FILM James Franco goes from Freak to beat poet chic in Howl, an inventive biopic about Allen Ginsberg screening at Northwest Film Forum all week. Check back tomorrow for our review of the film. Oct 29-Nov 4.

HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS From a zombie convention to Cannibal the Musical, we found 10 great ways to embrace your inner ghoul this weekend (family-friendly options included). You can find them here.

THEATER ACT’s gory black comedy The Lieutenant of Inishmore is perfect for Halloween—if you can stomach it. Read our review here. Thru Nov 14.

SPECIAL EVENT The Seattle offshoot to Jon Stewart’s quasi-comic Rally to Restore Sanity in DC is getting bigger….and bigger. More than 5,000 people plan to show up at Westlake Park—will you? Oct 30, 9am.

SPORTS Sounders FC face David Beckham, Landon Donovan, and the top-seeded LA Galaxy in their opening-round MLS playoff match on Sunday at 5pm. Scared? Who’s scared?

EXHIBIT The new Harry Potter exhibit is a Disneyfied good time, complete with props from the yet-to-be-released seventh film and a Quaffle-tossing station. We are good at Quidditch. Check out the slideshow for scenes from inside Hogwarts.

CONCERT Lovable local folk/orchestral band Hey Marseilles plays Saturday night at Columbia City Theatre.

Hear the latest from experimental singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens at the Paramount Theatre, also on Saturday. Maybe even a “gothic piano ballad.” As a teaser: Here’s his first new single, “The Age of Adz.”