In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, the vibe is strangely spooky with a Third Annual “Hafoween,” Crypt Night, Zombie Prom and Here Come the Mummies performing, but there’s also Arab American and Japanese festivals, a Glowball “anti-gala,” Taylor Swift trivia and comedian Emma Willmann.

Schools in Cambridge and Somerville are protesting over Gaza, but administrators and police are moving with caution, emphasizing support for protest and free speech to contrast with the tarnished images of officials elsewhere.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there’s Paul Giamatti’s “Chinwag” podcast, The Bread and Puppet Theater, Record Store Day, “Secret Sounds of Ponds” and other Earth-related events, cake decorating and Shakespeare’s 460th Birthday.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, learn how to make sound effects, see a Glow Show with the MIT Spinning Arts Club, play a board game about Puerto Rico. take part in a pun competition and enjoy music, dance, storytelling and poetry.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there’s the Cambridge Science Festival and carnival, the start of the Honk! festival of activist street bands, Central Square Dumpling Festival and “Smoke This” Rib Fest, Ashley Judd for Ms. Magazine and Walter Isaacson for “Elon Musk” and much more.

America is a nation of students that – in a culture linked inextricably with anti-intellectualism – doesn’t want to admit it, Tuft’s Sol Gittleman says in a new history.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, there’s the City Dance Party, a Sci-Fi Aerial Cabaret, Black Boy Joy Cookout, Moth Story Slam, Frederick Douglass reading, silent “Safety Last!” screening, Nature in the City Festival and much more.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, Gallery 263 has a 15th Birthday Bash, there’s the Saint Anthony Feast, a Greek Fest and the 44th annual Boston Dragon Boat Festival, a baguette-baking competition, The Taste of Somerville, readings, screenings and much more.

In a look ahead at a week of Cambridge and Somerville events, the North Cambridge Family Opera ends “The Cutlass Crew,” a Rock & Roll Rumble gets started, there’s a “Sims”-themed art exhibit and poetry from ancient Greek and Latin to John Keene and Carl Phillips reading and giving a Dark Room Collective oral history.

Public meetings this week look at how to use the city’s “free cash,” a fraternity house demolition near Tufts University, parking in Assembly Square and more.