Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train goes scary-fairy-tale

We can’t decide which we like best: the Lady Gaga–styled Snow White and her seven zombie dwarves or the little dragon-slayer who takes on a gigantic, wing-flapping, smoke-breathing beast. Yup, the Mortal Coil Performance Society has outdone itself again for this year’s Halloween Ghost Train, this time turning Stanley Park into a dark, Grimm forest full of fairy-tale creatures gone spookily—and sometimes hilariously—awry. We don’t want to give away all its pleasures, but among the scary fairy-tale treats are a towering, stilt-walking witch who emerges from a snowy storybook landscape to offer you red apples to what appears to be a princess squished by a giant pea. Think freaky-looking three little pigs and ogres amid the trees—and wait till you see what a particularly porcine, gingerbread-house-hoovering Hansel and Gretel have done with the witch. The Ghost Train runs till October 31, with added goodies throughout the month, including a pumpkin patch starting October 17 and ongoing crafts and a haunted castle.