A spooktacular array of events awaits those wishing to explore Halloween fun this week around the county.

Kicking off the local celebrations, Newberry College is hosting Haunted Hoops Wednesday. A free event at Eleazer Arena, it is billed as a night of fright, fun and basketball. Autographs and activities begin at 6:15 p.m. and there promises to be something for all tastes. Included are: a candy corn guess, haunted house, mummy wrap, face painting, monster building, pumpkin decorating, bobbing for apples and pin the nose on the pumpkin. And get those costumes out and on, as there will be a contest.

The Safe Kids Halloween event at Newberry County Memorial Hospital will be Thursday from 6-8 p.m. in the hospital’s Evans Street parking lot. There will be a costume contest at 7 p.m. There will be food for sale, but all other activities are free.

Trick-or-treating in Whitmire will be Saturday, with its annual Halloween carnival at the R.C. Lake Gymnasium at the old Whitmire school the same night.

The carnival used to be at the armory, but the party outgrew itself.

The Town of Prosperity is hosting a Square Spooktacular on Saturday night, 6-8 p.m. The town’s police department and business association are putting on a trunk-or-treat on the square, complete with games, a costume contest and much more. Children will be grouped by age for the costume contest and winners will be announced at 7 p.m. You must be registered to win.

Halloween Night returns to the Bush River Activities Association at 9725 Bush River Road Saturday. Food service will be from 6-7:30 p.m. Games and fun then pick up and last until 9 p.m. There will be a Spook Ride, new games, trick-or-treat bags, prizes and cakewalks. Irene Brooks has donated one of her famous German chocolate cakes for a raffle and there will be bingo for the adults.

Also for the older set are a series of horror movies showing at the Ritz Theater at 1511 Main St., Newberry, on Halloween. The Newberry Community Players are screening four movies from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m. as a fundraiser. The five dollar admittance fee will go toward the Players and their effort to restore the Ritz to its former Art Deco appearance.

Main features include Little Shop of Horrors (1960) starring a young Jack Nicholson, The House on Haunted Hill (1959) with Vincent Price, the original Night of the Living Dead (1968) followed by a midnight showing of Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space (1959). Films will be shown in the main auditorium and in the lobby with concessions.

The showings will include vintage commercials and trailers. Audience members can come and go as they please. The Ritz Halloween Fundraiser will mark the first showing of a motion picture in its auditorium in over 30 years.