FRIDAY, OCT. 25 2013 >>>

1. This Halloween, Pimp 'n' Ho parties just aren't cuttin' it anymore, are they? Neither are the toga parties, the erotic costume contests or the naughty nurse costumes. So much bare flesh, so much cold weather. If Halloween is really to turn into The Day of Getting As Close to Naked As Possible, it should be moved to July. This is not the point. The Weekly Volcano apologizes. The point is, for you, today no longer holds the magic it once did. You seek alternative par-tays. May we suggest Bonfires, Beaver Pelts and Bogeymen from 7-9 p.m. at Point Defiance Park? Celebrate Halloween in the style of past centuries with ghost stories told around a roaring bonfire set to fiddle music.

2. At 7 p.m. the Tacoma Soccer Center will host the second annual Northwest Soccer Legends Night. Two teams of past professionals will compete in a grand indoor night match including local and international legends Alan Hinton and Jimmy Gabriel serve as captains and coaches of the match. Read Kim Thompson's full story here.

3. You have one chance to see The Acting Company's production of Hamlet so err not. The national touring company presents the tale of a young man who finds his father has been murdered and must avenge the horrid deed. Power politics, a haunting, a love story, murder, revenge and great fight scenes converge in one production. The show runs three consecutive nights at the Theatre on the Square beginning tonight at 7:30 p.m.

4. Tacoma Opera's season opener is the Gilbert & Sullivan comedy Pirates of Penzance, at 7:30 p.m. in the Rialto Theater. This will mark the first Gilbert & Sullivan show produced by Tacoma Opera. Bernard Kwiram, musical director and conductor of the Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan Society, will conduct a cast that includes several Pacific Northwest Natives or residents. Read Joann Varnell's full story here.

5. Lakewood Playhouse presents a live, radio-style revival of Orson Welles's War of the Worlds at 8 p.m. Not only will we be performing the 1938 radio drama live before your ears to commemorate its - and the Playhouse's - 75th anniversary, but you'll also get sound effects created to order. That's not even the best part! No, they'll also be paying tribute to a certain expat Kryptonian Boy Scout for his silver birthday, plus a horror short called "The Giggler." It will be a fun night out, but beware: you only have tonight and Saturday to catch it. And stay away from that crater in Grovers Mill! There's something not at all right about that place. Read Joann Varnell's full preview of the production here.

BONUS: Giant Halloween events calendar for the South Sound

LINK: Friday, Oct. 25 arts and entertainment events in the greater Tacoma and Olympia area