Shanghai will take any excuse to dress up and party, so Halloween holds a special place in the Strumpet of the Orient's heart. The nightlife section currently has over 40 parties ready to kick off this weekend's ghoulish festivities. If you want to see all of them, head over to the section, but below are just some of the dozens of highlights:

Thursday

• Antidote's Goth Night at C's.
• A classier take on goth at Lounge 18's Goth Night
• Spring Sunrise's open bar is well, open for business.

Friday

• For the indecisive, hop on a party bus to ensure you hit all of Shanghai's hot sports. Right now the two buses rolling around are the The Halloween Howler and Blue Frog's Froggy Bus Shuffle
• If you're looking for live music, the show everyone's talking about seems to be an S.T.D Halloween Party featuring the usual STDJs alongside the Subs, Boys Climbing Ropes and Yellow Riot (a The Clash Tribute band with members of The Rogue Transmission). There's a lot of other live music around on this All Hallows Eve so also check out the Halloween jazz show at Two Cities Gallery, RedBeat's house band at Wicked (accompanied by DJ Thomas Paninaro), the live show and festivities at Live Bar and the live metal bands at Harley's.
• Also look for two re-opens, LGBT newbie Club LC is back in action as well as I Love Shanghai which is breaking in it's new Jing'an digs tonight.
• As far as parties go, there's no shortage, The Art Lab is starting early with Trick or Gin? to launch Saffron Gin, The Shelter is getting blinged out, Dubfire's rocking M2 and Park Tavern is teaming up with Duvel for a night of debauchery. Jameson's is also getting in on the festivities sponsoring the licentiousness at Velvet Lounge. Of course this list of Shanghai soirees could not be complete without a mention of the Shanghaiist party, Bon Bon's open bar feat. Brodinski, Monster Mash at G Plus, the Decadent Devil's Den at New Heights and Halloween MAO style
• To give a nod to CW's own "buzz" meter, other highly buzzed parties are going on at, Bulldog Shanghai, Aqua Bar, Candy Club, Figaro After Dark, Club Caribbean, Volar, De La Coast, The Beaver, The Spot, Mural, Zapata's and Martini Bar
• Finally, an Eyes Wide Shut Party is going on at Classic Loft in Yangpu. Interesting ... not sure we'll want to see the photos from this one, just remember your mask.

Saturday

• Although Halloween festivities are winding down for most, Bar Rouge swings into action with Erotica
• The LGBT community also seems to be pushing its parties back a day (why have only one day of Halloween when you could have two?) as the ShanghaiLGBT Third Annual Halloween Pub Crawl, Gaylloween Party Shanghai and LC's Singles Night are all tonight.