The San Francisco Bay Area has an endless array of activities to do for Halloween, from Fear Overload in San Leandro, voted scariest attraction in CA and Dead Times Dreams in Santa Clara, dubbed as the "World's Largest Haunted House" to more family friendly activities such as Halloween Haunts and Happenings at the Exploratorium and SuperNatural at the California Academy of Sciences. Check out our rundown of the top Halloween festivities in the Bay Area.

San Francisco Bay Area Haunted Houses & Attractions

Fear Overload in San Leandro, Voted Scariest Attraction in CA: Through November 1, 2011: Feat Overload, voted the scariest haunted attraction in California by HauntWorld, will run through November 1st, 2011. Haunt #1: The uprising: A terrible virus has spread throughout the United States. All infected have an endless desire to consume human flesh. Crack open the door to this possessed haunted house attraction and walk through a home infested with psychotic killers and savage mutated zombies. They wait in silence for the perfect time to strike their victims and torment anyone who crosses their paths. If you choose to enter, you will forever remember what lies waiting behind these walls. We dare you to come experience this new dimension of fear. And whatever you do, do not look behind the shower curtains.

Haunt #2: 3D Mayhem: In 1983, the city of San Leandro built a funhouse for the children in the community. But, when a family was mysteriously slaughtered inside the funhouse, the city closed down the event, boarded up the windows, and shut off the power. In recent years, neighbors have reported that they have heard shrieks and horrible noises from inside the funhouse. Two police officers, investigating reports, entered the premises of the funhouse and inexplicably vanished. Now it is your turn to investigate the unknown in this horrifying 3D eye-popping attraction. The third dimension is terror. For more information, visit: www.fearoverload.com/

Thrills by Day and Fright by Nigh at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom: Through October 30, 2011: From now through October 30th, 2011, Six Flags will unearth frightful fun for the entire family during their most popular festival of the year. Join them for Thrills by Day and Fright by Night! Before 6pm, enjoy Halloween-themed shows for kids and your favorite animal areas in LAND, but once the sun begins to set, the ghouls come out to haunt the midways. Evening hours feature bone-chilling walk-through attractions, eerie shows and teeth-chattering thrill rides. Runs Saturdays and Sundays, plus Fridays October 21st & 28th, 2011. Some Fright Fest haunted attractions require an additional fee. For more information, visit: www.sixflags.com/discoveryKingdom

Dead Times Dreams at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds: Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday Through October 31, 2011: Dead Times Dreams, dubbed as the "World's Largest Haunted House" at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in San Jose, is a journey into the deepest reaches of the mind. This is Hell’s dream and your nightmare. You can scream here but no one will care….. This is not something you watch, you are in the experience, feel the fear, all the senses will surround you and eat at your very soul, you will soon know why people are dying to get out! For more information, visit: www.deadtimedreams.com/

Fright Nights at the Winchester Mystery House: Through October 31, 2011: Wnchester Mystery House Fright Nights is a special ticketed event at one of the world's most haunted places. On select nights in September and October (through Halloween, 2011) the grounds of the Winchester Estate are transformed into San Jose’s most terrifying Halloween experience, filled with haunted walk-through attractions, intense scares, roaming scare performers, and nightmare inducing tales. This event sells out, so get your tickets ASAP. For more information, visit: winchestermysteryhouse.com/frightnights.cfm

Haunted Haight Walking Tour: All October Long, 2011: The Haunted Haight Walking Tour is an award winning San Francisco ghost tour. The tour is a evening journey through the local hauntings of San Francsico's famous Haight-Ashbury district. Your host, a long time resident, ghost hunter & ghost historian, founder of The San Francisco Ghost Society will lead you on this two hour walking tour and lets you discover the many ghosts, and macabre history of Haight-Ashbury. Come learn all about ghost hunting and everything to do with parapsychology! See over 150 victorian homes and learn history and architecture with a real local ghost hunter. Plus, everyone gets a chance to win some fun and "spooky" prizes on every tour! Come join this unique tour and learn all about The Haight-Ashbury like never before! For more information, visit: www.hauntedhaight.com/

Ghost Walk At City Hall: October 31, 2011:

Disinterred remains, assassinations and other ghostly lore form the focus of this tour, plus little-known facts such as the cemetery that once covered Civic Center. Instead of history and architecture, hear snippets from interviews with city employees that detail chilling paranormal activity. You will be amazed--and thrilled. Who - or what - might be walking behind you? For more information, visit: www.sfcityguides.org/desc.html?tour=31

Annual Ghost Walk at The Palace Hotel: October 29, 2011: Kings and presidents died here; gunshots echoed through stately corridors, romances ended tragically. Perhaps that explains enduring stories of spectral visions, glowing orbs and mysterious occurrences. The usual architectural and historical tour defers to brief vignettes culled from reports filed by guests and staff alike. Join The Palace Hotel for a tour of the unknown-and the supernatural on Saturday, October 29th, 2011. For more information, visit: www.sfcityguides.org/desc.html?tour=32

San Francisco Bay Area Halloween Parties & Nightlife

Halloween Massive at Regency Ballroom: October 29, 2011: Tonic Live is taking over the legendary Regency Center and turning it into the biggest, scariest & sexiest Costume party in California! Join them on Halloween weekend and party with thousands of people! With over $50,000 in decorations, giveaways & prizes, you can’t miss this event. This Largest Costume Party In The Bay Area. Presale tickets are $30. For more information, visit: toniclive.com/events.html#JrUXs455213lmcT

DeeCee's Soul Shakedown Presents A Nightmare On 6th Street Halloween Bash: October 29, 2011: Halloween weekend promises to be filled with ghouls, goblins, tricks and treats galore – and a lot of subpar events clamoring for your attention. With three separate rooms of live entertainment and DJs, plus drink specials, giveaways, and a costume contest, there’s simply no reason to be anywhere else on Saturday night! Presented by DeeCee’s Soul Shakedown—one of the Bay Area and Northern California’s most trusted and respected party promoters—“A Nightmare on 6th Street” features live performances by four up-and-coming local artists. Rounding out the festivities will be a costume contest; Bodirock Culture Dancers, prizes and giveaways from Upper Playground; free healthy food courtesy of Papalote; and 2 for 1 drinks from 9 - 10:30pm. For FREE Guestlist before 10pm, RSVP here: www.dcsoulshakedown.com/

Zombie Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences: October 27, 2011: The California Academy of Sciences is hosting an adults-only pre-Halloween event called “Zombie NightLife” from 6pm - 10pm on Thursday, October 27th, 2011. Participants will enjoy zombie neuroscience, zombie makeovers, and be entertained by the Zombie Drag Show and Costume Contest – emceed by Peaches Christ. Admission is $12. For more information, visit: www.calacademy.org/events/nightlife/

Ghost Ship IV: The Afterlife, Treasure Island: October 29, 2011: The Bay Area’s most eagerly anticipated Halloween celebration is back for its fourth year and better than ever. Featuring an enormous space packed with multiple sound areas, more than 30 of the Bay Area’s finest Djs and performers, performance artists, mindboggling art cars including the UNIMOG, local food trucks and an enormous array of large-scale artwork made available for your viewing pleasure on this one night only! Be sure to get your limited refill coffee from the Dust City Diner! We are proud to feature for the first time off-playa, Peter Hudson’s brand new, acclaimed interactive stroboscopic zoetrope piece Charon, as well as this year’s incredible Ghost Ship. With an array of DJ talent hailing from the Bay’s finest crews, and an audience that comes dressed literally to kill, it’s easy to see why Ghost Ship has sold out in advance every year. This event will sell out! For more information, visit: spacecowboys.org/articles/2011/09/14/ghost-ship-iv-the-afterlife

Ghoulish Salem DJ Night: October 28, 2011: Start your Halloween weekend with the dark, ambient, psychedelic dubstep sounds of a Salem Dj Set at 103 Harriet for an exclusive FREE show - taking place on Friday, October 28th, 2011. Admission is free but RSVP is required. To do so, visit: 1015.com/events/1015/10-28-2011

San Francisco Zombie Bar Crawl: October 22, 2011: Don your favorite blood spattered suit, infested nurse outfit, and severed arm for the FIRST annual SF Zombie Crawl! Meet up at Civic Center courtyard at 7pm on Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 to set off on the all night pub crawl. For more information, visit: sfzombiecrawl.blogspot.com/

Monsters of Rock: Halloween Fest at Speakeasy Brewey: October 28, 2011: People who like beer, people who like rock, people who appreciate the finer things of Halloween will gather at Speakeasy Ales and Lagers on Friday, October 29th, 2011 for a Halloween Fest. Come for cheap beer ($3) and free music! No cover. For more information, visit: www.facebook.com/SpeakeasyBeer

Halloween Movie at Park Chalet in Golden Gate Park: October 31, 2011: The Park Chalet in Golden Gate Park is hosting a special Halloween showing of “The Shining” at 9pm on October 31st, 2011 as part of their free movie night program. Only adults 18 and older may partake in the festivities. Movie night also offers Happy Hour drinks and appetizers. Admission is free! For more information, visit: www.golden-gate-park.com/october-events-2011.html

San Francisco Bay Area Halloween Family Fun

Halloween Hoopla: Dance & Parade for Kids as part of the Yerba Buena Gardens Festival: October 30, 2011: Come join the Yerba Buena Gardens' 11th annual Halloween program, featuring interactive performances and games for kids. The Unique Derique hosts, The Venezuelan Music Project plays live music, eco-friendly Trash Mash-Up crafts, and Preston folds origami. Just before the Hoopla ends, children under ten and their adults are invited to parade in their Halloween finery! Festivities take place from 12 - 1:30pm. Admission is free! For more information, visit: www.ybgf.org

SuperNatural at the California Academy of Sciences: October 29, 2011: SuperNatural is the wildest trick-or-treat party in town! Celebrate Halloween amongst nature’s creepy-crawlies at the California Academy of Sciences and enjoy an evening packed with family fun. The event takes place on Saturday, October 29th, 2011 from 6:30-9:30pm. Trick-or-treat through the Academy among “spook-tacular” animals and specimens, transform with fanciful face painting by local Cirque du Soleil-style artists, “Boo-gie” to the tunes of the Crunchy Frog band, strut your stuff in a costume parade, watch a haunted Halloween movie in the planetarium, capture the night with photo booth snapshots, win raffle prizes including an Academy membership, come in costume and get a free trick-or-treat bag, enjoy complimentary kid-friendly dinner, beverages, magic shows, ghoulishly good hands-on fun, and more! Proceeds support Academy programs including field trips for 130,000 students yearly. For more information, visit: www.calacademy.org/events/halloween_2011/

Kimpton Hotels Presents A Very Fashionable Howl-O-Ween: October 30, 2011: Join Kimpton Hotels, San Francisco’s pet-friendly hotel collection, on the grass carpet as they play host to the city’s cutest four-legged friends, dressed in their best Halloween costumes. Bring those wet-nosed friends dressed in their best costumes for a chance to win a variety of fabulous prizes while enjoying sips, bites and the views of the San Francisco Bay. For more information, visit: sfspca.org/civicrm/event/info?reset=1&id=645

Halloween Haunts and Happenings at the Exploratorium: Otober 30, 2011: This Halloween, you can enjoy some creepy crawlers – human and non-human – at the Exploratorium’s Halloween Haunts and Happenings! On October 30th, 2011, from 12 – 4 pm, come see giant insects, tarantulas, blood-sucking leeches, maggots and much more. Dress up in your Halloween costume and join them in a variety of spine-tingling activities. Try your hand at making and decorating sugar skulls, creep through the Graveyard of Dead Science Ideas and admire the trappings of predatory plants in the Garden of Carnivorous Plants. For more information, visit: press.exploratorium.edu/halloween-at-the-exploratorium-creature-features-october-2011/

Boo at the Zoo at the San Francisco Zoo: October 29 & 30, 2011: Visit the San Francisco Zoo during the annual Boo at the Zoo festival October 29-30 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and have a “spook-tacular” time! Come in costume and enjoy trick-or-treating around the Zoo for candy, healthy snacks and more. In addition, there will be free activities such as take-home crafts, puppet shows and family fun puppet shows and story time with “Witch Hazelnut!” Plus, don’t miss the Zoo’s Haunted Nature Trail where you can get a first-hand look at a number of animals like snakes and owls. Or perhaps, you’d like to experience the spine-tingling chills of the Creepy Crawly Critter Encounter at the Insect Zoo. For more information, visit: www.sfzoo.org