Everybody knows that the freaks come out at night, but that doesn’t account for the attendance at the Freakers Ball, the MontBleu’s annual Halloween party.

“If I had to pick one night a year to come out, this would be the night,” said Dave Davis, the MontBleu’s food and beverage manager. “It’s what a night out on the town should be.”

“With 30 years of history, this party keeps getting bigger and better,” MontBleu marketing manager Mike Donovan said in a news release. “More than 1,500 people showed up last year, and with Halloween being on a Friday, we’ve added more entertainment, and expect a bigger and wilder turnout.”

Over its 30 years, the Halloween ball has grown from around 900 people to around 2,000 packing the MontBleu Casino Resort and Spa in recent years.

“Of course this is Tahoe’s biggest and longest-running Halloween party,” Davis said. “In the past couple of years this party has really blown up.”

The Freakers Ball is three parties at once, in the MontBleu’s convention center and its two nightclubs, Opal Ultra Lounge and Club Blu. The clubs will start to go bump in the night at 8 on Halloween, Friday, Oct. 31.

Bay Area disco cover band the Cheeseballs will headline, in costume, inside the convention center (see related story), while DJs will spin tunes inside Blu and Opal. Tickets are $15 in advance by calling (800) 648-3353 or visiting http://www.ticketmaster.com or ticketsus.at/

tribune.

“We’ve got the live music in the convention center, and then the high-energy dance music in Blu and then the more comfortable dance music down in Opal,” Davis said.

The costumes ” and the high-

paying contest for the best ones ” are the highlight of the party.

“I think probably 95 percent of the people show up in costume,” Davis said.

More than $10,000 is at stake in the contest, and entrants must demonstrate originality and stay in character to win. The first-place prize package is worth more than $1,000 in cash, and includes a Double Whammy season pass good at Sierra-at-Tahoe and sister resort Northstar, a Malibu beach cruiser bike, a tandem jump from Skydive Lake Tahoe, a Burton Corona snowboard and a tune package from Powder House Ski & Snowboard.

Second place is worth $750, including a Sierra-at-Tahoe pass, a Burton Corona snowboard, a one-night stay at MontBleu, dinner at the Ciera Steak + Chop House, a month’s membership at the spa, and two one-year VIP passes to Blu.

Third is worth $500, with a one-night stay at the casino, a month’s spa membership, dinner for two at the MontBleu’s buffet, a snowboard from Powder House as well as a Jamison snowboard, and two one-year VIP passes to Blu. All the prize packages include Corona swag and a backpack from Jamison.

Davis recalled a few costumes that stood out, including the family from “The Simpsons” and a duo that showed up in costume ” and in the frame ” as Grant Wood’s painting “American Gothic.”

“There’s tons of scantily clad women: That’s always a big part of it. And vampires and witches and the usual. That’s always good.”

With the 2008 presidential election days away, Davis expects to see some familiar faces.

“I think we’ll see a lot of Sarah Palins, a lot of Barack Obama and no doubt a few Joe the Plumbers,” he said.

“And if you forget your costume, we do have body paints available.”

What: Freakers Ball,

Where: MontBleu Resort Casino and Spa

When: 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 31

Details: http://www.montbleuresort.com

Tickets: $20 door, $15 advance at (800) 648-3353 or online ( ticketmaster.com or ticketsus.at/tribune)