This week downtown: a history-and-haunts walking tour and a Día de los Muertos family show

Two downtown Olympia picks for the first big weekend of spooky season, both starting Friday, Oct. 16.

Olympia History & Haunted Walking Tour

When: Friday, Oct. 16, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Where: Meet on the boardwalk between the Olympia Oyster House (320 4th Ave. W) and the "Kissing Statue" on 4th Avenue West, overlooking Percival Landing Park Cost: $30 Host: Pretty Gritty Tours (listed on Experience Olympia)

Author and professor Ira Wesley Kitmacher, who has written "Haunted Graveyard of the Pacific" and "Spirits Along the Columbia River," leads this roughly 10-block walk through historic downtown. The tour covers the legends behind the city's founding, the "mosquito fleet," shipwrecks, shanghaiing, ghosts, other "undead" and cryptids.

The tour is entirely outdoors, so dress for the weather and wear comfortable walking shoes.

"The Luna Sisters of Element" at Olympia Family Theater

Where: Olympia Family Theater, 612 4th Ave. E Opening: Friday, Oct. 16, 7 p.m. More shows: Sat., Oct. 17, and Sun., Oct. 18, at 3 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 23, 7 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 24, and Sun., Oct. 25, 3 p.m.; Fri., Oct. 30, 7 p.m.; Sun., Nov. 1, 3 p.m. Pay-what-you-can: Thursdays, Oct. 22 and Oct. 29, at 7 p.m.

Set during Día de los Muertos, this family play follows four sisters living in Olympia. After their mother mysteriously disappears, they deal with grief and with the elemental magic they've inherited. When a dark force appears, they learn that only by trusting one another can they protect each other. It's written by O. Salazar de Breaux and Katherine Trahan and directed by Angel Ramirez.

The theater also holds 10 "Access for All" tickets for each performance, sold at any price, including free. They're available at the box office starting one hour before showtime, limit four per group. Masks are required at the first Sunday matinee, Oct. 18, and strongly encouraged at other shows.