Best 2014 Halloween Parties For Adults In The Bay Area
(credit: Charley Gallay/Getty Images)
Some people don't need an excuse or a holiday to dress up and have a good time, but it doesn't hurt that Halloween is coming. Wineries providing proceeds to charities were some of the best themed parties in October of 2013, and it's time for another round-up. Even though Exotic Erotic Ball has moved on from its heyday, there are plenty of San Francisco options. An underground cave, an historic ballroom, a yacht and re-imagined theme parks provide some monstrous venues around the Bay Area.
(credit: Live 105)
Live 105's Subsonic Halloween Spookfest
Oracle Arena
7000 Coliseum Way
Oakland, CA 94621
live105.com/spookfest
Date: October 31, 2014 at 5:00 PM
LIVE 105's Spookfest Subsonic Halloween Massive is coming to Oracle Arena in Oakland ... and this year it is on Halloween! Come out on Friday October 31, 2014 for a night of Subsonic music with Alesso, Chromeo, Gareth Emery, Duke Dumont, Henry Fong, Slaptop, Aaron Axelsen and St. John! Tickets are on sale now at LiveNation.com. LIVE 105's Spookfest is an 18+ event.
(credit: Eventbrite)
Titanic Masquerade Halloween Party Cruise
Pier 40
89 King St.
San Francisco, CA 94107
www.eventbrite.com
Date: Oct. 31, 2014
Theme the costume and mask to a semi-formal style, evoking the spirits of partygoers who were lost in the Titanic disaster. At 8 p.m. on Halloween night, the Fume Blanc Commodore Yacht cruise pulls out into San Francisco Bay from Pier 40 for a few hours of masked reverie with 300 souls. Three decks, two DJs and unlimited dazzling views go with four hours of open bar and light bar snacks. Book a ticket starting at $85, a table or a VIP set-up for up to 10.
Bela Lugosi as 'Dracula' (credit: Universal Studios/Wikimedia Commons)
Monster Manic Count Dracula's Halloween Ball
Julia Morgan Ballroom
465 California St.
San Francisco, CA
(415) 470-8558
www.monstermanic.com
Date: Oct. 31, 2014
If you're really into wearing the fake blood left over from last year, or your friend has a spare Dracula get-up, this is the party for you. Prizes for the best costume means cash in hand, although not until the following Monday. Meantime, prowl with other vampires, Buffy and Lucy characters under the high-beamed ceilings of this Beaux-Arts beauty. The music is top 40, electro and club hits from DJs CAMS and J-Trip. If you're in search of a drink, fangs might impress, but plastic won't work.
Zombies (credit: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Hallowe'en Zombie Ball
Rutherford Hill Winery
200 Rutherford Hill Road
Rutherford, CA 94573
(707) 963-1871 ext. 2218
www.syndical.com
Date: Oct. 31, 2014
A ghastly greeting is followed by a devilish dinner and dancing. Napa wineries with caves make the perfect setting for staging a spooky Halloween event with an exclusive tasting of frighteningly good world-class wine and treats staged in dark corners of the underground. It's a perfect occasion to bring out wicked Terlato Family Vineyards selections. Plan ahead for the costume contest with delicious prizes.
(credit: California's Great America)
Halloween Haunt
California's Great America
4701 Great American Parkway
Santa Clara, CA 95054
(408) 988-1776
www.cagreatamerica.com
Date: Weekends in Oct., 2014
Make your own party. The amusement park goes all haunted and eerie for the 7th annual Halloween Haunt every Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October. While it's not strictly for grownups, some of the frightening mazes and creepy haunted houses would give kids nightmares until at least Halloween 2015.
Six Flags Discovery
1001 Fairgrounds Drive
Vallejo, CA 94589
(707) 644-4000
www.visitvallejo.com
Date: Weekends through Nov. 2, 2014
Once the sun goes down and the little ones are tucked in, grownups get into Mt. Rotting Cemetery and Arachnid Alley, "plus tons of the best of Monstertainment of the macabre." WIth more zombies and a new haunted maze, Fright Fest is promised to be even more ghastly than in 2013. Costumes are suggested, see the safety guidelines online.
