Making the most of Halloween in Birmingham, including costumes, events and safety tips
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The countdown to Halloween 2020 begins now. Instead of the big parties and common source candy, a lot of us will be keeping things a bit more lowkey. Consider this your guide to making the most of Halloween in Birmingham—COVID edition.
First things first—the costume!
I’m tempted to quote Lindsay Lohan in Mean Girls during the iconic Halloween scene, but I don’t think this is the platform for that. One thing is for sure, your costume doesn’t have to break the bank. If you like to wait until the last minute like me, feel free to find some inspiration in The Magic City. Here are four Birmingham inspired costumes.
1. James Spann
2. Vulcan
3. A pilot from the Southern Museum of Flight
4. UAB Blazer
For even more Birmingham inspired costumes, check out our article featuring ideas like Micheal Jordan as a Baron baseball player, Alexander Shunnarah, Miss Fancy the Elephant and Electra.
Events
Despite everything going on in the world, we can always count on Halloween to have some fun. If you can’t tell by now, it’s hands down my favorite holiday. Birmingham businesses are finding ways to uphold their festive traditions while remaining COVID-friendly.
Pilcrow Cocktail Cellar
Get ready for Nightmare at Pilcrow, a month-long, spooky celebration. They’ve put together a special drink menu to celebrate Halloween. With names like “Meet Me At My Tombstone”, “Cemetery Spritz”, “Tell Tale Heart” and my personal favorite “A F***ing Ghost”, they’re taking spooky season seriously.
The bar has been decked out in decorations and makes for an awesome photo op. Just take a look for yourself.
Atrox Factory
Atrox Factory in Leeds is the largest indoor attraction in the Southeast. I’ve never been because paying someone to scare me isn’t really my thing. However, if you are looking for a good fright, that’s exactly what you’ll get at this giant haunted attraction.
All guests must wear masks…not the costume ones. If you want to be extra scary, you can purchase an Atrox themed mask as well.
Nightmare at 3008
Nightmare at 3008 is a haunted house located in Fultondale. Every year they donate a portion of their profits to Children’s of Alabama Childhood Cancer Research. So not only are you getting a good scare, but it’s for a good cause.
On October 11th from 2-4PM, Nightmare at 3008 will be hosting a special event for Sensory Awareness Day. The lights will be on, music low, no strobes and no scares. The characters will be passing out candy and wearing masks. They’ll have a similar event on October 18th for Kid’s Day.
This year, they’re checking every visitor’s temperature and enforcing local guidelines. Of course, everyone needs a mask to enter and practicing social distancing shouldn’t be too hard if you’re running away from that zombie.
Sloss Furnaces
Before you get too excited, Sloss will not be hosting their iconic Sloss Fright Furnace attraction. However, you don’t really need special lights and actors for the furnaces to be scary. I can confidently say that I’ve had some weird encounters that I don’t know how to explain. It’s one of Birmingham’s eeriest sites in my opinion.
Sloss Furnaces reopened to the public on September 26 and you can catch a guided tour of the site at 10AM and 2PM every Tuesday through Saturday.
Safety Tips
Can’t I just wear a costume that incorporates a mask?
As always, wear yo’ mask. According to the CDC, it’s not the best idea to replace your cloth masks with costume masks. Unless you’re looking at being a mummy, consider using a Halloween-themed cloth mask to keep things festive. After doing a bit of research, turns out the biggest concern isn’t getting candy from strangers, but coming in contact with people as you go door-to-door.
But, it’s not Halloween without trick-or-treating!
You have a point. Unfortunately, I’m at the age where I wouldn’t be caught dead trick-or-treating. If you’re the one handing out the treats this year, it’s important to keep you and the little ones safe with things like:
- Rather than trick-or-treating, hold the ultimate scavenger hunt in your house and around the neighborhood.
- Host a virtual Halloween costume contest.
- Have a Halloween movie marathon (this will definitely be me, but during the entire month of October). Bonus points if you can set it up to be outdoors!
- Install a “candy chute” from your front door to your lawn. That way there’s no face-to-face contact, but you can still get rid of the candy you’ll end up eating if there’s any leftover.
What are your plans for Halloween? Let us know on social @BhamNow on Facebook and Instagram, or @Now_Bham on Twitter.
