The creatures of the night -- the warty witches, the busty barmaids, the gruesome undead, the Michael Jacksons -- came out in hordes.

An almost full moon gleamed on the crisp October-into-November night. Police officers stalked the crowds on foot and by horse. Revelers danced in front of a stage of wailing bluegrass fiddlers.

Yes, the ghouls were out on State Street, but throughout the night they were relatively well-behaved.

This is the fourth year of the city-sponsored Freakfest, the gated event that began in 2006 in an effort to tame Madison's wild and unwieldy Halloween party. Since then, city officials and police have called the event a success.

"Expectation is a four-peat," said Joel Plant, an aide to Mayor Dave Cieslewicz. "We see and continue to see a safe event with good costumes, lots of entertainment, and cold clear weather."

For the past three years, the evening has ended peacefully at around 2 a.m., rather than in riots and pepper spray.

For a ticket price of $7 in advance and $10 on the day, the costumed masses can roam State Street, taking in musical acts on stages.

This year, 1990s-hit band Third-Eye Blind was the headliner, along with Cage the Elephant, Push Play, and the Nod and Locksley.

In a rare occurrence, this year, the actual holiday of Halloween coincided with the Saturday night of Freakfest. Halloween has not fallen on a Saturday night since 1998.

That, combined with the home Badgers football game against Purdue, a men's hockey home game against New Hampshire, and the end of daylight-savings time, meant a busy weekend in Madison.

"This is like the weekend of weekends," said Bruce Esplin, 29, who spent his first State Street on Halloween dressed as a member of Megadeth. "The stars are aligning over Dane County."

About 44,000 tickets were sold this year, police said, up from 38,000 last year.

In a show of confidence in Freakfest's calming effect, Madison police scheduled about 27 percent fewer officers for Halloween weekend. About 220 officers were scheduled for Freakfest weekend, which was roughly 80 fewer than last year.

The number of arrests also has steadily declined in recent years. While there were 566 arrests in 2005, the year before Freakfest began, there were only 77 last year. As of 2 a.m. Sunday, 47 had been arrested, most for underage drinking or having an open container of alcohol. Most were cited and released, with only two going to jail, police said.

In a news release at 3 a.m. Sunday, Madison police said Freakfest "went extremely well again this year."

There were no major incidents reported in the event area, no significant injuries, and no property damage, the release said.

A celebrant was taken to a hospital, with apparent minor injuries, after a police horse spun into him, and knocked him down.

Police said there were several fights in other areas of the downtown, and one relatively minor stabbing: A man said he was cut in the arm and buttocks just after 1 a.m. while waiting in a line outside of Madison Avenue in the 600 block of University Avenue. He was transported to a local hospital with what were described as superficial wounds. No perpetrator was located.

In addition, a Madison police officer was punched while trying to break up a fight shortly before midnight in the area of Carroll and Gilman streets.

Jonathon M Bridgewater, 23, of Madison, was arrested on tentative charges of battery to a police officer, resisting, disorderly conduct, domestic disorderly conduct, and two counts of battery.

Police reported that Bridgewater was walking near Carroll and Gorham when he began arguing with a woman, then put her in a head-lock and head-butted her.

Two men who did not know Brigewater or the woman tried to break up the disturbance. Bridgewater then let go of the woman and began to fight the men. The two men suffered minor injuries as a result of punches from Bridgewater, police said.

A Madison police officer working a traffic post assignment witnessed this second altercation and tried to break it up. Bridgewater pushed that officer and ran off. The officer and two more officers chased after Bridgewater, who became combative and punched one officer in the head several times, according to a police news release.

Several more officers responded to the location and eventually Bridgewater was taken into custody. The officer Bridgewater allegedly attacked did not require immediate medical attention, police said.

Police noted that similar incidents to those they handled during Freakfest "take place on any given Saturday night in the downtown area."

"We've really moved from something that was a blemish or a black eye on the city to something we're really proud about," said Madison police spokesman Joel DeSpain.

The bright stadium lights that illuminated State Street like a lantern in years past were gone this year, in favor of the softer yellow street lights. Police said they would only turn on the stadium lights if there was trouble.

At around 6 p.m., the red-clad fans left over from the Badgers football game made way for spooks of the night.

There were those who courted death: tightly-wound mummies, blood-dripping vampires, skeletons, zombies and corpse brides.

And there were the topical costumes: groups wearing pig snouts and T-shirts that read H1N1 or swine flu, cardboard Facebook profiles, TMZ photographers, and balloon boy suits.

Holly McEntee, a 39-year old UW-Madison employee, wore a T-shirt that read: "Don't talk to me, I'm on furlough," referencing state-mandated unpaid days off.

Business owners seemed thrilled with the crowd. Few exhibited the fear for their plate-glass windows that once gripped the State Street business community in the years before the big party became the well-policed and more tame Freakfest.

Isaac Lenz, manager at Underground Printing, said the more organized party is bringing business to State Street without the worry for store owners. He said his shop, which sells Badgers clothing, has been busy since Thursday.

Even if something happens to his store, Lenz said there are so many police on hand he doesn't worry about his business being protected. "I don't have to worry about being here," he added.

Anna Clayton, a worker at Sacred Feather on State Street, said business Saturday had probably surpassed Maxwell Street Days and Christmas in sales.

- Ron Seely, Emily Bisek and Chris Rickert contributed to this report.

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