Methodist Church, 12128 State Road 52, Hudson, is selling pumpkins and crafts from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, Friday, Saturday and Monday, and from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday.

Special Saturday events from noon to 2 p.m. feature face painting, hayrides and games.

On Sunday, church members will decorate their car trunks or truck beds and hand out candy at a Trunk or Treat from 5 to 7 p.m.

•By day, the cabins look idyllic in the woods. But as All Hallows Eve approaches, ghouls and ghosts turn the place into a regular Scream Acres. At the end of a haunted hike, candy awaits at the cabins for those who survive the scares.

Bring a flashlight and a plucky persona to Jay B. Starkey Wilderness Park, 10500 Wilderness Road, New Port Richey, from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

•Sounds like there's some 'Swamp Magic' back in the bushes, too. That's the theme of Werner-Boyce Salt Springs State Park's Halloween in the Woods, from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The park is off U.S. 19 next to Gulf View Square mall and behind Sears.

The trick-or-treating alternative includes games, free candy, food, hayrides and the infamous spooky trails. Admission is $2 for revelers 13 and older, $1 for those younger than 12. Call (727) 816-1890.

•'Murder & Mayhem at the Monster's Ball' invites the audience to solve a cast member's make-believe slaying at Center Stage Theatre and Dance Academy, 5201 U.S. 19, in Southgate Shopping Plaza, New Port Richey.

Shows are at 7 p.m. Friday and Sunday. Tickets are $15 in advance, $18 at the door.

The Halloween night show from 6 to 10 includes finger foods, goodies, games and a costume contest with $100 at stake. Tickets at $25 must be purchased in advance at the box office. Call (727) 815-0100 after 2 p.m. weekdays.

•The Angelus' wheelchair-accessible house of horrors, 12413 Hudson Ave., Hudson, is decked out in demonic decor, including the executioner's room. Admission is $7 (people in wheelchairs get in free), with all proceeds benefiting the group home for disabled children and adults.

The haunted house continues from 6 p.m. to midnight Friday, Saturday and on Halloween, and 6 to 10 on the other nights, through Wednesday. Call (727) 856-1775.

Saturday

•This haunted home is no cakewalk, either, but the Halloween Howl offers both of those things, plus hayrides, a costume parade, food, games, a rock wall climb, bounce houses, karaoke and clowns. Celebrate with Main Street Zephyrhills from 4 to 9 p.m. along Fifth Avenue in downtown Zephyrhills. Call (813) 780-1414.

•Young folks from Harvester United Methodist Church, 2432 Collier Parkway, Land O' Lakes, will put on its annual kid-friendly fall festival from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Featured will be games, bounce houses, hayrides, soda toss, face/hair painting and pumpkin smashing, not to be confused with The Smashing Pumpkins, still rocking after all these years. Cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn, hamburgers and hot dogs will be for sale. Zoom Daddy and Harvester's worship bands will entertain.

The church's pumpkin patch, meanwhile, has been open from 2 p.m. to dark since Oct. 10.

Wrapping up a month of fun days, the have-no-fear Heroes Bible Adventure is from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday. Dress children in costumes - nothing scary - and head over for games, face painting, Bible hero trading cards, candy and, for the first hour, a pizza party.

•They're faster than a speeding stroller and jump higher than a bounce house. They're costumed superheroes who have their prize-penetrating vision fixed on an annual Fall Spooktacular.

Children 12 and younger can enjoy 'Superhero Adventures,' this year's theme, from 3 to 5 p.m. at the James Irvin Civic Center, 38122 Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd., Dade City. The afternoon includes gutsy games, arts and crafts, bounce houses, costume contests and rousing refreshments. Call (352) 521-4166.

•This Fall Spooktacular stuff must be contagious; there's another one from 1 to 4 p.m. at Stanley Park, 38724 Mudcat Grant Blvd., Lacoochee. Ghostbusters 12 and younger can play games, ride in a hay wagon and get harried in the haunted house. The event is sponsored by the Pasco County Parks and Recreation Department, Boys and Girls Club of Lacoochee, and Lacoochee Elementary School.

•Beacon Community Church, 9125 Star Trail, New Port Richey, will host its annual Barnyard Bonanza from 1 to 6 p.m. There will be games and contests for adults, teens and children, including a costume contest. Also featured: face painting, crafts, a door prize, drawing for a quilt, hayrides, bounce house, story time, family photo shoots, live music and food.

Instead of a haunted house, the church will have Jonah's Adventure, in which guests go out in a boat on a storm-swept sea - and then get sucked into a whale's belly (or a close facsimile).

•Elementary school-age children will don costumes and gather for scary stories and trick-or-treating at 2 p.m. at the Centennial Park Library, 5740 Moog Road, Holiday.

•The South Holiday Library, 4649 Mile Stretch Drive, will show a spooky movie to first- through fifth-graders at 2 p.m.

•Youngsters from that age group also are invited to a Halloween Spooktacular at 2 p.m. at the Land O' Lakes Library, 2818 Collier Parkway.

•Progress Energy Art Gallery promises 'A Never B/4 Seen Halloween' from 6 to 10 p.m. The fundraising party features prizes, games, food and drinks, and the opening and closing of an art exhibit that will challenge the viewer to see what it is - or isn't.

Highlighting the evening is the live performance of an old-fashioned radio play, 'Gemma's Angel,' written and directed by local pop artist Ralph Annan. It will air Sunday morning on 13 stations on New York's Long Island.

Admission is $10. Guests are encouraged to come in costume. Buy tickets at the door, 6231 Grand Blvd. in downtown New Port Richey, or in advance from noon to 8 p.m. today and Friday. Call (727) 848-6500.

Sunday

•The First Presbyterian Church of Dade City, 37412 Church Ave., will host a pumpkin-carving contest and social after 10:30 a.m. worship. Carving contestants will pick up their gourds on Saturday in fellowship hall.

Bring favorite pumpkin recipes on Sunday and watch a costume parade for the 12 and younger set. All children will get goodie bags. Call (352) 567-2591.

•Children will go from vehicle to vehicle collecting treats from congregants during Halloween tailgating, aka trunk or treat, from 6 to 8 p.m. at The Presbyterian Church of Seven Springs, 4651 Little Road.

•Bring a precarved pumpkin for judging to the Halloween/fall festival from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Family Life Center of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, 4843 Mile Stretch Drive, Holiday. Prizes, music, dance and costume contests, and a bake sale are scheduled. Tickets are 25 and 50 cents and $1 for food, games and the House of Mystery, sponsored by the youth group and Faith Formation classes. Trunk or treat will be from 5 to 6 p.m.

Monday

•Dade City Trolley Tours will feature Ghost Tours, a history of Dade City's dark and spooky places, starting at sunset Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the trolley depot, 37752 Meridian Ave. Tickets are $19.95 and reservations are required. Go online to www.DadeCityGhosttour.com or call (352) 567-0300.

Tuesday

•Dr. Franken Oz, aka Christopher Oz, offers illusions, magic tricks and ghost stories for children 9 and older at 7 p.m. inside Richey Suncoast Theatre, 6237 Grand Blvd., New Port Richey.

Wednesday

•A Harvest Happening is a safe Halloween alternative scheduled at First United Methodist Church, 13123 U.S. 19, Hudson. Bounce houses, games, dramas and candy are on tap from 6 to 8 p.m.

•City Church Center, 11134 Challenger Ave., Odessa, will host a Halloween party with food, fun, games and treats from 6 to 8 p.m. For details, go to www.citychurchflorida .com.

•First United Methodist Church, 38635 Fifth Ave., Zephyrhills, will sponsor its first trunk or treat from 6 to 8 p.m. Free hot dogs, lemonade and cotton candy booths will be set up; so will games with prizes. The church's Salvation Rock group will perform contemporary Christian music throughout the evening.

•Myrtle Lake Baptist Church, 2017 Riegler Road, Land O' Lakes, will host Hallelujah Night, with carnival games, inflatable rides, free food, live bands, door prizes and plenty of sweet stuff. The midway will be open from 6 to 8:30 p.m.

The first 500 attendees will receive a certificate for a free sandwich at Chick-fil-A. Door prizes will be given away every 10 minutes. The bands Rain 11:28 and Undecided will perform throughout the evening.

The hallelujah highlight is a biblical costume contest with these prizes: a Nintendo Wii gaming system (grand prize); an iPod Shuffle digital music player (second prize); and a Blockbuster Video gift certificate (third prize).

The church is near the intersection of State Road 54 and Collier Parkway. Call (813) 949-5516 between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. today and Friday.

Diane Loebel and Jessica Bair