👻🍹 This spooky bar has a secret code

😭 This MBTA shutdown parody felt a little too real … But TBH Segways would probably be faster than shuttle buses.

📸 HELP! We need your go-to photo-booth recs. The best vibes, vintage looks, lighting — we want to know it all. Share yours through this form for our next B-Side Hotline!

🥳 And everyone wish a HUGE HBD to Member Laura N.! May your T rides be smooth and your photos be giving.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

T-minus 23 days till Halloween! But who’s counting? We rounded up the spookiest things to do this season that might actually give you the heebie-jeebies … or just a ghoulishly good time.

Bookmark these — if you dare:

🍿 If horror movies are your jam, take a seat at the Coolidge Corner Theatre’s Halloween Horror Marathon for 12 hours of scary flicks, starting with “The Mummy” and “The Mummy’s Shroud.” It starts just before midnight on Oct. 31 and ends at noon on Nov. 1.

🎩 If you want to witness the impossible, watch a magic show inside a former jail. Seriously. We’re talking about the Liberty Hotel’s Theater of Magic, which offers nights of world-class close-up illusions and themed cocktails. Get tickets here!

🍸 If you need a boozy concoction, here are four Halloween-themed pop-up bars for ya: the Mad Monarch at Alice & Monarch, Scare Leave at Shore Leave, Boo-song Road at Wusong Road, and the Haunting Room at the InterContinental (where you need a scroll and hidden passcode to enter). Try tiki cocktails in gravestone mugs or bright green bevs in beakers, and maybe see some floating doll heads …

🔥 If you’re looking for some wicked good parties, here’s your ultimate lineup: 1. Nightmare in the Navy Yard at The Anchor on Oct. 24, ft. live fire performances and cirque acts. 2. A Chaotic Singles Halloween Party at the Moxy on Oct. 30, where you’re encouraged to invite your dating-app matches and meet them IRL. 3. The Greatest Haunted Mansion at the Greatest Bar on Oct. 31 with four floors of haunts, nonstop music, and a costume contest with a $500 cash prize.

🪦 If you’re itching to roam haunted grounds, sign up for Boston By Foot’s Grave Undertakings, a guided tour of the city’s most famous burying grounds, or take a stroll through the Old North Church crypt, which holds the remains of more than 1,100 people. Or check out Beacon Hill with a BOO! to learn about the neighborhood’s “dark legacy of mystery and murder.”

🤩 If you want goosebumps for DAYS, keep an eye out for The Inkwell, Boston’s first thrill theater. (Well, technically it’s in Malden.) Think escape room meets live theater meets horror. There will be three experiences and storylines to choose from, like working at a creepy mannequin factory *shivers*. Opening date TBD, but they’re hoping to open by Halloween!

QUICK QUESTION!

⚱️𓂀 Believe it or not, ancient Egyptians knew a thing or two about personal branding. Maverick Kings at the MFA dives into the stories of Hatshepsut, Amenhotep III, and Akhenaten — three rulers who understood that images can say a lot about who’s in charge. See monumental masterpieces from the MFA’s ancient Egyptian collection and get a whole new perspective on the people behind them. The Boston Globe called the exhibition “a revelation,” so get your tickets and make a night of it at a $5 Third Thursday or Late Nites.

⚡ PSA: Mass. is trying to slash our electric bills. Gov. Maura Healey declared an “energy emergency” and signed an executive order aimed at helping residents deal with skyrocketing energy costs. The order includes removing a charge from electric bills for three months starting in January, adding $15 million in winter heating aid for low-income residents, and introducing a heating oil benefit for middle-income households. This comes after Healey proposed pumping the breaks on the state’s gas tax and as she faces reelection next month.

🍽️ Patio season: 1. Cold weather: 0. The city obv insists we keep the summer vibes going and extended the outdoor dining program through Nov. 15. Woo! Restaurants were supposed to tuck away their outdoor tables and chairs at the end of the month, but they now can keep them up for another two weeks, weather permitting. This extension also applies to Boston’s Food Truck Program with 95+ food trucks. See the map of outdoor dining spots and food trucks in the city.

🍕 Fine dining chefs are betting on pizza to rake in the dough. Big local chefs like Jamie Bissonnette and Tiffani Faison turn to ‘za ‘cause it’s an accessible and takeout-friendly crowd-pleaser. But more importantly, it actually makes restaurants money, since it uses cheaper ingredients and requires a much easier, faster training process. Plus, there’s still a lot of room for chefs to experiment with pies (think: fermentation, type of flour, or toppings) and elevate them in new ways. The bottom line: Pizza is a safe bet that’ll never go away.

🍽️ Order early for FREE apps at Sully’s. Introducing: progressive happy hour. At Sullivan’s Public House in Charlestown, you can get big deals on their bar appetizers Mondays through Thursdays from 4-6 p.m. Here’s how it works: Apps are FREE for the first 15 minutes (4-4:15 p.m.). Then they’re 75% off from 4:15-4:30 p.m., and 50% off from 4:30-5 p.m. Between 5 and 6 p.m., apps are 25% off. Note: You have to sit at the bar AND buy a bev to get the deal!

🍷 Your next vacation could be free, y’all! 90+ Cellars wants to send you and a plus-one to (drum roll please …) TUSCANY. The 90+ Cellars Ciao Chianti Sweepstakes starts this October, and you’re invited to enter. To do so, just follow @90pluscellars on Instagram and submit your email via the form at ninetypluscellars.com/ciaochianti. You just have to be 21 to enter. We wish you the absolute best of luck, and send us pics from wine country! Terms and conditions here. 

Save the blueberries! Enter: Wild Blueberry Land, a theme park in Maine that’s been named one of the state’s most endangered historic places — and it’s up for sale.

Blueberry farmers Dell and Marie Emerson opened it in 2001 in Columbia Falls (about an hour past Acadia National Park). It features a 26-foot-tall blueberry-shaped dome, a mini golf course, a yellow brick road, a heritage center about Maine’s longstanding blueberry industry, and of course, all kinds of blueberry gifts and sweet treats. 

It’s not listed online, but the couple said they’re looking to find a buyer who will preserve the landmark and carry out their legacy.

Funny enough, one IG user just posted a vid that says: “It can’t always be Paris or Milan. Someone has to hold it down at Wild Blueberry Land in Columbia Falls, Maine.” 

We hope someone does soon. <3

— Written by Kelly Chan

🫐 Thanks for reading! Name a better Maine side quest. We’ll wait.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for supporting local journalism and bringing culturally rich experiences to our city.

🤒 The results are in: 46% of B-Siders are waiting till morning if they’re not feeling too hot the night before. One reader added another option: “The real answer is call my mom.” REAL.

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