It's Halloween, and so prime concert time for the hard, the heavy, the spooky, the theatrical, and the melancholy. First and foremost, it's the high holy day for the costumed and the face-painted. As punk-rock teenagers from Mars, the Misfits have stretched their legacy of brutality well into middle age. The seminal horror-punks' 25th-anniversary tour includes one founding member plus Marky Ramone and former Black Flag maniacs Robo and Dez Cadena. The band finish up a two-night stand tonight (Thursday, October 25) at the Middle East (617-864-EAST) in Cambridge, then head to Toad's Place (203-624-8623) in New Haven on Friday and to Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Sunday.

Successors to the Misfits on the rock-as-comic-book-convention circuit are Insane Clown Posse, who bring their extended grease-painted family -- including Blaze, Twiztid, and their Dark Lotus supergroup -- along for the "Hatchet Rising Tour," which stops at the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Friday. Hell-disco leatherboys (and girls) My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult drag out the Chicago-techno-as-B-movie cliché with modern metal disciples Professional Murder Music at Axis (617-262-2437) in Boston on Saturday. And fans of technologically advanced interstellar avant-instrumental geekage can catch Man . . . or Astroman? on Monday at Dartmouth College (603-646-1110) in Hanover, New Hampshire; on Tuesday and Wednesday at the Middle East; and next Thursday, November 1, at the University of Connecticut (860-486-2000) in Storrs.

Got metal? This year's Korn-less, Bizkit-less "Family Values Tour" still packs a hearty meal. Arriving on Friday at the Hartford Civic Center (860-241-4229) and on Saturday at the Worcester Centrum (617-931-2000), it features glam-grunge warriors Stone Temple Pilots, who are always good for a hard-rock hook and a feather boa; the arguably way-bigger-deal Staind, who have learned STP's lessons about brokering metal aggression with soft-focus pop balladry; and second-tier attractions Linkin Park, Static X, and Deadsy, who'll provide the rap, industrial, and goth-metal seasoning missing from the main courses. Then on Tuesday, the season's bigger, heavier metal package, the "Pledge of Allegiance" tour, storms the Centrum. Monster-masked madmen Slipknot, the savage Rick Rubin-produced neo-thrash quartet System of a Down, German industrial clowns Rammstein, and American Head Charge forge a new world order.

Nothing spooky about Jam'n 94.5's sold-out "Monster Jam" on Monday at the FleetCenter (617-931-2000) -- it's just the hip-hop concert of the year, with P. Diddy, Ja Rule, Missy Elliott, Timbaland's white protégé Bubba Sparxxx (of the unforgettable hit "Ugly"), Nelly, and City High. But the world has gotten markedly scarier since Bono was here just a few months ago, and U2's Halloween two-nighter in Providence is the first time they've come to New England since "Walk On" became the official MTV soundtrack to disaster footage. They're at the Dunkin' Donuts Civic Center (401-331-6700) on Tuesday and Wednesday.