For the Kids

•Name: Chad and Patricia Neff

WASHINGTON, D.C. — It's improving. It's better. Americans can be proud of it again.

With Halloween approaching, for the third year I've been driving across the Lehigh Valley to look at houses decorated for the holiday.

When an aerialist balances on a pencil-thin wire or an acrobat lands seemingly impossible flips, it almost seems like circus performers have superhuman powers.

Two of today's most popular and well known children's book creators will make rare appearances in Bethlehem next month.

Trick or treating, mascot visits and plenty of animals await little ones at Boo at the Zoo on Saturday and Sunday.

•Names: Isabel and John Moyer

It's the ultimate fall family outing.

The 2014 Allentown Halloween Parade, a tradition that showcases local talent and celebrates the city, kicks off at 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19, from the Allentown Fairgrounds.

A mysterious washerwoman from the late 1800s has been said to haunt the Guard Lock No. 8 next to the Chain Dam in Glendon, about two miles west of Easton on the south side of the Lehigh Canal.

•Name: Janis Adams

Q: My 12-year-old son's friend is adventurous and likes to go to haunted houses. My son is more reserved and not into those kind of activities. When he says he doesn't want to go to a haunted house, his friend calls him a "scaredy cat." Other than that, they have been good...

GET READY FOR HALLOWEEN PARADES

•Name: Chuck and Diane Rute

OK, so one evening you're watching "Pawn Stars" and some guy is selling a pile of old trading cards. You say to yourself, "Hey, I've got some old cards. What are the odds I have a treasure trove packed away in an old shoe box?"

Allentown: 2 p.m. Oct. 19. Begins at Allentown Fairgrounds, 17th and Chew streets, ends at Seventh and Hamilton streets. Rain date, Oct. 26.

There's nothing funny about running a half marathon.

For the next few days at the Frank Banko Alehouse Cinemas at SteelStacks, you can check out a quartet of movies that in different ways, prove the genius of Hollywood storytelling.

Allentown will bleed orange Friday night when the Lehigh Valley Phantoms play their regular season home opener at the PPL Center in center city Friday night.

It has been a family tradition every fall for more than 40 years.

"John Tartaglia's ImaginOcean," a magical show combining puppets and black light, kicks off Miller Symphony Hall's 2014-2015 Family Series with performances at 1 and 4 p.m. Sunday.