FESTIVAL: OCT. 12-14

Turn off the TV, get off that living-room couch and work your imagination at the 19th annual Talk Story Festival, a celebration of good old-fashioned storytelling. The themes: "Spooky Stories," "Say Something New" and "Tales and Tunes." The storytellers: Ed Chevy, Nyla Ching-Fujii, Alton Chung, Brenda Freitas-Obregon, Daniel Kelin II, Lopaka Kapanui, Sandra MacLees, Dan Seki and more. Mainland guests Lyn Ford, right, and Sean Buvala will present a storytelling workshop with Chung Oct. 14.

6-9 p.m. Oct. 12-13 and 5:30-8 p.m. Oct. 14 / Ala Moana Beach Park's McCoy Pavilion / Free / www.honoluluparks.com.

EXPO: OCT. 12-14

Is it too early to shop for the holidays? Never! Ideas should abound at the 43rd annual Holiday Food and New Products Show, where local and Mainland exhibitors will showcase the latest innovations, tantalizing treats and food. Entertainment is by the "Stars in Concert Hawai'i" (Jonathan Von Brana, left, as Elvis) from the Lau Yee Chai showroom and there's autograph signing by June Jones, Wally Amos, Tom Moffatt, Betty Shimabukuro and Tiffany Thurston.

4-10 p.m. Oct. 12, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Oct. 13 and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 14 / Blaisdell Exhibition Hall / $5 general; $4 seniors 55 and older, military with ID and children ages 7-12; free for children under 7 with paying adult / 945-3594, www.pacificexpos.com.

CONCERT: OCT. 13

Get ready for a night of dancing and partying, '90s style. For the first time in Honolulu, C&C Music Factory (featuring Freedom Williams, right), The Cover Girls and Seduction will strut down memory lane with hits such as "Gonna Make You Sweat," "Things That Make You Go Hmmm," "Wishing On A Star," "Show Me," "Heartbeat" and "Two To Make It Right." DJs G-Spot, James Cole and Quiksilva will be spinning '80s and '90s tunes throughout the night.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Oct. 13 / Pipeline Cafe / $35 / 877-750-4400, www.ticketmaster.com.

FESTIVAL: OCT. 18-28

More than 150 feature films, documentaries, shorts and animated pieces from around the world, including South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, New Zealand, India, Taiwan, Italy, France and the U.K., will be presented at the 27th annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival. Among them: "Love and Honor," the final film in director Yamada Yoji's samurai trilogy; "Rails and Ties" starring Kevin Bacon and Marcia Gay Harden, "The Kite Runner," based on the best-selling novel by Khaled Hosseini; and "August Rush," starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Keri Russell.

Various times Oct. 18-28 / Regal Cinemas Dole Cannery and Hawai'i Theatre / $10 general, $9 students, seniors and military; tickets go on sale to HIFF members Oct. 8, to the general public Oct. 12 / 550-8457, www.hiff.org.

ETC.: OCT. 19-20

The School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa will host its eighth biennial open house, below, themed "Ocean Depths to Outer Space!" Attendees will learn about volcanoes, tsunamis, El Nino, planetary exploration, hurricanes, coastal erosion, marine ecosystems and more through a variety of videos, posters, and interactive demonstrations. They also can visit state-of-the-art laboratories and hear about cutting-edge research from the faculty, students and scientists who are making new discoveries.

8:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Oct. 19 for schools only; 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 20 for the public / UH-Manoa, Pacific Ocean Science and Technology building / Free / www.soest.hawaii.edu/openhouse.

HALLOWEEN: OCT. 20-28

Halloween is right around the corner, and so are the most important element: pumpkins! Aloun Farms' yearly Pumpkin Patch on the farm in Kapolei features pumpkin-picking, hay rides, jumpers, food and flyin' Hawaiian pumpkin slingshot. Bring a nonperishable canned food donation to donate to the Hawaii Foodbank and receive a mini flat pumpkin.

9 a.m.-5 p.m. Oct. 20-21 and 27-28 / Aloun Farms, 91-1440 Farrington Highway / $3 parking fee, plus price of pumpkins / 677-9516.

CONCERT: OCT. 20

Radio station 102.7 Da Bomb throws itself a party: Bomb Birthday 7 features national recording artists Pitbull ("Shake," "Culo"); Che'nelle ("I Fell in Love With a DJ"); and Collie Buddz ("Come Around"), left. Jimmy Da Geek hosts.

9 p.m.-4 a.m. Oct. 20 / Pipeline Cafe / $25 advance, $35 at the door / 877-750-4400, www.ticketmaster.com.

CONCERT: OCT. 21

The acclaimed Shanghai Quartet, below — Weigang Li, Yi-Wen Jiang, Honggang Li and Nicholas Tzavaras — kicks off the 51st Honolulu Chamber Music Series season. The ensemble, which has an East/West repertoire that includes Chinese folk music and contemporary classical pieces, has issued more than 20 recordings on multiple labels. Upcoming Chamber Music Series include: Christopher O'Riley, Nov. 12; Interpreti Veneziani, Jan. 29; Anonymous 4, Feb. 23; Parisii Quartet, March 14; Claremont Piano Trio, April 11.

7:30 p.m. Oct. 21 / UH-Manoa, Orvis Auditorium / $30 advance, $35 at the door general admission; $18 advance and $20 at the door for students and Honolulu Symphony musicians / 483-7123, www.etickethawaii.com.

CONCERT: OCT. 23

New Jersey's rocking and rolling Fountains of Wayne bring their musical tales of white-collar folks to a gig at Pipeline Cafe. On their last album, "Traffic and Weather," lyrics include characters such as a Department of Motor Vehicles worker; Seth Shapiro and Beth Mackenzie, in an almost hook-up between two lonely, hard-working New Yorkers; and an exhausted couple at an airport baggage claim.

8 p.m. Oct. 23 / Pipeline Cafe / $22 general, $45 VIP / 877-750-4400, www.ticketmaster.com.

HALLOWEEN: OCT. 31

Ghoulish ghosts and ghastly goblins — but of the not-so-threatening kind — will gather on Halloween night at Bishop Museum's 20th annual Treat Street. Keiki of all ages are invited to participate in an evening of safe trick-or-treating along the colorful Treat Street, with costume and pie-eating contests, storytelling, games and food.

5:30-8 p.m. Oct. 31 / Bishop Museum's Great Lawn / Free, donations welcome / 847-3511.

HALLOWEEN: OCT. 31

"Is that your wife? What a lovely throat." The silent movie classic "Nosferatu" will be screened, appropriately enough, on Halloween. Max Schreck stars as the evil vampire in F.W. Murnau's masterpiece of horror based on Bram Stoker's "Dracula." Music on the theater's Robert Morton Orchestral Theatre Organ will underscore the roller-coaster ride of terror.

7 p.m. Oct. 31 / Hawai'i Theatre / $8 general, $3 discount for theater members, seniors 62 and older, youths 17 and younger, students and military with ID / 528-0506, www.hawaiitheatre.com.