There's nothing quite like All Hallows' Eve falling on a weekend night, and this year, the costumed chaos will be especially rowdy, since that lucky Friday date will give party-goers plenty of time to recover from the revelry. And with Halloween falling on prime calendar pickings, there's quite a bit of trouble to be had. From the naughty parties to the nerdy museum celebrations and the family-friendly festivals, this year's holiday will have it all. There's even a horror convention thrown in for good measure.

Through October

Boo on the Boardwalk 215 Kipp, Kemah, $5 to $20, kemahboardwalk.com.

Things will get a bit more eerie in October around the Kemah Boardwalk as the annual Boo on the Boardwalk kicks into high haunted gear. Kemah will come to life with plenty of Halloween-themed fun, and visitors of all ages will be spooked to their heart's content. The haunting good time takes place nightly, and the Boardwalk is offering up wicked ways to scare yourself silly, from haunted houses such as the Dungeon of Doom and the Little BOO fun house to more silly escapades like scary-oke karaoke. Weekends are even more awesome, with plenty of free activities -- Freaky Friday Movie Night, anyone? -- and creatures and costumes galore. Kemah Boardwalk knows just how to make things come alive by conjuring up the dead, and you really shouldn't miss it. After all, what good would a boardwalk be if it's not haunted for Halloween?

Houston Funeral Museum "Dracula Cemetery Exhibition" 415 Barren Springs, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays, $10, nmfh.org.

Take the ultimate Halloween-selfie at the "Dracula Cemetery Exhibition" at the National Museum of Funeral History. The exhibit doesn't have any actual, authentic relics from Vlad "The Impaler" Tepes, the real-life 15th-century bloodthirsty royal who's the inspiration for the infamous Dracula character of Bram Stoker's 1897 horror novel. But there is a coffin set up where visitors can pull on a Dracula-like cape, stuff some fake fangs in their mouth and pose for photographs.

There's also a copy of the original Dracula novel on display, and an explanation of some of the terms and phrases that we use today that originated back in Vlad the Impaler's time. Everyone will recognize terms like "dead ringer" and "saved by the bell." Both come from the practice of tying a string to a bell and to the corpse's hand -- you know, in case the dead person wasn't really dead but just in a really deep coma ("dead" was apparently a relative term back in Vlad's time). Visitors will also recognize "the graveyard shift." It grew out of the need to have people sit in the graveyard at night listening for any bell-ringing by the buried.

Don't forget to visit the museum's annual haunted house and catch the 7th Annual Halloween Car Show.-- Olivia Flores Alvarez

Through NOVEMBER 2

Monsters' Museum of Houston 1500 Binz, 4 to 6 p.m. weekdays , 4 to 8 p.m. Thursdays and all day weekends, cmhouston.org.

Oh no! Monsters on the loose! For three weeks prior to Halloween, the Children's Museum of Houston will be taken over by some prank-loving monsters, who will transform the place into their makeshift mega-lab. These naughty monsters will be turning the museum upside down, and it's all up to the children to figure out how to "catch" them in the act. But don't worry; they'll be leaving plenty of clues to keep your little Frankenstein in the spooky spirit. And with trick-or-treat monster hunts to go on, pumpkins to paint and hair-raising slime blobs to explore, your little sleuth will learn everything there is to know about those misunderstood monsters. He or she may even get a chance to party with them during Moe's Monster Mash Bash, where DJ Frankenstein will bring the kid-appropriate party to life on the ­turntables.

October 16-19 and October 23-Novermber 1

Nightmare on the Bayou 1515 Studemont, $20 to $40, nightmareonthebayou.com.

If you've ever wondered what causes all those traffic jams on I-10 and Studemont, look no further than Nightmare on the Bayou. It's a ridiculously scary haunted house located right next to an old graveyard and is known as Houston's only actual haunted house. As in, this place is known to have some real spirits lurking about, along with those freaky actors. Lines wrap around the building as Halloween inches closer, which means you should probably check it out. Just watch out for the ice-cold hands; it'll be hard to tell whether the thing that grabbed you is still rocking a steady heartbeat or lacking a pulse. Either way, it's a guarantee that you'll be shaking in your boots for days after.