Best of Halloween 2025 Cabaret & Concerts: Drag, Circus, Dance Parties & More
Peruse this list of fun Halloween-themed NYC events and make sure you get your tickets before these events sell out!
By: Rebecca Kaplan Sep. 26, 2025
Halloween is just around the corner, and there’s nothing scarier than scrambling for last-minute plans! Celebrate all month long with some of these spooky and Halloween-themed events – there’s something for every budget and person, from dance parties, scary stories and drag to circus and burlesque, with a healthy dose of Broadway cabaret. Peruse this list and make sure you get your tickets before these events sell out!
Death of Classical: Relics & Martyrs at The Crypt under the Cathedral of St. John the Divine (UWS)
Weds. October 8 to Fri. October 10 @ 6 & 7:30 pm
Get in the Halloween spirit with this show from Death of Classical featuring the world premiere of a new cantata by composer and double bassist extraordinaire Doug Balliett in the extraordinary crypt under the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. DoC excels at these site-specific concerts putting a modern twist on classical music – and their limited seating means they usually sell out, quickly.
Balliet's work explores the twisted history of relics and martyrs, and will be woven together with selections from Dietrich Buxtehude's Membra Jesu Nostri and Caroline Shaw's to the hands, combining to create a centuries-spanning outpouring of love, longing, and hope that the future will somehow be more just than our past, and our present.
Each performance includes a pre-concert reception with wine, food, and Via Carota cocktails in the spectacular main space of the Cathedral, followed by a walk through the stone quarry before descending to the Crypt.
Tickets: Tickets are $110 including fees.
Death of Classical: Nightfall at Green-Wood Cemetery
Thurs. October 16 & Fri. October 17 @ 7 pm
Get in the Halloween spirit at Nightfall, where “the sacred meets the spectacular.” Step through the gates of Green-Wood Cemetery and watch as their historic grounds, dating back to New York’s gilded age, come alive with creative energy and artistic vision. Death of Classical places acts and artistic installations (think circus acts among the gravestones, candlelit storytelling, and cinematic visions projected through the darkness) on paths for you to wander and explore over the course of several hours.
Tickets: Tickets start at $85.
House of Screams: S&M Halloween at Joe's Pub
Fri. October 24 @ 9:30 pm
A haunted evening of seduction and suspense. House of Screams is a seated Halloween variety show where fear flirts with fantasy and every act teases the edge of pleasure and pain. Expect chills, thrills, and provocative performances you’ve never seen before. Costumes encouraged. Secrets kept.
Tickets: Tickets are $60 (inclusive of advance phone/web service fee; door price). There is a 2 drink or 1 food item minimum, per person, during every show at Joe's Pub.
QUEERLESQUE: Spooky Edition at Club Cumming
Fri. October 24 @ 8 pm
This monthly burlesque show is hosted by award-winning-entertainer & eccentric nightlife producer @theonlyjmv, bringing an all-queer cast sure to dazzle you every show. It’s Spooky Season so “let’s get spooky ooky altogether kooky!” Candles, sharp claws, & lots of blood. Just don’t wear white; it is in fact, after Labor Day.
Tickets: Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the door.
Kiki Ball-Change WE'RE IN HELL at The Laurie Beechman
Mon. October 27 @ 9:30 pm
This Halloween season, award-winning drag artist Kiki Ball-Change returns to the Laurie Beechman Theatre with “We’re In Hell” — a devilishly hilarious, one-night-only cabaret descending through the nine circles of Dante’s Inferno. Blending bawdy parody, theatrical storytelling, and her unmistakable campy charisma, Kiki transforms sin into sensation.
Tickets: Tickets start at $25. There is a $25 food & beverage minimum
The Bowery Boys: Ghost Stories of New York at Joe's Pub
October 29 to 31 @ 7 & 9:30 pm
Tom Meyers and Greg Young of the Bowery Boys Podcast have turned their live ghost stories show, based on their long-running podcast event, into a genuine New York City Halloween tradition. Featuring actual spooky stories taken from the city’s history and blended into a fabulous cabaret experience thanks to music director Andrew Austin and vocalist Lisa Karlin. What spirits will they conjure this year? Will the ghost of Peter Stuyvesant again join them on stage?
Tickets: Tickets are $48 (inclusive of fees). There is a 2 drink or 1 food item minimum, per person, during every show at Joe's Pub. Some of these performances are almost sold out already, so get yours now.
The Joe Iconis Haunted Halloween Special at The Laurie Beechman
October 30 & 31 @ 7 pm
Joe Iconis & Family come home to The Beechman for their annual Haunted Halloween Special! This devilish celebration of rock and roll fun will feature songs from spooky musicals, cuts from obscure horror flicks, Halloween-themed Iconis originals, and a body bag full of holiday classics. A night of whiskey ghosts, kazoo spirits, and happy skeletons. Featuring Mr. Iconis on the piano, an electrocuted rock band, and a murderer’s row of character actors inviting you to get in(to) the spirit(s). (Names announced soon) Come in a costume, come as you are; just make sure to come on home to The Beechman for a night you’ll never forget.
Tickets: Tickets start at $45. There is a $25 food & beverage minimum
The Best of Broadway Puppetry Halloween Spectacular at 54 Below
October 30 @ 9:30 pm
In this enchanted evening, come enjoy selections from Broadway puppeteers and their felt friends as they ring in the spookiness of the Halloween season. You’ll see Broadway puppets that you know and love from iconic plays and musicals, and get to know our other puppet pals joining the mix too! Come in costume and with your favorite puppet, it’s going to be a night to remember! Puppetry on Broadway is a collective of puppeteers, fabricators, and designers working on Broadway, on the West End, and on national tours. Their goal is to keep the art form of theatrical puppetry visible and vibrant by offering engaging content, artistic development and advocacy, and community events.
Tickets: Tickets start at $40.50. There is a $25 Food & Beverage Minimum.
Dirty Circus: Halloween at House of Yes
October 31 & November 1 @ 6:30 pm
The legendary House of Yes Dirty Circus show goes creepy & freaky for HALLOWEEN! Circus, cabaret, burlesque, aerial acrobatics, pole dancing, drag, sideshow and beyond. Prepare to have a spine tingling night out with the most talented performers in NYC, delivering all the weird, wild, and wonderful you can handle with a Halloween twist.
Tickets: Tickets start at $57.75
Vampire Ball in Industry City (Brooklyn)
October 31 @ 9 pm
THE VAMPIRE BALL invites you to the largest annual gathering of bloodsuckers, fangbangers, sinners, demons, slayers, Buffy fanatics, and all other creatures of the night. THE VAMPIRE BALL is the Official After Party of the legendary New York City Village Halloween Parade.
Tickets: Tickets start at $35 for early arrival (before 10 pm)
The Rocky Horror Skivvies Show at Joe’s Pub
Sat. November 1 @ 7 & 9:30 pm and Fri. November 2 @ 6 & 9:30
The Skivvies return to Joe's Pub for The Rocky Horror Skivvies Show, a Halloween treat that puts the signature stripped-down, mashed-up Skivvies stamp on the iconic songs from the cult favorite.
Tickets: Tickets are $48. There is a 2 drink or 1 food item minimum per person.
Videos