Scream Scram at Washington Park (Friday, free to watch) You'll need to pony up more money if you'd like to participate, but if you're into the idea of watching a bunch of athletes run around in Halloween costumes, this should be a great place to do it. It's a 5K, but the main attraction is its holiday outfits, including the ones put on animals. The Watching Hour: Return of the Living Dead at Denver FilmCenter/Colfax (Friday-Saturday, $9.75) If you're somehow not sick of zombies, you might want to make your way over the Watching Hour this weekend, which is showing one of the greatest/stupidest zombie movies of all time, Return of the Living Dead on a beautiful 35mm print. If that's not enough, actor Brian Peck will be there in person to sign and talk about the film. VeloSwap at National Western Complex (Saturday, $6/$8) While you almost certainly won't be able to score any great bicycle parts for less than $10, unless you're really good at talking people down on the price, you will be able to get in on the cheap and hang out with a ton of bike-centric people who are all into the same thing as you. That alone should be worth the price of admission. T.A. Barron at Tattered Cover Highlands Rance (Saturday, free) There's a chance you've heard of T.A. Barron's series of Merlin young adult novels, and if you have, you'll certainly want to be on hand today at 3 p.m. at Tattered Cover to meet him and pick up a copy of his new book, Merlin: The Book of Magic, a full-blown illustrated guide to the series. Afraid of the Dark Reception: Bogeyman Art Show at MacSpa (Saturday, free) This is easily one of our favorite zombie-related events on the docket this year: Artist and author Mario Acevedo will be leading walking tours and there will be a zombie makeup station -- but the real kicker is cartoonist Stan Yan will be around to draw caricatures of you, as a zombie. Those will cost a little more, but it's free to get in and check out the event. Denver Zombie Crawl 2011 at 16th Street Mall (Saturday, free) There are a ton of events going on around the Zombie Crawl, but the main even will be all about watching zombies wander the 16th Street Mall. It's always an entertaining thing to watch, especially when you notice the entrails left behind.
Who Ate Boulder? Book Reading and Monster Workshop at WOW! Children's Museum (Saturday, $7) You'll be able to join local authors The Brothers Doyle as they read from their children's book Who Ate Boulder? today, but more exciting is what happens afterwards. That would be the monster making workshop -- which, despite what the advertising companies might tell you, is the best way to make a Halloween costume.
Huge Comedy Show with Sean O'Connor, Greg Baumhauer, Jordan Doll and Kyle Bufkin at Oriental Theater (Saturday, $10) The title really says it all -- this is going to be a huge comedy show, with lots of funny people telling stand-up all night. You'll rarely find this much entertainment packed into a single Saturday evening, so take advantage of it and get some good laughs in the process.
Revolution at Grant-Humphreys Mansion (Sunday, free) While on the surface, this is really just a fashion show, it's so much more when you get down to it. Burlesque, live performances, manicures, sketches and a whole lot more will be going on and the whole thing is free and open to everyone. Plus, the 50 fifty people in the door get a free tote bag, which is almost like you're making money just by showing up.
Start Working on Your Halloween Costume (Sunday, free) Halloween is but a week away, and that means if you're going to make something memorable, you'd better start this weekend. We've already told you a few to avoid this year, as well as given you blueprints for costumes of the robot variety, so you have no excuse for not making something great.
