Fright Fests: October’s scariest offerings
Published: October 21, 2011
Skeletons emerge from closets and graveyards this month, and ghosts, goblins and ghouls strut their stuff. Some of the events and theatrical offerings that frighten us the most include:
Ghost Walks
Meet the ghosts of Henry Plummer, Doctor Glick, Nellie Paget, Cyrus Skinner, Chief Snag and other rogues from Bannack's colorful past, 7 and 9 p.m. Oct. 21-22 at Bannack State Park, 25 miles southwest of Dillon.
Find out how the pros do it by joining ghost-hunting teams Oct. 29 as they investigate areas where paranormal activity has been recorded in the Western Heritage Center in Billings during Raising Our Spirits.
Learn about the ghosts of Helena’s past during a Spooky Walking Tour, 6-8 p.m. Oct. 28-29 in the Courthouse District. Or explore Missoula’s dead denizens during “Stories and Stones,” 12:30-3:30 p.m. Oct. 30 at the Missoula County Cemetery. Storytellers dress in costumes and assume the persona of individuals interred at the cemetery, while musicians entertain with period music.
Haunted Houses
to a huge Haunted House.
The most frightening of all might be “Terror in the Cellhouse,” 7-10 p.m. Oct. 28-30 at the Old Montana Prison in Deer Lodge. The cellblock, built in 1912, is scary in broad daylight!
While you’re in the neighborhood, the historic Elling House in Virginia City is transformed into a Haunted House replete with an autopsy room, science lab and graveyard, 7 p.m.-midnight Oct. 28-29. All Hallows’ Eve, Oct. 29 at Alder Gulch in Nevada City, focuses less on fright and more on fun with historic games, treats, a pumpkin-carving contest, hay rides and tours.
For several terrifying weeks, ghouls, goblins and scary critters of all kinds commandeer the Pacific Science Center in the Pavilion at Riverfront Park in Spokane during the Riverfront Fright Haunted House. This multi-level, multi-sensory, interactive experience includes a Haunted Theatre, the Maze of Terror and the Ghostly Graveyard. Haunting hours are 7-9:30 p.m. Thursdays and Halloween, 7-11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 6-9:30 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 31.
Theatre
Murder and mayhem are let loose on stages across the state this month. For example, strange things have been occurring at Dr. Seward’s sanitarium ever since the mysterious count moved in next door in MCT Community Theatre’s “Dracula,” 8 p.m. Wednesdays-Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays and 2 and 6:30 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 21-30, at MCT Center for the Performing Arts Center for the Performing Arts.
Mary Shelley’s fictional freak comes to life in “Frankenstein, Inc.,” a modern adaptation of the novel, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays, through Oct. 30, at the Blue Slipper Theatre in Livingston; and Equinox Theatre in Bozeman employs innovative, fully articulated, large-scale puppets in “Frankenstein: A Love Story,” 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, through Oct. 29.
Blood is guaranteed to spurt from the razor of the Demon Barber of Fleet Street in the Port Polson Players’ production of “Sweeney Todd – a Musical Thriller,” 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 28-Nov. 6 at the John Dowdall Theatre in Polson.
And for those yearning for a kinder, gentler homage to the season, check out “It’s Pumpkin Time, Charlie Brown,” 2 and 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish.
Other semi-scary stuff
to the Alberta Bair in Billings.
The Walking Dead are out and about in Billings during the Zombie Carnival, noon-10 p.m. Oct. 22 at Pioneer Park. Music by Plumblue, the Deadnecks and Endever, zombie belly dancers, games, contests, prizes, and a pub crawl are on tap; a make-up booth opens at noon to help participants get in the mood. The Magic City is also home to “Hyps and Crypts,” a Halloween show that features kooky choreography and screaming solos, 8 p.m. Oct. 29 at The Loft Nightclub.
ExplorationWorks in Helena hosts a Nightmare Affair, 6 p.m.-midnight Oct. 29 at the Best Western Premier Ballroom; don wild costumes and enjoy music by the Clumsy Lovers from Vancouver, B.C., an auction and a dinner party. ExplorationWorks also hosts Wicked Works Halloween Festival for Kids, noon-5 p.m. Oct. 30 at the children’s museum in the Great Northern Town Center.
What Halloween season would be replete without a screening of the “Rocky Horror Picture Show”? The Alberta Bair Theater in Billings screens the famous movie, and offers music, dancing, costume contests and a Time Warp Dance contest at 8 p.m. Oct. 29.
Missoulians tie it all together with their annual Festival of the Dead, a celebration of life, death and the arts that’s inspired by Mexico’s Dia de los Muertos. A parade, performances and art-making are all part of the event on Nov. 2.
You can find ticket price and phone numbers for these events right here at http://www.livelytimes.com. Just type the event name into the search field at left.
