Halloween is a great time to be in Miami. Think about it: Warm weather plus an excuse to dress slutty equals an endless sea of girls wearing clothes made of less fabric than your typical gym sock. But you may find yourself wondering where to go to experience this cornucopia of scares, skin and scantily clad people. 

There are always the good old standbys of Coconut Grove or Lincoln Road. But for those who don’t want to deal with the traditional Halloween mob scene, we still have a lot of other options for a quality Saturday/Halloween night.

MiMo District Halloween

Like its counterparts in Coconut Grove and South Beach, the Miami Modern District will be the sight of a nighttime street party with many participating restaurants offering a “Sip of Mimo.” Come in costume and get a free drink. Before night falls, MiMo will be hosting a more family-friendly celebration where kids in costume can play free putt-putt golf at the Upper Eastside garden, and will feature trick or treating at participating businesses. For the unfamiliar, the MiMo district is on Biscayne Boulevard between 68th and 77th Streets, and is now actually a pretty safe place to go.

CAMEO Re-opening

The venerable Cameo Nightclub on Washington Avenue will be reopening its doors Halloween night. This time the club, formerly known as Crobar, will be coming back as one of the Opium group’s ventures. The Halloween Grand Re-Opening will be hosted by porn star Tera Patrick and is dubbed “Teraween.” Despite the lack of creativity in naming its re-opening event, the comeback of a popular South Beach nightspot is always a good time.

Cameo
1445 Washington Ave.
Miami Beach
305-532-2667/www.theopiumgroup.com

Karu and Y Halloween Party

For those who are not fans of paying cover charges to clubs, Kristine Ramirez will be hosting the second annual Karu and Y Halloween party. Just tell the doorlady with the clipboard that you are there with Kristine and you are in free before midnight.  If you have any questions you can e-mail Kristine at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).

Karu and Y
71 NW 14th St.
Miami
305-722-0600

O.H.W.O.W.

This cleverly-acronymed space in Miami’s Design District will be devoting its Halloween exhibition to renowned graffiti artist Neckface, who is known most for his disturbing and macabre drawings. The O.H.W.O.W. space will be devoting all 10,000 of its square feet to Neckface, who is transforming the venue into his own personal haunted house.

For art lovers, this maybe a nice alternative to street , club, and fetish parties.

O.H.W.O.W.
3100 NW 7th Ave.
Miami

Clevelander Heineken Haunted House

The famed Clevelander in South Beach will be turning three of its venues – 1020 Music Boxx, The SPF$ Sun Deck and the Pool Lounge, into a giant Haunted House and Halloween Party. The vibe will likely be a scarier version of what the Clevelander usually is—lots of outdoor fun right by the ocean. The Cleve will also be hosting a Halloween Costume contest beginning at 11:30. First prize is $1,500, second is $500 and third a complimentary bottle at 1020. So be creative.

Clevelander Hotel
1020 Ocean Drive
Miami Beach
877-532-4006/www.clevelander.com

This is by no means the limit of fun events in South Florida for Halloween. But for those who don’t have a house party to go to, and don’t want to deal with the street crows in the usual Halloween hot spots, any of these alternatives should provide you with the Halloween experience you are looking for.

Fetish Factory Fetish Ball at Revolution Live

Fetish Factory is a revolving party in South Florida that features, well, people dressed up in fetish gear. The problem is, if you are curious about this and do not happen to own crotchless chaps and studded whips, you typically can’t get in if you don’t dress the part. But Halloween is the great exception. On Halloween the good folks at Fetish Factory will allow you in if you are dressed in costume, and it doesn’t even have to be fetish-related (thought that’s not discouraged.) This year’s Fetish Ball will be held at Revolution Live in Downtown Fort Lauderdale. But be advised, this event is not for the prudish. Check out this video montage of past parties to get an idea of what this is all about.

Tickets are $20 and are available at the door or here

Revolution Live
200 W Broward Blvd.
Fort Lauderdale

Matt Meltzer is a featured columnist at Miami Beach 411. Matt’s column appears Tuesdays. See more articles by Matt Meltzer >