Below is a gallery of pictures taken at Dane101's Hallow Rockin' Ween Extravaganza. Images courtesy of Emily Mills. Click on images to view larger!

The Inferno is the spookiest nightclub in town regardless of what time of year it is, so naturally Halloween is taken very seriously there. Their big party for the evil cross-quarter between the autumnal equinox and winter solstice was on Saturday for those who preferred to win cash instead of getting tear gassed or having their every move watched by Big Brother's surveillance cameras on State Street, but as for the actual date of October 31st, they attempted something different by promoting it as a night for 4 specific costumes: Pirates, Ninjas, Zombies, and (sometimes) Cowboys.

We just wanted to take a moment and express our sincere gratitude to everyone who was able to make it out to the Dane101 Hallow Rockin' Ween Extravaganza last night. We were near capacity and will be able to present Second Harvest with a sizable load of food stuff and a decent donation. Thank you all for your ingenious costumes and for keeping the atmosphere electric and spirited. Thank you especially to the bands for taking the time to learn all of the songs - honestly, we were blown away by each and every performance and everyone we spoke with at the show had great things to say. Nice work. Additional thanks to Angus Macabre for bringing us his unique brand of Scottish zombie comedy, we were proud to host your High Noon debut.

An extra big thank you to our prize sponsors: Capital Brewery, Flyin' Squirrel, Mad Rollin Dolls, Glitter Workshop, Pop Deluxe, Orpheum, and Four Star Video Heaven. Additional thank you to Furthermore Beer for supplying the drink specials. Your graciousness will be remembered.

Of course, thank you to the High Noon team. I know you were short a staff member (expecting a lower turn out), but you were all at the top of your game and handled it well. We appreciate your hard work.

We are taking it easy for the rest of the day, but hope to bring you videos and photos of the event later tonight or tomorrow. Again, thank you so much Madison. We already have our wheels spinning as to what we can do next year.

We missed this for breakfast links, but thought it was worth noting. TIME Magazine has an interesting article about the fate of Halloween on State Street in Madison:

Neither Fred Frank, president of Frank Productions, nor city officials would comment on just how much the city has paid to tame the event — officials said audit reports would take weeks to finalize. But taxpayers from Madison to Green Bay have been footing much of the costs for the police and cleanup over the past tumultuous years. George Twigg, a public information officer for Madison's mayor, says the city expects to get at least $200,000 in ticket sales, which he says will help ease the financial burden.

The game isn't completely over, but the State Street festivities surrounding "Freakfest" have come to a close. The reaction from the city, various media sources, and bloggers? Beside the still lingering question of the constitutionality of charging access to a public street and businesses the general consensus is - it worked. There are very few negative comments floating around the ether more than 36 hours after the curtain call for Madison's main Halloween event. We collect it all for you, from videos to photos to media reports to bloggers, below.

Dig in.

If you thought Halloween ended when they street swept State Street, think again. Madison has plenty more reasons to keep applying make-up and costumes. Vampire Jedi anyone (or would that be Vampire Sith)? Below are some ideas:

Zombie Tuesday!: No matter how hard we try the zombies just refuse to stay in the ground here in Madison. They lurched down State Street a couple weekends ago and on Tuesday will be taking part in a Zombie Dance Party at the King Club. UW-Madison's student radio will be hosting this event.

Halloween in Madison unofficially starts on the first Friday prior to the holiday. It typically fizzles out sometime around noon on the Sunday of that weekend and often before we actually get around to October 31. This year is rather unique as we have Halloween events running all the way until November 6. It will be curious to see our collective costume staying power in action (I personally have three costumes this year). However, this entry is not about costume staying power, nay, it is about the hype leading up to the Halloween festivities. Below we collect all of the rumblings and tumblings in the Madison media 'verse as we careen down the cliff to that sacredest of holidays that the city so much wishes keep the lid on (for better or for worse depending on whom you ask) - Halloween.

Last week we brought you Four Star Video Heaven's guide to selecting a perfect horror film. This week we check in with the folks at Strictly Discs on Monroe Street to see what they recommend as alternatives to overplayed Halloween songs like The Monster Mash.

Ryan Halloween Song Picks:

Geto Boys - "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"

A harrowing five minutes of paranoia wedded to a sinister, understated funk loop, "Mind Playing Tricks on Me" is a Hitchcockian take on horror. Scarface, Willie D and Bushwick Bill each share a harrowing vignette that takes as its locale the space between their ears rather than the notorious Fifth Ward of Houston they physically called home. Bushwick's account of robbing adolescent trick-or-treaters and knuckling up with an imaginary nemesis that leaves his hands bloodied in real time stands as the macabre moment. Chilling.

Dane101 has been collecting Halloween activities happening around Madison for the past few weeks and it is now time for us to round up all of the music as we head into the final 10 days of Halloween (we start our round up on Thursday, so technically seven). Below find out what is going on during the biggest two weeks in the city between the lakes.

Thursday, October 25

Know Your Rights

Want to know what the police can and can't do as you prepare to head down to State Street on Halloween weekend? The Madison ACLU is hosting a discussion on search and seizure at University of Wisconsin Law School Room 2211 from 7 p.m. until 8 p.m.

October features at least three one-night only theatrical performances in Madison:

• Friday, October 19: Neighborhood House benefit with Mazer Comedy
• Saturday, October 20: Ultimate Improv
• Tuesday, October 30: Mercury Hot Pants

The first isn’t explicitly a Halloween show but it features some relevant elements, and the second is an improvised show so it could be about Halloween as well as anything else. The third will feature (very) short plays written by local writers in response to the theme of Halloween.

Looking outside Dane County, Royal Oak Productions presents a dramatic reading of Edgar Allen Poe stories in Whitewater October 19, 20, and 25 – 27. The performance will appear in Dane County November 2 and 3 at the Stoughton Center for the Performing Arts.

Details follow:

As we've already mentioned there is no shortage of events happening around town on Saturday, October 27. The most recent entrant to the positively jam packed night of Halloween festivities is Madison's infamous IQ night, a.k.a. indie Queer. The event? HalloQueen - an indie Queer costume ball at the Majestic Theatre. There will be plenty popping at the event including DJs Nick Nice and Real Jaguar. Hosting duties provided by Pierce Bottoms. Side Note: Nick Nice will be bringing DJs back to the Majestic this Friday with SoundLab. If it is indie and danceable, Nick Nice will spin it. The eve of HalloQueen will also be a DJ event at the Majestic - the Context Fashion Show.

Release below:

Dr. Sketchy's is always interesting, providing life-models that have included mermaids, pirates, and burlesque. This month they get into the creepy-crawly-hunky spirit with a Halloween themed anti-art class:

What was in the skies over Belleville, Wisconsin during the months of January through April in 1987? Two decades later, no one knows for sure if the more than a dozen unidentified object reports were actual UFOs, but the citizens of Belleville are unwilling to let it go (and we are the better of for it). Every year the curious and convinced descend on Belleville to celebrate UFO Day - when the town pretty much celebrates the alleged visitations by extraterrestrials.

The Belleville sightings have been studied by "UFO experts," such as the Center for UFO Studies, and been ruled legitimate UFO sightings. Since then, the last weekend of every October, events themed around the unexplained are held. The all day event starts at 8:30 a.m. on October 27 and runs right on until 1 a.m. October 28.

While Halloween always falls on October 31, in Madison the big celebration tends to be on the Saturday prior when State Street becomes the focus of attention (except this year when Dane101 takes over the High Noon on the actual holiday nudge, nudge, wink, wink). Believe it or not, there is always so much more to do around town beyond State Street on October 27. We've gathered it all together and present it below (with State Street's Freakfest announcement at the end). In the past Dane101 has focused heavily on State Street and been somewhat neglectful of the hard work everyone puts into the alternate Madison Halloween events. This year we have been taking steps to change that by being all encompassing (click here to see some other events happening this month). As for the 27th, the big question is - what is up with 70s funk superstars War? They are still slated to play Madison on October 27 but as of yet a venue has not been announced. Anyone? It should be noted that we are privy to two other events that may be planned for October 27, but we are not at liberty to reveal at this time. Stay tuned...

Dane101 would like to take a moment and thank the following businesses for providing costume and door prizes for our Halloween party at the High Noon Saloon on October 31, 2007. Thanks to these sponsors we can offer more than 15 prizes to attendees. Everyone who shows up is entered in a door prize drawing and everyone who contributes a canned good for Second Harvest is entered a second time. Also, a portion of the proceeds will be going toward Second Harvest. More information on our rock-n-roll Halloween Extravaganza below, but first, thank you to:

Orpheum
Glitter Workshop
Just Coffee
Pop Deluxe
Badger Cab
Capital Brewery
Flyin' Squirrel
Mad Rollin Dolls
Sundance Cinema
and more to come....!