While everyone loves a good Halloween scare, the streets of New Orleans are notorious for giving people more to fear than well-executed makeup and realistic costume props. However, the NOPD arrested four murder suspects over the last 24 hours, making this year's post-Halloween postmortem mostly about who was hauled in.

The hours are ticking down to come up with a Halloween costume idea. Miss Claudia and other Magazine Street dress-up divas have offered their advice. Now, it's time for Chief Puzzler Paolo Roy to weigh in. This week's New Orleans-themed Crossword unveils some of the season's best getups. Click through to do:

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

New Orleanians aren’t going to let a mid-week Halloween get in the way of their macabre merrymaking, and Jim Monaghan’s 17th Annual Molly’s Halloween Parade is the perfect venue for festive folks to party hard and still be in bed before everyone runs out of candy.

by Emma Boyce

With Halloween just around the corner it’s almost time to run into that phone booth and throw on your super suit.  Ha!  If only it were that simple. For days, perhaps even weeks Halloween enthusiasts have agonized over costume ideas. Turning to friends for help they wonder: How am I going to make this work, has this been done before? Will people get it?  

It’s Monday in the Big Easy, and Halloween is fast approaching. Don’t let the chill in the air stop you from enjoying all the local music gigs happening around the city, and don’t miss the four time Grammy nominated singer/songwriter Jewel in town at the Convention Center. On this day in 1998, No Limit Records Founder and New Orleans native Master P (Percy Miller) was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine.

by Emma Boyce

It’s that time of year again.  Hocus Pocus on every channel.  Finishing a bag of mini-sized kit-kats before the first trick or treaters even ring the bell.  And the one thing on everyone’s mind is: what will I wear!

by Jillian Firnhaber

Haunted tales are a dime a dozen around the French Quarter, but those looking for a good scare on Halloween weekend have a couple options outside the Vieux Carre that don't involve hand grenades and stories that may be a little loose with the truth. Sheriff Charle's Foti's famed haunted house in City Park is no longer around, so the debate about which of the Crescent City's haunted house is scarier is down to two: House of Shock or Mortuary. Staples of the NOLA-Halloween festivities, both creepy cottages feature plenty of that will send a chill down even the most jaded horror fans. NOLA Defender makes a case for both sites.

Green Day left a void in the Voodoo Music Experience schedule when they announced they were bowing out earlier this week. But the blank didn't stick around for long. This afternoon, the fest announced Metallica will be filling the Oct. 27 headlining slot, closing out the night at the Le Ritual stage for close to three hours. The infamous metal band is in its third decade of performing. From Lou Reed to New Orleans' own Soul Rebels, the quartet has been no stranger to collaborations and guest spots recently.

Halloween weekend is rapidly descending upon us, and some may be scraping for last minute ways to put a new twist on that old Storm Trooper costume. What? Not you? Well, anyway, don't let the calendar pass you by in the maelstrom of costuming. As NoDef Burlesque columnist Moxie Sazerac declared earlier this month, Halloween in New Orleans is the unofficial holiday of Burlesque. Read her latest column to find out where to see some costumes come off after putting yours on.

Would-be maskers who went home undisguised after the abrupt shutdown of the Carnival Costume Bazaar at the Blue Nile this past Mardi Gras have nothing to fear this Halloween. No fines will be reaped and no ghosts will be busted.