Looking for something different to do this Halloween season, besides the usual haunted attractions and corn mazes? Yes, it’s time to start thinking about how you’ll spend this spooky holiday, whether you need to make travel plans or grab tickets for these hot events before they sell out. Here are five great events with a Halloween or macabre theme that are perfect for celebrating this fall favorite, and worthy of traveling great distances.
It’s a Detroit Thing
Detroit boasts two of the best Halloween events ever, with the first being the notorious all-night event, Theatre Bizarre. This legendary event started as a huge, illegal party held each year on private property where city officials looked the other way until a few years ago when someone finally decided to crack down on this legendary event. The party now resides indoors at the Masonic Temple, but features a huge selection of bands, art performances, and freak show entertainment that runs all night long. A costume is mandatory.
It’s a shame the original Theatre Bizarre wasn’t allowed to continue, as it was a year-round labor of love by the property owners. They converted some real estate in one of Detroit’s many rough neighborhoods into an outdoor stage and carnival midway featuring original vintage carnival poster art by one of the owners. Legend has it the party cost about $70,000 to put on every year in its original form, and all of that cash was funneled into the production.
The original Theatre Bizarre was a thing to behold, as you can see from the slideshow below, but the party’s still rocking at the Masonic Temple and now revelers can get a little more risqué with their costumes without the freezing cold. This is definitely not a child-friendly event.
Plan Your Holiday Now With These Five Bucket List Halloween Events
Likewise, The Damned Exhibit and Masquerade is strictly for adults. Conceptual art photographer Anthony DVS organized this event, held over three evenings around Halloween. First, the VIP artist exhibition reception, with gourmet tapas and usually a little absinthe tasting. Then the grand opening night of the exhibit, with fire and aerial performances, and finally, a Masquerade Ball, with masquerade dress and mask required. Before the ball, there is an optional six-course aphrodisiac dinner.
Dancing in the Streets
Have you ever watched the film Trick ‘R Treat and wished you could find a happening Halloween street party like that? Try visiting Salem, Massachusetts, for one of the country’s biggest Halloween bashes. Yes, that Salem, where so many were burned at the stake as witches and where modern day witches ply their trade, at least for the tourist crowds.
The whole town rolls out the black carpet for revelers, but one of the big attractions is The Salem Haunted Magic Show, held at the Danvers State Mental Hospital. If that sounds like something right out of one of those paranormal shows, it’s all that, plus a little Criss Angel-type haunted magic thrown in.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Fall Asleep
If you love horror movies — and who doesn’t around Halloween — try to get tickets to the Exhumed Films 24-hour film fest in Philadelphia. Be forewarned, these tickets sell out quickly, so sign up for their newsletter to stay on top of when tickets go on sale and how you can get them.
Yes, this is a 24-hour movie marathon, and the exact films are left a mystery. The first few years, the group pretty much stuck with classics that both hard-core horror fans and casual horror lovers could like. Unfortunately, the last two years they seem to be mixing in some more obscure titles that many feel are less worthy of a Halloween film festival. Some fans have even suggested that the event is becoming targeted more to indie film and horror “hipsters.” Regardless, this is an event worth trying out for the fun and comradery of pulling a huge all-nighter with several hundred other strangers who are probably as weird as you are, if not weirder. It’s all about finding your tribe, baby, and popcorn, lots of buttery popcorn.
Let’s Do The Time Warp Again
If you want definitive proof that not all of Kentucky is as conservative as Mitch McConnell or Kim Davis, brace yourself for the ultimate Rocky Horror experience right in downtown Lexington, Kentucky. The historic Kentucky Theater does a Rocky Horror Picture Show showing every month with a live cast, but the October event is pure madness. This lush, luxurious theater packs the house every year, filling the seats with a variety of characters of all types in this very LGBT-friendly production. You can buy your own pack of props when you get there so you don’t have to bring anything with you. If you aren’t sure what to throw when, your neighbors will help.
In addition to the live performance on stage during the film, there’s quite a pre-show with costume contests and very bawdy humor. Note that this production is definitely not child-friendly, and gets very risqué with lots of scantily clad people simulating very naughty things without regard to pesky little things like gender. Who knew you could find such naughty fun in Kentucky?
Make your plans early as they are some of the hottest Halloween events anywhere and those requiring advance tickets sell out quickly.
Amy Bruni and Adam Berry are already well known to paranormal fans as investigators on one of the first and most respected ghost hunting shows, Ghost Hunters. Now they have formed their own supernatural dynamic duo to bring sinister haunts to TLC viewers with a new series, Kindred Spirits, which debuts October 21 after the season premiere of A Haunting and a Ghosts of Shepherdstown special.
While Ghost Hunters usually focuses more on landmarks and historic buildings, Bruni and Berry are getting up close and personal to try to help families with paranormal activity in their private homes this time around. They kick-off the first season of Kindred Spirits by investigating strange and disturbing events at a remote farmhouse on 34 acres in Pennsylvania. The family has very intense paranormal activity, such as smashed light fixtures and being scratched by an unseen entity. And for an extra creepy element, an apparition likes peeking out from behind a tree from the woods around their home. The family living in the rustic cabin hopes it’s deceased family members, but Bruni and Berry are skeptical.
Do you have goosebumps yet? Judging from a screener of the debut episode of Kindred Spirits, you will. The families tell their stories firsthand before any supernatural investigation starts, rather than telling stories through dramatic reenactments, such as the format of shows like A Haunting or Paranormal Witness, or movies based on real paranormal events, such as The Conjuring. But then the ghost hunting tools and the devices to talk with the dead come out.
More paranormal articles:
‘Paranormal Lockdown’ Unites ‘Paranormal State’ And ‘Ghost Adventures’ Stars In New Series
‘Paranormal Lockdown’ Brings The Human Element To Ghost Hunting
‘Haunted Case Files’ Debuts Tonight With Sinister Tales Told By Paranormal Investigators
‘Paranormal Lockdown’ Visits Hinsdale House In Scariest Episode Of The Season
There are a wide variety of approaches to paranormal shows on TV right now, including the very dramatic and sometimes over-the-top Ghost Adventures or Mountain Monsters, where Bigfoot allegedly provoked one cast member to strip naked in the woods via telepathic powers. Because if you’re Sasquatch chillin’ in the woods and you have telepathic powers, you naturally want some country, backwoods ghost hunters to strip naked, right? Kindred Spirits is nudity-free, but you’ll have to judge for yourself if that is a good or bad thing.
Anyway, on the other end of the spectrum are those low-key paranormal investigations, such as Paranormal Lockdown, on TLC’s sister channel Destination America. The latter features Nick Groff from Ghost Adventures, and Katrina Weidman from Paranormal State, who are currently filming their second season of this latest ghost hunting hit. Believe me, Groff’s approach is very different outside the presence of Zak Bagans, and Weidman is a favorite from her days on Paranormal State, bringing a refreshing human element to paranormal investigations programming.
And then there is The Dead Files, which defies categorization. It’s simply in a paranormal league of its own. Once again, you’ll have to judge for yourself whether that is a good or bad thing.
Horror has earned a bit of a bad rap with women over the years, often making them weak and vulnerable, and of course, naked. Hey, we get it guys; you like boobs. It’s not a crime. But when a movie has a kickass female lead — and doesn’t use gratuitous flesh to sell itself — it’s a pretty cool thing and a refreshing change. Plus, if you add in super tight spaces and a spider-like, ravenous alien in those tight spaces, you’re bound to get the attention of a claustrophobic or arachnophobic horror fan.
But god help you if you have both, because “Crawl or Die” — billed correctly as the most claustrophobic movie ever made — will reduce you to a fetal position. Star and producer Nicole Alonso sat down for an exclusive interview to talk about the film, directed by Oklahoma Ward.
The Queen of Scream: I watched the “Crawl or Die” even though I’m so claustrophobic. But I had kind of missed that whole part in the plot about the spider-like alien thing, because that’s my other fear, spiders. So yeah, that was an extra special treat for me.
Nicole Alonso: Oh, that’s great! You’re going to see in the next one, we have a whole scene with tarantulas so you’re going to love that.
TQOS: Oh God, that’s it, I’m fast-forwarding through that part. I kept thinking I wanted to fast forward through this, but it was like no, no don’t fast forward, be professional.
NA: Hey, I understand.
TQOS: You weren’t just the lead actress in this movie, but you were also a producer and you did the song for it. So how did you get involved with this project?
NA: Well, I actually met the director, Oklahoma Ward, when I auditioned for his first film and I got a small role in that. And then after that we actually became roommates for a while and so we were working together. And then after about a year we ended up dating, and then he and I kind of launched into this project together, “Crawl or Die.” He began writing it, and then we lived in L.A. at the time and we ended up moving out to Tulsa, Oklahoma to build the set and film the movie, and we just kind of worked on the whole thing together. So that’s kind of how I have all these roles in it and got involved in doing all of that other stuff for the movie too.
TQOS: So you guys do live in Oklahoma now?
NA: Yeah, we live in Oklahoma. We were living in L.A. and we kind of got back and were like, you know it’s just too expensive to do what we need to do. We needed a huge set in order to be able to build all of the tunnels, and in L.A. it’s just ridiculously expensive. The land out here is super cheap and he grew up here so he has family here and he knows people here. So we came out, built the studio and piece of property, and just filmed it all here.
TQOS: Well that’s the great thing about all of the great technology and the high definition cameras available now. It’s so expensive to live in L.A., but having access to all this great stuff makes it easier for people to live in other to do films independently do where they don’t have to be working 60 hours a week just to support themselves. They can actually be artists.
NA: Right, yeah. That’s kind of what our deciding factor was. Because we were basically like, we’re living in L.A. and basically working just to pay our rent, and it was ridiculous. We weren’t creating. So we decided it was just better for us to get out of there and now we’ve made a movie, so I’d say it was worth it.
TQOS: And it’s a great result at what looks like a really reasonable budget. Because even though the set is big, it is probably a pretty low budget because you simply built tunnels, although you do have the special effects of the creature. But even with that, I was thinking it’s probably not really a huge budget because you did keep your set so simple.
NA: We were definitely low budget and you’re right, most of the money pretty much went to the creature and then post production. But for the most part we were really low budget. I can’t say actually how much, but you know.
TQOS: And the creature is animatronic, right?
NA: Yeah, it was a guy who designed a suit that he wore, and he had a head that he would put on and stuff like that. It was basically controlled by three or four people who controled the arms. So it wasn’t electronic or anything like that, it was basically more like a puppet.
TQOS: It looked really good, and you could tell that it wasn’t CGI, thank goodness. Well, thank goodness for most people. For some of us it’s like, oh thank you for that extra dose of scary reality.
NA: I wanted us to do CGI, but with the budget they were telling us for that, we were like no. Unless you can have “Planet of the Apes” quality CGI, it’s just going to look cheesy and bad. So we went with a real monster instead.
TQOS: Well when Oklahoma said to you “Hey, I’ve got this great idea for a movie. It’s about this woman that’s in these really tight spaces and they just keep getting smaller and smaller and smaller,” did you have any reservations? I mean do you have any kind of claustrophobia?
NA: I actually don’t. And when he told me the idea I really liked the idea and thought it was unique and so great. And I was like, “Yeah, I’m not claustrophobic, so I’ll be fine.” But you don’t realize once you’re in those tunnels, it’s a whole different ballgame because the tunnels were real. We built them, but they were real 50-foot tunnels. There was no cutout, no opening in the tunnels or anything, so once you’re in, the only way to get out is to crawl forwards or backwards. It did become scary at times because in the smaller tunnels I couldn’t move my arms or legs so I just had to kind of worm through and it was intense. But I think it was totally worth it for the final product.
TQOS: Well, that obviously would help your performance. And also the fact that you did have something real and tangible to work with, the creature that was hunting you down.
NA: Yeah, and it’s interesting because we originally filmed it without a creature. You just basically heard the creature and you never really got to see it. And through test audiences and our sales agency, the test audiences loved it but the one thing they all said was we’d like to see the creature at the end. And the sales agency kind of said the same thing, so they gave us a little budget to do the creature but we only had about three weeks to put the creature in the whole movie. So it’s kind of crazy. And we’re looking forward to the sequel, because I know we’ll have a lot more time to spend on the creature and make it more elaborate and kind of explain more about it and all that kind of stuff. But yeah, it was interesting working with the creature, because like I said it was a puppet, and there was four guys working the arms and all, so you had to work together to get the shot.
TQOS: You did mention the sequel, and actually it’s a trilogy. It’s going to be a trilogy correct?
NA: Yes.
TQOS: So I already know now that tarantulas are going to figure prominently somewhere in the next installment — oh boy, can’t wait for that arachnaphobe that I am — but what other things can we expect? Can you give us maybe some little teasers? You don’t want to give too much away obviously, but in the next two installments what kind of things can we look for?
NA: Right. Well obviously I can’t give too much away, and actually the director is very good about, not telling me a whole lot; he keeps things secret. It’s under wraps. But I do know some things. I know that a lot of stuff from this first film will get explained in the second film. Like Earth 2 and why she’s the last woman who can become pregnant, and a little more about the virus, and it ‘s definitely going to be more, there will be more information about Tank, and definitely some crazy new claustrophobic scenes that again I can’t give too much away but, all new situations that she’ll get to get in. So it’ll be really fun and a lot of stuff I know the fans are wanting explained will be explained.
TQOS: That’ll be nice to kind of get the backstory, but for the life of me I can’t imagine how you could possibly push it farther than that last crawling sequence. Because I was like “Oh hell no; just let that spider thing get me already. And obviously I hate spiders, so that’s how claustrophobic you got there at the end. don’t think my cat could have fit through that space, great fat beast that he is. But it’s great to see a strong female lead, and the fact that it’s not something that exploits women. Because we all know, that is a part of horror and always will be, but it was really nice to see a strong female. lead who didn’t have to get naked at all. Was that something that was really important to you in the role?
NA: Oh definitely. I know it was important to myself and the director. He was very influenced by films like “Alien” and he was like I don’t want you to be [nude]. Of course, the distributors and all were like “we need nudity,” but he was like absolutely not, that’s not what this is about. And I think for us it was most important to show that yes, Tank is strong, yes she’s determined and she keeps fighting, but she’s not Rambo. She’s not a guy. She has emotion, she’s afraid, she has weak moments, but I think the point is that she never gives up and she just will fight through everything to keep going. And I think that’s what makes her so badass, is that she’s mentally strong. She doesn’t quit. And I think it was important for us to show that, that she wasn’t Rambo. She’s not going to take down everybody, but she’s a strong person.
TQOS: And there was actually a really vulnerable scene, as you were getting down where there with just the two of you left, and at that point, the other person was almost the stronger of the two of you, but then you kind of bounced back. But there was that vulnerable moment.
NA: Yeah. I do think it was a good balance for her, because I think anyone in that situation would of course be terrified and I think it was cool to play her that way. To show that, I don’t think she ever would have given up, but I definitely think she has moments of questioning if she could keep going. And it was fun to sort of show the both sides of that.
TQOS: There’s also going to be a comic book coming out, so it was that something that was part of the idea from the beginning? Or was it something that’s kind of come along afterwards?
NA: We always wanted to have a comic book, and I know with the deals we made with our distributor we made sure to keep the rights to do things like that, but it wasn’t intended to be so soon. But when it came out in Japan we had such a huge response in Japan from the fans, and actually they were sending in artwork for us, like fan art, drawing pictures of Tank. This one artist in particular sent us this amazing fan art, and we were like “Oh my God, we’d love it to do a comic book with you.” And he was stunned that we asked him, and he really was in to doing it, so we headed down the path with a translator to work all the details out, and he’s now creating our comic book. And I’ve got to say, it really looks awesome. I can’t wait to put it out there. It’s coming out really cool.
TQOS: Are you going to keep the iconic hair? Or are we going to see changes in color? Because that is so perfect for the whole comic book and for the movie.
NA: Oh, yeah. In the comic book definitely, it’s the mohawk all the way, the same hair, so yeah. It’ll be the same color. The comic book is actually mostly black and white, so it’s all going to be the same color. Tank is definitely the mohawk, that’s her thing.
TQOS: Have you filmed the sequel, the second part of the trilogy yet?
NA: We haven’t filmed it yet. I know Oklahoma has it written and he knows the story and all that. We’re finishing up the promotion of this film which will probably be for another four to five months, and then we’re going to start looking at pre-production for the next movie. So probably six months down the road we’ll be starting pre-production and get to film it. So it’s exciting.
TQOS: Well then maybe it’ll be ready for next Halloween?
NA: Maybe — I hope so. Of course we’re going to try to get it done as quick as possible but we’ll see. Hopefully. Until then, you can check out Alonso in “Crawl or Die” on iTunes or Amazon, and also the indie film “Screen,” which you can rent or buy on Vimeo currently.
Exists is not a bad movie. But it’s yet another in a far too long line of the “found footage” genre. I realize that Eduardo Sanchez has a certain claim to the genre as the director of the classic that started it all, The Blair Witch Proiect, but enough is enough. As a horror fan I am tired of this found footage shit. I’m going to stop reviewing them I’m so fed up with the cliche, but making an exception in honor of the first guy who did it.
Is this getting through filmmakers?
Anyway, it’s a shame Sanchez resorted to this gimmick because there are a lot of good things going for Exists. Unfortunately, however, not only is the found footage format tired, but it draws more attention to the blatant way Sanchez ripped off his own film in some of the plot details as well.
Don’t get me wrong, this movie has some very scary moments, and a very sad sense of melancholy set up by the opening credits. But it blatantly uses the strange noises in the woods, the “let’s take a shortcut” gimmick, and even the creepy lair of the creature at the end. All it needed was creepy handprints on the cave walls.
Plus, of course, what’s a found footage film without at least one “camera knocked to the ground” moment.
Oh, let’s not forget all the awkward explanations for filming when clearly anyone in their right mind would put the goddam camera down. Like when you are being attacked. You put the fucking camera down and fight. Seriously, you expect us to buy this shit someone would keep filming? Have none of you heard of suspension of disbelief?
Stop it. All of you making found footage films.
This movie could just as easily been made with a conventional narrative and been more effective. I also take issue with some plot points that don’t make sense, like the last confrontation and the aforementioned shortcut thing. I hate it when characters act in ways that make no sense.
Once again, this is not a bad movie, as the cast does a great job with the material and the lack of A-listers adds to the realism. Even with the found footage gimmick and a couple of questionable plot points, if it hadn’t borrowed from The Blair Witch Project, this would be a very good movie for the most part. If you don’t mind the repetition and can overlook those things, this could be a worthwhile addition to your DVD collection.
The DVD has some nice extra features, including a featurette on the creature creation, and a three part extra on filming in the woods for 21 days. You also get deleted scenes and the classic commentary track from Sanchez and writer Jamie Nash.
So this is definitely better than most found footage films, but no more people. That means you too, Eduardo Sanchez. Leave your Blair Witch Project legacy intact.
What happens when you have six girls born on the sixth day of the sixmonth in the same Amish community with deep religious beliefs? Why, a demonic legend surrounding them, of course. The latest creepy devil legend thriller is The Devil’s Hand, now available on DVD. Is this movie worth buying for your personal collection?
The Devil’s Hand has some scary moments and some great twists, using misdirection to keep the ending in suspense as far as who is the killer. And somewhat suspenseful which one of the girl’s is the “Drommelkind” of legend, destined to become “the Devil’s hand” on her 18th birthday.
The cast is mostly relatively unknown actors whose faces you know if not their names, and young actors, with the exception of Jennifer Carpenter, aka Debra Morgan on Dexter. Unfortunately, Carpenter is tragically underused here, except to scowl and smirk throughout the entire film as the evil stepmother. Sorry, Dexter fans, no potty mouth here as the devout Rebekah.
If the lead actress seems familiar, it’s probably because Alysia Debnam Carey bears a striking resemblance to Taissa Farmiga of American Horror Story fame, and Sarah is portrayed by Leah Pipes, who bears a striking resemblance to Radha Mitchell.
The acting and script are better than average and this is a very respectable horror film, if there are the typical moments when a character does something stupid that hastens their demise (hiding in a well?)
Obviously if you really love the movie you’ll want the DVD for your collection, but sadly, there are no special features to add value, so your decision will come down to how much you love the movie yourself.
We knew those folks at “American Horror Story” had been quiet way too long. I mean, it’s been days since they released a teaser trailer. So Thursday they released three at once. And if the show goes as creepy as some of the new teasers, we are in for a dark carnival ride, indeed.
One video features a sword swallower, but the other two feature clowns — very, very bad looking clowns. Even if you don’t have a phobia about them, these trailers will create one in you. Which do you think is the scariest?
“American Horror Story: Freak Show” premieres in October, but we’re sure FX will keep sending those creepy teasers our way till then.
, but enough is enough. As a horror fan I am tired of this found footage shit. I’m going to stop reviewing them I’m so fed up with the cliche, but making an exception in honor of the first guy who did it.
. Unfortunately, however, not only is the found footage format tired, but it draws more attention to the blatant way Sanchez ripped off his own film in some of the plot details as well.
What happens when you have six girls born on the sixth day of the sixmonth in the same Amish community with deep religious beliefs? Why, a demonic legend surrounding them, of course. The latest creepy devil legend thriller is 
. Unfortunately, Carpenter is tragically underused here, except to scowl and smirk throughout the entire film as the evil stepmother. Sorry, Dexter fans, no potty mouth here as the devout Rebekah.
fame, and Sarah is portrayed by Leah Pipes, who bears a striking resemblance to Radha Mitchell.