Arrowtown’s ghosts are dying to meet you this Saturday.

The historic village is about to come alive with the undead this Halloween, with a host of ghoulish events planned.

Buckingham St’s Remarkable Sweet Shop’s once again embracing the occasion, with its ‘Creepy Carnival’, from 3pm till 7pm, at Buckingham Green.

Alongside competitions for best dressed — and free sweets — there’ll be “spooky circus freak games” available for $1 per game, and the “local Sardine game” which a promo poster says is in “tradition and honour of local legend Mel Ulrich”.

All proceeds from that activation will go towards Yellow Brick Road (Te Wahapūahoaho) — formerly known as Supporting Families NZ — that provides free mental health and addiction support, education, and advocacy for families and whānau.

Then, from 5.30pm till 6.30pm, a host of characters from yesteryear will enjoy their annual outing at Arrowtown’s Lakes District Museum, though museum director Jane Peasey warns they are “genuinely terrifying”.

She says parental caution’s advised with very small children, and suggests those aged over 8 should be OK, with “parental discretion recommended for delicate constitutions”.

“I don’t know who enjoys it more, the kids or the staff — the staff love it so much.”

Once again, the museum’s being tricked out by Queenstown’s Visual Events, for those who dare to wander through the underbelly and meet spirits from the past, who include “one terrifying teacher”.

Across the road, at The Fork and Tap, a Halloween Family Fun Day’s planned, including free face-painting, kids games, live music with Calico and food and drink specials, while Ray White Arrowtown’s also preparing a special Halloween Trick or Treat map.

It’ll be available for collection from their office from 3pm tomorrow, and posted in the Arrowtown Community Facebook page for download.

tracey.roxburgh@scene.co.nz