There's plenty to be getting on with in the run up to Halloween. We've selected 10 events to mark in the diary, covering TV, film, theatre, art, music and more.

Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival
With a theme of reclamation for 2017, SMHAFF moves into its eleventh year, with hundreds of events staged across the country as preconceived ideas about mental health are challenged once more. Among the people involved this year are the Adam World Choir, Julia Taudevin with her musical cabaret Hysteria! and Mariem Omari's One Mississippi, while performance poetry nights Neu! Reekie! and Flint & Pitch are also doing their bit.
Various venues across Scotland, Tue 10–Sun 29 Oct.

Sonica
Sonica, Cryptic's biennial festival of visual sonic arts presents more emerging British talent alongside international artists, with the Czech Republic and Mexico heavily represented. Among the treats are Oliver Coates' Shorelines and The Megaphone Project at Kelvingrove Bandstand.
Various venues, Glasgow, Thu 26 Oct–Sun 5 Nov.

Stranger Things
Okay, sure it's not an Edinburgh and Glasgow thing exactly, but even here at List towers we've got our very own Stranger Things themed party to attend. The cult hit from 2016 returns for more episodes of 80s-inflected paranoia with unseen monsters, secret government shenanigans and kids cycling away from things really quickly.
Netflix, Fri 27 Oct.

Scottish Ballet: Stravinsky
With two ballets of contrasting styles, Scottish Ballet's Stravinsky season lays on The Fairy's Kiss (inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's The Ice Maiden) and The Rite of Spring (whose score caused a scandal on its 1913 debut).
Theatre Royal, Glasgow, Fri 6 & Sat 7 Oct; Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Wed 11–Fri 13 Oct.

Plant Scenery of the World
Inspired by the half-century anniversary of the glasshouse in the nearby Botanics, archive material is placed alongside freshly commissioned work by new artists in Plant Scenery of the World.
Inverleith House, Edinburgh, until Sun 29 Oct.

Nick Helm
He might be promising a little more sitting down than usual, but with There Is Nothing You Can Do to Me That I Haven't Already Done to Myself, you can expect some intimate and sweat-fuelled music, poems and interaction.
Òran Mór, Glasgow, Fri 13 Oct.

Call Me By Your Name
A big hit in Sundance at the start of the year, this 1980s-set Italian love story and coming of age drama about an academic and a young man is directed by Luca Guadagnino, who made 2015's A Bigger Splash and the upcoming Suspiria remake.
Released Fri 27 Oct.

Music, The Universe and Everything
Known to many as Blue Peter's 'Science Guy', Greg Foot joins forces with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra for an afternoon in which you'll find out how sound waves work and what exactly is going on in your ears when you hear stuff.
City Halls, Glasgow, Sun 8 Oct.

Thor: Ragnorok
More 80s-based business as Thor, Hulk, Loki and Valkyrie team up to take on the Goddess of Death (aka Cate Blanchett). A sharp detour in pace and style from New Zealand director Taika Waititi whose last movie was Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Released Fri 27 Oct.

Luminate (chosen by Literary Dundee Director Peggy Hughes)
Ageing: we're all doing it. And yet it's not something people are comfortable talking about, let alone celebrating. Luminate, Scotland's festival of creative ageing, came along six years ago to address that, and this year presents its latest festival, with a wide range of creative events and activities organised with, by and for older people across Scotland. I love Luminate because the programme is diverse and full of surprises, both celebrating creativity in older people and showcasing it. The programme isn't out yet but in festivals past I've attended a tea dance, a spoken-word slam, and a gig, all starring fabulous older people, some living with dementia. With dance, drama, music, visual arts, storytelling, photography and craft all over the country, Luminate shows us that creativity has no age, and that age is just a number.
Dundee Literary Festival, various venues, Wed 18–Sun 22 Oct; Luminate, various venues across Scotland, Sun 1–Tue 31 Oct.