Last Halloween, the Cultural District's Creeps & Treats ran three hours on a Friday afternoon, from 4 to 7 p.m., at two buildings, the Guntersville Museum on Rayburn Avenue and the Guntersville Public Library on Obrig Avenue. This year it falls on a Saturday, runs 5 to 8 p.m., adds The Whole Backstage Theatre as a third venue, and stretches into the surrounding streets with official trick-or-treat stops.
That changes how the evening works. In 2025, two buildings sat a short walk apart, and you could cover both in one pass. In 2026 there are seven separate activities spread across three venues and a neighborhood, and the Lake Guntersville Chamber listing labels most of them for a specific age group. A family with a toddler and a family with a 13-year-old will want different routes. Picking yours before you park makes the night easier.
What Changed From 2025 to 2026
| 2025 | 2026 | |
|---|---|---|
| Day | Friday, Oct. 31 | Saturday, Oct. 31 |
| Hours | 4 to 7 p.m. | 5 to 8 p.m. |
| Venues | Museum, Library | Museum, Library, Whole Backstage Theatre |
| Neighborhood stops | Not listed | Official stops marked with orange bows |
The theater's part in it was public by early fall. In its Museum Day coverage, The Advertiser-Gleam reported that the museum, the library and The Whole Backstage Theatre would team up this Halloween for dramatic readings, including 13 Alabama Ghosts, plus candy and games for kids. The later start matters too. A 5 p.m. opening on a Saturday means the last hour runs well after dark, and that suits the three activities designed around darkness and shadows.
Matching Each Stop to the Kids You're Bringing
These are the Chamber's own "best for" labels, grouped by venue.
Guntersville Public Library
- Little Feet Harvest Maze, toddlers through early elementary. The Gilbreath-McCain Community Center, which used to be the library auditorium, becomes a straw-bale maze for crawling and wandering, with "no big scares along the way."
- Lost in the Stacks, older children, teens and "brave grown-ups." Monsters have escaped their books into the darkened stacks, and kids collect a candy token from each one to send it back. You go in through the amphitheater entrance and come out onto Gilbreath Street.
- A Tale from the Shadows, all ages. A theatrical telling of Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart in the Library Amphitheater, every 30 minutes on the hour and half-hour.
Guntersville Museum
- Carnival Games, toddlers through elementary.
- An Alabama Ghost Story, all ages. A theatrical telling of one of the tales from 13 Alabama Ghosts and Jeffrey, also every 30 minutes on the hour and half-hour.
The Whole Backstage Theatre
- Black Box Theater Haunt, families, older children, teens and adults. A haunted hallway leads into the Black Box Theatre, where a storyteller performs a haunted tale.
Taken together, the list splits into two routes. Families with little ones have a clear loop of the harvest maze, then the museum's carnival games, then trick-or-treating, and they never have to go into the darkened stacks or the haunted hallway. Families with older kids and teens get Lost in the Stacks and the Black Box Theater Haunt, the two activities the listing aims past the elementary crowd. The two all-ages performances fit either route.
Using the Half-Hour Performances to Set Your Pace
Both storytelling performances start on the hour and the half-hour, so they make good fixed points for the evening. A family can see the 6:00 Poe reading at the library amphitheater, spend the next half hour in the maze or the stacks, and walk to the museum for the 6:30 or 7:00 ghost story.
Food fits the same plan. Snacks are at the museum and free cider is at The Whole Backstage Theatre's concessions stand, both complimentary for event guests while supplies last. "While supplies last" at a free three-hour event points toward getting to the cider and snacks earlier rather than at 7:45.
The Orange Bows Turn It Into a Neighborhood Walk
The new piece this year is the street-level trick-or-treating. Participating neighbors will put a bright orange bow on their mailbox to mark an official Creeps & Treats stop. The listing also says other homes in the area may join in, which makes the stretch between venues an old-fashioned neighborhood trick-or-treat route.
This is what makes the walk between the library, museum and theater part of the event. It also means more people on foot in the street. The Chamber asks guests to watch for road-closure signs and take extra care walking between locations.
Where to Park When the Upper Lot Is Closed
Parking is free in several lots, but some areas will be closed or have limited vehicle access during the event.
- Guntersville Public Library, lower lot. It has two handicapped spots, and two more are on the Gilbreath side of the library. The upper lot will be closed for the evening because of nearby road closures.
- The Whole Backstage Theatre. Both the front and rear lots are open.
- First Baptist Church lots at Obrig Avenue and DeBow Street. These are a one-block walk from the Cultural District, and the church has offered them to event guests for the evening.
Your route can help pick your lot. If you're starting at the toddler maze, the library's lower lot puts you closest to the Gilbreath-McCain Community Center. If you're starting at the Black Box haunt, the theater's lots are the obvious choice.
Halloween on a Saturday Spreads the Week Out
Because Oct. 31 is a Saturday this year, other organizers have spread their events across the days before it. That gives families who want more than one outing some options ahead of Creeps & Treats.
Saturday, Oct. 24, 4 p.m. Lake Guntersville State Park's Kings Chapel Cemetery History Hike is a guided, moderate walk of about 1.5 miles out and back. It costs $5 and starts at the trailhead parking lot. The park recommends sturdy shoes, water, bug spray and a trail snack. Registration is on the park's reservation page.
Wednesday, Oct. 28, 6 to 8 p.m. St. William Catholic Church holds its Fall Festival with a Day of the Dead theme at The Foley Center, 929 Gunter Ave., with food, games and candy.
Friday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m. The state park's Black Light Night Hike covers about 0.7 mile of Daniel's Trail over easy to moderate terrain. It meets at the Outdoor Classroom, costs $5, and flashlights are available to use. Sign up through Alapark. Also that night, Wyndham Garden at 2140 Gunter Ave. hosts a Halloween party from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m. with live music from Southern Holler Band, for the grown-ups.
Saturday, Oct. 31, before 5 p.m. The day fills up before the Cultural District opens. At 10 a.m., the state park's Crafting with Nature: Halloween session at the Outdoor Classroom costs $5 and is open to crafters of all ages. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Stronger Together T-Shirt & Hat Co at 383 Gunter Ave. runs a costume contest with a $50 prize for the winner, and you have to arrive in costume to enter. The contest ends just as Creeps & Treats begins, so a costume that wins downtown in the afternoon can go straight to the library maze by 5:00. After the family events, Cash Allen's Pub at 412 Old Town St. hosts a Halloween party with costume prizes, food and drink specials, and a DJ.
One More Museum Visit Before Mid-November
If the ghost story brings you into the Guntersville Museum on Halloween, its current exhibit is worth a separate, quieter trip. According to The Advertiser-Gleam, "9/11, GWOT, and the War that Defined a Generation" includes service uniforms, field journals, medals and personal items from local veterans and their families. It is on display through Nov. 15. The paper reported that Museum Director Sara Elizabeth Phillips said the museum is still accepting submissions.
Our family at Trenten Hammond lives and works in Guntersville, and nights like Creeps & Treats are part of why we love this town. If you're out in the Cultural District on Halloween and want to talk about life on these streets, now or down the road, let's connect.
