This weekend on a shoestring

Thursday, Oct. 27

• Magic and Pagans and spells, oh my. Get a close-up look at the mysterious arts at the Pagan Share and Spell, presented by the Coalition of Earth Religions for Education and Support (CERES). The group, which describes itself on its website as “a broad umbrella group of Earth Religionists, including Pagans, Heathens, and practitioners of various other earth-based spiritual paths,” will offer a show and tell on various metaphysical and mystical subjects at Firestorm Cafe & Books (48 Commerce St). 6 p.m.

• Get some locally-made digs to hit this weekend in style at The Circle’s second annual Pre-Moogfest Fashion Festival. “This funky fashion show will be overflowing with local treats,” reads a press release of the event, “featuring all local Asheville designers with a focus on upcycled one of a kind originals. DJ Samuel Paradise will be spinning the tunes and the bar will be open for your enjoyment. The event will feature a runway show, a raffle to benefit LEAF in Schools and Streets, and a trunk sale with locally made tricks and treasures…” Held at The One Stop Bar & Deli (55 Haywood St.). 6-10 p.m. Free.

Friday, Oct. 28

• Sick of all the Moogfest hoopla? Then check out the excellent Foogmess, the local drone/noise/weirdo-pop alternative. This year’s ‘mess has expanded to more than 20 bands (including out-of-towners like Quiet Evenings and Sparkling Wide Pressure), playing over four days in three different locations. Held Friday through Monday at Bandwagon (474 Haywood Road), Izzy’s Coffee Den (74 North Lexington Ave.), and 22 Broad St. Times vary. $3-$5.

• Pirates of all shapes and sizes can walk the corn maze “planks” during the last weekend of Eliada’s eye-patch-and-booty-themed Fields of Fun (2 Compton Dr). “Ahoy ye mates!” says the website. “This year’s maze features a pirate ship design! Come ‘Get Lost’ in three huge corn mazes, offering a combined total of 12 acres of twisting trails! Fields of Fun offers lots of attractions for kids of all ages, like our corn cannons, haybale maze, cow train, corn box, “pumpkin ship” & much more.” All proceeds benefit Eliada, a non-profit organization that helps WNC children. $6 for kids 4-11.

• If you’ve never seen it, treat yourself to the best and eeriest vampire film ever made, 1922’s Nosferatu. Our own Cranky Hanke describes the silent classic as “the stuff legends and nightmares and lawsuits are made of. In many ways, it’s the movies’ first true horror picture, and it is the first real vampire movie. So otherworldly and creepy is its vampire, Count Orlock (Max Schreck), that rumors persist that he was a real vampire.” Presented upstairs in the Railroad Library at Phil Mechanic Studios (109 Roberts St., River Arts District). 7:45 p.m. Free.                    

Saturday, Oct. 29

• Here’s a good reason to be scared of going to the gym: the Montford Recreation Center’s Haunted Gymnasium. “Looking for a spooky fright this Halloween?” asks the press release. “Experience the thrill and excitement of entering our Haunted Gymnasium, with plenty of ghosts and ghouls and visions of things that go bump in the night.” The spooky, family-friendly event will run a “lights on tour” from 6-7 p.m. for the little tots, and a “lights out tours” from 7-9 pm for the older kids. $4 suggested donation.

• Part country-rock hoedown, part circus extravaganza, it’d be hard to find something more fitting for a southern pre-Halloween party than WNC’s Snakebite Holler. Here’s how the Southern Appalachian Brewery’s website describes this fascinating variety show: “With a mix of blues/Southern Appalachian/old country providing a lively backdrop for aerial artistry, fire dancing, and even a little tap dancing to get your feet movin’.” Held at the Southern Appalachian Brewery (822 Locust St., Ste 100, Hendersonville). 8pm. Free.

• For a more British take on Halloween, check out Coven Oldenwilde’s 17th Annual Halloween Public Samhain Witch Ritual. A kind of pub crawl/folk play/costumed flash mob, the merry event, which bills itself as a “21st-century Asheville spin on an age-olde British tradition: the Pub Moot and Mummer’s Play,” will take place at Thirsty Monk, Jack of the Wood, Hannah Flanagan’s (27 Biltmore Ave.), and Pack’s Tavern, in that order. “The mumming tradition in Europe goes back thousands of years but is as lively and popular as ever (as a YouTube search for “mummers play” will reveal),” reads the press release. “Beneath their odd costumes and broad humor, the plays are seasonal magic rituals meant to ensure that light and warmth will rise again after being slain by dark and cold, and that health and prosperity will win out over death and dearth. From one town or village to the next, they adapt universal themes and characters to local traditions and concerns—as Lady Passion has done in creating Asheville’s first mummers play.” 8-10 p.m. Free.

• Halloween hits the water at the annual Haunted Pool Lagoon festival. Kids can expect plenty of splashes in the indoor pool, as well as spooky crafts, face-painting and trick-or-treat candy. Bring a can of food to donate to MANNA FoodBank, plus a bathing suit and $2 if you plan to swim the “lagoon.” Free to attend. Held at the The Zeugner Center behind TC Roberson High School (250 Overlook Road). Noon to 3 p.m.

Sunday, Oct. 30

• Fresh air and music makes everything better, so what better way to watch old, silent horror films than under the stars with a live soundtrack? Bring a blanket and hunker around the campfire as local musician Adam Yeager provides the sonic spooks and scares to a few eerie classics. The movies and music will start around 7:30 p.m. at The Bywater (796 Riverside Dr). Free.