Exclusive Member Preview: Permian Monsters
Saturday, September 27, 2025 - 12:00pm to 5:00pm
Cranbrook Institute of Science members are invited to be the very first to experience our newest traveling exhibition Permian Monsters: Life Before the Dinosaurs before it opens to the public!
This special members-only preview includes:
- A live reptile presentation (1–3pm): Meet fascinating animals of today and discover their ancient connections.
- First access to the exhibition: Be among the first to explore this incredible look at life before the age of dinosaurs.
Not a member yet, or need to renew? Click below to purchase a membership and start enjoying your benefits today!
Monster Mash (21+ only)
Friday, October 24, 2025 - 7:00pm to 10:00pm
Get ready for a frighteningly good time!
Join us for our Monster Mash—a Halloween party like no other, exclusively for adults 21 and up.
Enjoy a spine-tingling lineup of activities, eerie entertainment, creepy competitions, Halloween classics reimagined, and more ghoulishly good times as you explore the museum…after dark.
Sci-tacular highlights include:
- Costume Contest: Strut your creeptastic costume in solo or group categories!
- Flashlight Ghost Tours: Brave the shadows to discover secrets lurking in dark corners.
- Celebrity or Serial Killer?: Test your knowledge of the infamous.
- Liquid Nitrogen Ice Cream: Enjoy a sinisterly good icy treat made before your eyes.
- Skeleton Dance-Off: Show off your best moves with a bony partner—an actual skeleton!
- Final Girl: Uncover the morality of horror movies.
- Mummy Relay: Race to wrap your way to victory!
- Dino Gore Show: Horrifying deaths from the fossil record.
- Mini Pumpkin Decorating: Enchant us with your Halloween creativity.
- Halloween in the Acheson Planetarium: A cosmic twist on seasonal chills.
- Stargazing at the Observatory: Peer into the unknown…if you dare.
- Haunting Memories: Get your boo-tiful picture taken with free professional photos!
And that’s just the beginning…
Food & Spirits
Enjoy Halloween-themed bites and devilish drinks (available for purchase), including specialty cocktails brewed just for the occasion.
Costumes Encouraged
Whether you go full vampire glam, undead chic, or mad scientist style, this is your night to dress to distress. Show off your most creative—or chilling!—look for a chance to win our costume contest. Group and individual entries welcome! Not into dressing up? No problem—your presence is the real treat.
Tickets
$29 for members, $35 for non-members, and $5 additional per person for walk-in attendees. Pre-registration is strongly encouraged and closes Thursday, October 23 at 5:00pm. Tickets are nonrefundable.
Halloween Science 2025
Saturday, October 25, 2025 - 10:00am - 1:00pm OR 2:30 to 5:30pm
Costumes Encouraged!
A host of not-too-scary activities and shows highlight Halloween Science at the Institute! Take a fun ride in the Acheson Planetarium, experience our electrifying scientist, hear creepy stories, see a pumpkin hurled through the air from our massive trebuchet, take the bug eating challenge, indulge in ice cream made right before your eyes, and much more! Amid the Halloween decor at the Institute numerous experiments, make-and-take arts & crafts and activity stations await young and old alike. While you explore the haunted hallways, check out the newly opened Permian Monsters exhibit.
Don’t wait! Reserve your tickets today!
Pricing for pre-registered attendees:
$23 per person for members
$27 per person for non-members
$5 additional per person for walk-in attendees
Walk ups welcome; however not guaranteed. Pre-registration is recommended.
Pre-Registration closes @5pm 10/22.
For questions, email us at cisreservations@cranbrook.edu or call 248-645-3210.