Call us traditionalists: On Halloween, we're less about topical yet sexy costumes and overpriced cover charges at bars, and more into some good, old-fashioned spookiness. Which is why we love PoeFest, an annual event in downtown Phoenix that pays homage to the creepy genius of the original master of horror, Edgar Allan Poe. For much of the month of October, PoeFest puts on live renditions of some of the author's most beloved works at the very haunted San Carlos Hotel; local actors dress up as asylum patients and perform dramatic readings of works like "The Tell-Tale Heart." The 2016 iteration, the festival's eighth, even included a seance where participants tried to make contact with Poe himself. The festival culminates with multiple readings of Poe's "The Raven" at the turn-of-the-century Rosson House on October 31. The poem is pretty short, so you can get a strong dose of Halloween spirit before donning your costume and heading off to the bar.