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Sometimes the old ways prove their usefulness all over again.

As anyone who’s listened to Donald Pleasance’s speech in “Halloween II” knows, Halloween started out as a Druidic ritual where humans pretended to be terrified to fend off the harsh reality that they were truly terrified. All the demonic costumes and on-demand gifties are a sacrament where we appease those things that really go bump in the dark, cold night.

So with political reality looming less than a week after this year’s Halloween night of trick-or-treats and boozy costume parties for the over-21s, let’s gather together at these fun and frivolously spooky local events.

Stay safe. Stay warm. Have fun. Then get ready to vote. It’s Halloween 2024.

“The Rocky Horror Picture Show”

10 p.m. Friday, Nickelodeon Cinemas, Portland

The gender-non-specific grandparent of all midnight movies, this 1975 musical-horror cult movie classic is still a guaranteed hoot – and an annual cash bomb for local theaters everywhere. Still drawing throngs of outrageously dressed fanatics and curious “virgins” alike, it’s the story of two unsuspecting, square newlyweds (Barry Bostwick and a pre-superstardom Susan Sarandon) who stumble into a mansion teeming with pansexual, Old Hollywood-obsessed singing-and-dancing weirdos led by the strapping, fishnets-sporting Dr. Frank-N-Furter (the peerless Tim Curry). Sexy musical shenanigans ensue, naturally, with the Doc’s minions Magenta, Columbia and Riff Raff assisting Frank’s plans to conquer the world – or at least seduce everyone in it.

A London theater hit turned big-screen bomb, “Rocky Horror” was vaulted from obscurity to midnight mega-hit once obsessed fans started to not only dress up like the film’s flamboyant characters, but also form in-house theater companies who act out the musical numbers. Meanwhile, fans developed a pre-“Mystery Science Theater 3000”-style riff-along subculture, with nearly every other line greeted with jokes, catchphrases and props. (Theaters grew weary of sweeping up hurled rice and toilet paper though, so check with the Nick for the house rules.) It’s gloriously fun, magnificently camp, and a defiantly inclusive bash for attendees both seasoned and “Rocky”-curious.

“The Monkey” and “Mars Hill Bait and Ammo”

7 p.m. Sunday, Space, Portland

Two Maine-centric shorts make up this free night of horror fun, as those kooks at Maine Public Radio and Space team up to bring us “The Monkey,” based on the Stephen King short story about one of those terrifying wind-up monkeys whose clashing cymbals foretell doom, and horror comedy “Mars Hill Bait and Ammo,” about an insurance agent whose investigation of a rural Maine UFO encounter may, in fact, turn up something even weirder.

“The Bloody Lady”

7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 28, Space, Portland

What’s Halloween without a little Slovakian animated horror? This restored 2K screening digs up director Viktor Kubal’s long-forgotten 1981 animated tale of Elisabeth Báthory, the 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman whose infamous habit of draining virgins for their supposedly life-extending blood helped inspire the modern vampire legend. Deceptively colorful animation can’t mask the gory goings-on, and a new score from indie musician Claire Rousay adds to the haunting atmosphere.

“Round the Decay”

6:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 29, Colonial Theatre, Belfast

Director Adam Newman’s 2024 indie horror flick sees a young woman getting lost in the woods of one of those insular rural New England towns you probably shouldn’t visit, ever. (Sorry, Chamber of Commerce.) Ominous signs abound, along with uncommunicative, creepy locals (including Maine’s own favorite big screen boogeyman in “Haunt” and “The Strangers: Prey at Night’s” Damian Maffei), leading to – well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it. Look for cast and crew to appear for a post-screening Q&A to reassure you that they are all still alive.

“Nosferatu” (featuring Radiohead)

7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, Nickelodeon Cinemas, Portland

Yes, you read that right, as the ongoing Silents Synced revival series tries out the old “The Wizard of Oz” plus “Dark Side of the Moon” alternate soundtrack trick, but this time with F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent horror classic “Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror” alongside Radiohead’s albums “Kid A” and “Amnesiac.” Now, did a venerable British rock band have this particular movie in mind when recording two of their most popular turn-of-the-century albums and surreptitiously sync their songs to the nightly perambulations of Max Schreck’s titular vampire? Well, that’s for intrepid moviegoers with very opened minds to discover.

“A Nightmare on Elm Street”

7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 30, Strand Theatre, Rockland

Sure, Freddy Krueger has been largely de-bladed following a string of increasingly dopey sequels and one misbegotten remake, but Wes Craven and star Robert Englund truly created a boogeyman for the ages in this 1984 horror classic. Entering teens’ dreams with his sadistic bloodlust and trusty razor-glove, the former child-murderer turned teen-slasher is a still a genuinely terrifying presence in this now 40-year-old original, mining teen Heather Langenkamp’s sleeping mind for escalating, mind-bending horrors.

“Night of the Living Dead”

7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Space, Portland

Sure zombies are everywhere now. (Just look out your crookedly boarded-up window.) But George A. Romero’s 1968 low-budget indie horror classic about a farmhouse full of bewildered survivors coping with the unthinkable (seriously, nobody thought of the “rising from the grave hungering for human flesh” zombie before Romero) is still the best. Starring the outstanding late Duane Jones as the most sensible of the bunch, Romero’s film slyly comments on American racism of the time while still delivering atmospheric, creeping terror that’s never been equaled. Shown on glorious black-and-white 16mm thanks to those wonderful celluloid preservationists at Kinonik, the screening is also costume-encouraged.

“Phantom of the Opera,” Ghost Story Slam, “Opera”

1, 6 and 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Strand Theatre, Rockland

The Strand has your Halloween day/night covered in high-pitched terrors, with a 1 p.m. screening of Lon Chaney’s 1925 silent classic version of “Phantom of the Opera” and Italian horror maestro’s gory, stylish 1987 film “Opera” at 8 p.m. The films sandwich the suitably operatic restored theater’s 6 p.m. Ghost Story Slam, where local actors perform original ghost stories written by local writers.

Dennis Perkins is a freelance writer who lives in Auburn with his wife and cat.