Toronto's pre-Halloween weekend is packed, and the lineup runs from free mocktails to million-light displays. Here's what's worth your time from Friday, Oct. 23 to Sunday, Oct. 25.

For the brave, two big haunted options stand out. Casa Loma's Legends of Horror turns the hilltop castle and its tunnels into an hour-long scare maze, a decade-running tradition with early family hours at 5:30, 6 and 6:30 p.m. on weekends before regular 7 p.m. scares — tickets start at $35 plus fees. Over in Vaughan, Halloween Haunt takes over Canada's Wonderland on select nights until Nov. 1, with a Conjuring-themed attraction, haunted mazes, scare zones, live shows and night rides. Entry starts at $45 plus taxes and fees.

If you'd rather keep things gentler, head to CF Sherway Gardens in Etobicoke, where Halloween Nights of Lights and Pumpkinville strings up more than 1.5 million lights alongside 15,000 real pumpkins, midway rides and seasonal food. It runs select dates until Nov. 1, with hours from Thursday 5-11 p.m. through Saturday noon to midnight. Adult tickets start at $21.99 plus fees, kids at $16.99.

History fans can book the Ghost Walks: Hidden Histories After Dark tour, running Fridays until Oct. 30. The $15, two-hour walk includes access to Scadding Cabin, Toronto's oldest surviving building, plus the Horse Palace. It starts at the General Services Building at 2 Manitoba Dr.

Plenty of the weekend's best stuff costs nothing. Kiehl's at Yorkdale is hosting a holiday cocktail party Friday from 5 to 8 p.m. with free festive mocktails and treats. Lululemon at CF Fairview Mall runs a free costumed 5K fun run Friday at 7 p.m. The North Face throws a free winter kickoff party, Winter Stoke, on Saturday at 7 p.m. at stacks market on Bathurst Street. And Honey, inside Portland Square on King Street West, launches its new late-night lounge concept with DJs every Friday and Saturday — Friday brings Darren Luistro, Saturdays a 'tea party' with spiked tea cocktails from Razaq El Toro, from 8 p.m. until late.

Shoppers get a treat too: The Welcome Market's annual 'Shop Spooky' lands at its two-storey Queen and Shaw space on Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., free to enter — and it doubles as the market's sixth-anniversary party.

Early risers can catch a limited-time breakfast collab between Harry's Charbroiled Burgers and Boxcar Social at Waterworks Food Hall on Brant Street. Weekend mornings from 8 to 11 a.m. get you breakfast sandwiches (vegetarian, bacon and burger), hash browns, cookies and coffee combos starting at $14.50.

Whether you're chasing scares, lights or free stuff, the weekend covers all three — and most events are easy to string together along the Queen West and downtown corridors. Halloween Haunt is in Vaughan, so budget travel time if you're relying on transit.