Up on the hill Kansas University and company are dishing out ghoulish thrills and intellectual candy this week. If you have time between costume balls and Halloween parties, here’s some stuff to do:

*Tonight night from 5:00-6:30 p.m. at the Big 12 room in the Kansas Union, Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Dirda will talk about his life at the Washington Post, the world of books and publishing, as well as literary journalism. Dirda is a book critic for the Post in addition to having penned a memoir and four collections of essays. He won the Pulitzer in 1993 for his literary criticism, plus a bunch of other prestigious awards. Seating is free but limited. (Note: I’m trying to start a rumor that he will present his talk in a Carl Bernstein costume. There’s some candy corn in it if you can help spread the rumor. And there’s a whole bag in it for Dirda himself if he actually comes dressed as Bernstein.)

*At noon Wednesday in the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building, Jeremy Farmer, CEO of Just Food, will speak about issues in the food system that have contributed to rises in obesity and malnourishment among the poor. Just Food is a nonprofit that aims to tackle food insecurity in Douglas County.

*On Wednesday visiting lecturer Robert Wuthnow, a professor of sociology at Princeton University, will look at the role religion has played in Kansas political activism from John Brown to Dwight Eisenhower. Wuthnow will speak at 4 p.m. in the Kansas Union’s Woodruff Auditorium.

*If your Wednesday is still open after that, you can mosey on over to the Dole Institute of Politics on West Campus for PBS producer and director Mark Zwonitzer’s talk on Richard Ben Cramer, who wrote a tome on Bob Dole. You can hear Zwonitzer talking about Cramer writing about Dole at 7:30 p.m.

*But perhaps you’d rather attend something spookier, and more tuneful. At the same time as Zwonitzer’s talk, the Lied Center will host the KU Symphony Orchestra’s Halloween concert, which will feature bat- and ghoul-related selections. Kansas public radio’s Mark Edwards will emcee. Show up earlier and you can take part in the community costume contest. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children. If you can’t make up your mind whether to attend, consider this: They’ll be playing from Danny Elfman’s score of the Michael Keaton Batman movie.

*On Friday the KU Film and Media Studies department will be showing Carnival of Souls, an indie cult classic directed by Herk Harvey and shot largely in Lawrence. The film, made on a budget a hair over $30,000, is about a woman who survives a car wreck only to find herself haunted by ghosts. Doors at 100 Old Father Studios, where much of the movie was filmed, open at 7 p.m. Seating will be limited and tickets cost $10 at the door. Proceeds will go to benefit the department.