A Guide to Vermont’s Halloween Hot Spots and New Local Music

I’m pretty sure this is in either the U.S. Constitution or the Magna Carta (maybe both?): When Halloween falls on a Friday, the holiday is officially designated as the infamous … Halloween Week! (Cue shrieking sound effect.)

That’s a full week of office parties and recycled costumes, of hoarding candy and nursing hangovers, of swearing vengeance on the first person to talk about Christmas and — most importantly — planning out your actual Halloween night.

Fortunately, I’m here with suggestions for where to get your fright on this week. There’s so much spooky action in the Green Mountain music scene this year that you ghouls might have kicked it off already: On Tuesday, Three Needs Tap Room & Pizza Cube in Burlington started a three-night run screening the classic 1920 German silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, considered one of the first horror films ever made. It’s not silent this time, however: A host of local musicians, including Andrew Bedard, Andriana Chobot and Avery Cooper, provide a suitably creepy soundtrack. Or maybe they’ll interpret the existential dread of the film differently and sprinkle in some acid jazz. What do I know?

The triple feature wraps up on All Hallows’ Eve Eve (that’s a thing, right?) on Thursday, October 30.

Over at Higher Ground Ballroom in South Burlington, indie-folk duo Cricket Blue are once again staging their “Over the Garden Wall” show on Wednesday, October 29. The band started playing the soundtrack to the cult animated Cartoon Network miniseries in 2020, performing the songs online during the pandemic. Five years later, the production has evolved into a massive live tribute, featuring a 13-piece band, with attendees and performers alike in costume.

Next door that same night, Higher Ground Showcase Lounge hosts Jenny Owen Youngs and Kristin Russo, who bring “Buffering the Vampire Slayer” to the stage for a live taping of their hit podcast about — you guessed it — the ’90s gem “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” They’ll be watching one of the show’s most notorious episodes, “Ted,” guest-starring John Ritter as an abusive would-be stepfather who turns out to be an evil robot because of, uh … reasons? I haven’t seen the episode since high school, when I would watch demons karate-fight with skateboarding werewolves and say things like, “This show is just like high school.” It was, in some way. That was the magic of Buffy.

The holiday tradition of bands covering other bands is in full force this year, with parts of the state operating as a de facto tribute act festival leading up to Halloween. There’s no way I could fit all the cover nights in this column, but highlights include a Black Sabbath tribute at Charlie-O’s World Famous in Montpelier on Thursday, Led Zeppelin lovers Nico Suave at the Radio Bean in Burlington on Friday and Boston-based Grateful Dead tribute act Bearly Dead at Stone Church in Brattleboro, also on Halloween proper.

Foam Brewers in Burlington always throws a mean spooky-season soirée, and this year is no exception. The waterfront brewery brings the moody electronica vibes to its Halloween-night party, with sets by John Borah’s new Burlington project Polkarobics, Boston indie-pop act EUSTIS, Burlington darkwave musician Burial Woods and Vermont DJ Crystal Jonez. Dubbed “I Want My BTV,” the party’s theme is the classic MTV era, so costumes from the now-moribund music station are highly encouraged. Free suggestion from your friendly neighborhood music editor, whose peers were once in danger of being dubbed “the MTV Generation”: Gather a crew and go as the entire first-season cast of “The Real World.”

Burlington singer-songwriter Erin Cassels-Brown has dropped two new singles in the past two months. In September, Cassels-Brown released the gentle folk ballad “Don’t Take Up Her Time,” followed in October by “Something to Leave Behind.” A sort of coming-to-grips-with-aging tune, the latter captures the singer’s realization of youth slipping away with the line “Most of the Red Sox are younger than me.” Both tracks are streaming now at erincasselsbrown.bandcamp.com.

Omega Jade dropped her latest single this week. The Burlington rapper’s “Uplift the Community Cypher” features guest verses by SINNN, Rajnii Eddins and Marvelous Kevo. The accompanying music video, directed by PDG Productions, sees Omega, Eddins and Kevo rapping in front of the Richard Kemp Center in Burlington’s Old North End as a mural is painted by Juniper Creative Arts. The track is streaming now on YouTube.

Randolph singer-songwriter Spencer Lewis has released a trio of singles from his new LP, Of Spirits and Friends. “Expecting Rain,” “Davis & Victoria” and “Reflections” all come complete with music videos, and they’re streaming now on YouTube. Visit spencerlewismusic.com for more.