Five Spooky Treats on Local Stages for Halloween

Dracula (Through Oct. 28, Fletcher Opera Theater, Raleigh, www.carolinaballet.com): Marcelo Martinez returns to the erotic role Lynne Taylor-Corbett created for him as Carolina Ballet exhumes this 2010 work, with Robert Weiss’s The Masque of the Red Death, set to J. Alan Scearce’s live orchestral scores. David Heuvel’s costumes are to die for; Alan Campbell narrates. An Oct. 26 party and costume contest, Nightmare on South Street, includes dancing, food, and drinks until midnight.

The Rocky Horror Show (Oct. 26 & 27,Koka Booth Amphitheatre, Cary, www.theatreraleigh.com): Theatre Raleigh’s been trumpeting its stunt-casting of Internet dad-about-town Penn Holderness, in his stage debut as Riff Raff. Our eyes will be on veteran Jesse Gephart as Dr. Frank N. Furter and seasoned David Henderson and A.C. Donohue as the Narrator and Magenta. Should you forget your squirt guns, newspapers, and sliced bread (for the toast), they’ll have them at the theater.

The Strange City of Edgar Allan Poe (Through Oct. 31, Sonorous Road Theatre, Raleigh, www.sonorousroad.com): Sonorous Road’s intriguing immersive theater piece casts us as psychic explorers in 1848, entreated by Poe’s friend to enter his grief-stricken nightmares after his wife’s death in an effort to restore the author’s sanity. Unlike last year’s House of the Fury, no guide will lead you through the maze of narratives and rooms in this choose-your-own-adventure.

A Walk in the Dark (Oct. 26 & 27, N.C. Museum of History, Raleigh, www.seedraleigh.org): There are two versions of Seed Art Share’s lantern-lit after-hours theatrical museum tour, probing the spooky side of the Story of North Carolina exhibit. Friday’s shows are for teens and adults; Saturday’s are for the kids. 

Nothing More (Oct. 27, Mordecai House, Raleigh, www.seedraleigh.org): In  Seed Art Share’s second collaboration with local historical venues, a young and mischievous Ellie Mordecai leads us through the plantation’s gardens, grounds, and main house as she weaves her own eerie variation on Poe’s classic, The Raven.