A couple of tips for worthwhile costume haunts on this Halloween weekend before Monday’s haunted holiday. On the esoteric side, members of the jazz-Moroccan-groove collective Club d’elf tend to look almost as spooky as they sound at their annual Halloween bashes at the Lizard Lounge. This year, bassist Mike Rivard and drummer Dean Johnson welcome saxophonist Tom Hall, guitarist Geoff Scott and DJ Rourke to stir their heady instrumental brew. For those with more mainstream tastes, Sal Clemente leads his nine-piece outfit the Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra in a Classic Rock Zombie Costume Party at Arlington’s Regent Theatre that’s set to feature favorite songs inspired by “monsters and ghouls.”

For a different kind of haunting effect, the Californian singer/songwriter Cass McCombs (pictured) settles into lushly subtle, evocative songs from his latest album, Mangy Love, that should fit the intimate environs of Café 939 at Berklee on Saturday. And on Sunday, Canadian band the Strumbellas return to town to stir up the Paradise Rock Club with their folky, heartfelt rock-grass anthems.

Tip ahead: beyond House of Blues hi-jinks on Monday with Tegan and Sara and on Tuesday with Foals (interview here), ’80s hardcore button-pushers the Proletariat reunite at the Once Ballroom on Thursday to reinvigorate the politically potent post-punk fervor that made the band our state’s parallel to the Gang of Four.