October 31 is a Saturday this year, so Brookline's Halloween traditions don't have to fit around a workday. Puppet Showplace Theater runs a shadow-puppet witch story in the morning. Beals Street starts trick-or-treating at 4 p.m. At 11:30 p.m., the Coolidge Corner Theatre opens its doors for a 12-hour horror marathon that lets out around the same time the puppet theater starts its Sunday show.
That adds up to about 25 hours of Halloween programming with one real gap. It also lands in a year when Beals Street is up for a national title and two westbound C branch stops near Coolidge Corner will be skipped.
The Day, Hour by Hour
Here is how Saturday and the following morning line up, using each organizer's published times:
- 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. "Lisa the Wise: A Baba Yaga Story" by Sarah Nolen of Puppet Motion at Puppet Showplace Theater. The show is shadow puppetry, recommended for ages 4 to 10.
- 4 to 8 p.m. Halloween on Beals Street, centered on the JFK Birthplace at 83 Beals St.
- 8 to 11:30 p.m. The gap.
- 11:30 p.m. The 25th Halloween Horror Marathon begins in Moviehouse 1 at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St.
- Sunday, Nov. 1, 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Puppet Showplace repeats "Lisa the Wise" while the marathon's 12 hours are winding down.
The handoff goes from kids' matinee to block party to an all-night screening and back to a kids' matinee.
Beals Street Has a National Audience This Year
The 4 p.m. start on Beals Street is a long-standing local fixture. This October, the block also has a national ranking. The Brookline Record reported on Oct. 9 that Reese's named Beals Street one of 150 nominees nationwide in its "Trick-or-Treatiest Street in America" contest, a result first reported by MassLive.
The scores hold up next to the competition. Three Massachusetts streets made the list. Beals Street earned a Haul Score of 97.9 and a Haunt Score of 95, the highest Haunt Score of the three. According to the Record, Reese's chose its nominees by analyzing candy, costume and décor purchases, walkability and local reputation, along with a survey of 15,000 residents. Its description of Beals Street covers the stretch between Harvard and Gibbs streets: decorated homes, creative costumes and candy at nearly every door.
The Reese's Halloween Council announces the winner on Oct. 21, ten days before trick-or-treating. The winning street gets a Halloween block party with seasonal treats.
Brookline Interactive Group, the nonprofit community media hub, made a video feature showing how the street closes each year for what it calls a Halloween extravaganza, with costumed dinosaurs explaining the appeal. In Brookline.News's 2025 trick-or-treat coverage, a resident described Beals Street and nearby Stedman Street as "wall-to-wall with people."
Two details are still open as of Oct. 12:
- Road closure hours. In 2025, the town's list closed Beals Street between Harvard and Gibbs from 5 to 10 p.m. The Brookline Record's Oct. 9 article says the street closes each year but gives no 2026 hours. If the 2025 window repeats, the closure would start an hour after trick-or-treating begins, so cars could still be on the street during the first hour.
- The National Park Service's role. The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site shares the 83 Beals St. address and closes for the 2026 season on Friday, Oct. 30. The Record notes it's unclear whether the NPS site takes part that evening or whether the Friends of the JFK Birthplace run the event on their own.
The Three and a Half Hours After 8 p.m.
Trick-or-treating ends at 8 p.m. and the marathon starts at 11:30. As of this writing, we haven't found a 2026 merchant trick-or-treat, library event or town Halloween program listed for those hours.
The gap separates the family part of the day from the overnight part. The Beals Street celebration covers the stretch between Harvard and Gibbs streets, and the marathon is at 290 Harvard St., so both halves of the night are on or just off Harvard Street.
What Happens in Moviehouse 1
The Coolidge's announcement is written like a monster-movie trailer. The marathon "has been torn from its tomb to terrify the world," and the theme this year is mummies.
The opening films are the only two announced:
- The Mummy, the Universal monster film starring Boris Karloff, which the theater credits with launching "the last century of mummy mania."
- The Mummy's Shroud, a Hammer Films title screening from a rare archival print from the U.K., provided by Hammer. The Coolidge says it is the first venue to show the film in 35mm in North America in decades.
Five more films stay secret "until they hit the screen." The night also includes "mummified music," a costume contest, and 35mm trailers and shorts. The theater hasn't published contest rules or prizes.
The ticket page lists two options:
| Ticket | Price | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Marathon | $45 | $3.75 |
| Creature Double Feature | $35 | $3.75 |
Two cautions. The ticket page shows quantity selectors for both options but doesn't clearly say how many seats are left. And the Coolidge's printed September–October film guide lists the marathon at 11:59 p.m., while the event page and ticket page both say 11:30 p.m. The two online pages agree, so 11:30 is the time to plan around.
The Coolidge's site still has a page for the 24th Halloween Horror Marathon, the edition before this one.
The Week Before Builds Up to It
The Coolidge doesn't wait until Saturday. Its September–October guide fills Halloween week with a run of horror screenings that leads into the marathon:
- Mon., Oct. 26: Alien
- Tue., Oct. 27: Ganja & Hess
- Wed., Oct. 28: The Omen
- Thu., Oct. 29: Poltergeist and The Prophecy
- Fri., Oct. 30: Fright Night
Outside the theater, the week has a few more events. Sunday, Oct. 25 brings the W.H. Lincoln School Pumpkinfest at noon, which its organizers call their biggest annual carnival, with food, rides, games and prizes. On Thursday, Oct. 29, the Brookline Farmers' Market runs from 1:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Centre Street West Parking Lot, behind the same theater that hosts the marathon two nights later. The market's season continues through Nov. 19.
The week ends with a teen film night. On Thursday, Nov. 5 at 6 p.m., the BIG Teen Media Showcase takes over Moviehouse 5 at the Coolidge for a short film and two documentaries made by Brookline teens, followed by a Q&A with the producers.
Getting to Harvard Street on the C Branch
Accessibility work on the Green Line C branch changes how outbound riders reach Coolidge Corner over Halloween. These are the current MBTA alerts:
| Stop | Direction | Skipped | Use instead |
|---|---|---|---|
| Saint Paul Street | Westbound | Oct. 19 to Nov. 7 | Coolidge Corner or Kent Street, about 0.2 miles away |
| Hawes Street | Westbound | Oct. 19 to Nov. 7 | Saint Mary's Street or Kent Street |
| Brandon Hall | All trains | Through Oct. 30 | Fairbanks Street or Summit Avenue |
The Saint Paul Street change matters most on Halloween night. Westbound riders who would normally get off at Saint Paul will need to use Coolidge Corner or Kent Street instead. The MBTA describes these as skipped stops, not a shutdown of the branch, and they come after the full Government Center to Cleveland Circle suspension from Aug. 8 to 16. The Brandon Hall alert runs through Oct. 30, the day before Halloween.
The Saint Paul and Hawes alerts cover westbound trains only.
If you're planning a Halloween weekend open house on or near Beals Street, or trying to pick a list date that doesn't collide with the busiest night of the year, talk to Zander Realty Group about timing a Brookline sale around the neighborhood's calendar. When you're ready to see where your home stands, Get an Estimate.
