courtesy all community events
Jack O’Lantern World
Shelby Farms Park
Through October 30
Sisters, prepare thyselves. ’Tis almost All Hallows’ Eve. But who at Memphis magazine lit the black-flame candle? Tsk, tsk. It seems we, the Sanderson Sisters, have been awakened once more. (And not just for the Disney+ Hocus Pocus sequel.) Indeed, it seems that Memphis is awakened, too, with the Halloween spirit. All Hallows’ Eve has become a month of frolic, where children wear costumes and run amok! Just look at these pumpkins carved with faces, lit within by non-black-flame candles. Thousands of them. Not one of them is carved with Master’s face. Oh, book! Can thou explain?
Ah, yes, it says here: Walk the amazing trail through 17 immersive worlds of hand-carved jack-o-lanterns designed by over 50 artisans. Whether you're 9, 39, or 399, everybody seems to love Jack O’Lantern World so make it a family, friends, or date night. Tickets and more information can be purchased here.
How wonderful.
Photography courtesy Tony Isbell
what happens to the hope at the end of the evening
Germantown Community Theatre, 3037 Forest Hill-Irene
Performances through October 9
Oh look, another glorious morning. Makes me sick! I much prefer the hopeless nightfall. Hush now, hush now, Book has something to say. Oh, Book says that I should look into what happens to the hope at the end of the evening. Sisters, dost thou know what happens to the hope at the end of the evening? It’s just as powerful as when we suck the lives out of all the children before sunrise.
Come, sisters, you can see for thyselves at Quark Theatre’s latest production: what happens to the hope at the end of the evening. Book says it is a “bittersweet, dark comedy telling the story of the reunion of two old friends whose lives have gone in very different directions.” And the Memphis Flyer has even more to say in this article. Hmmm … tickets cost $20 and can be purchased online. Shows run Thursdays-Saturdays at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2:30 p.m. A special pay-what-you-can performance will run on Sunday, October 9th, at 6 p.m.
Therefore, it stands to reason — does it not, sisters dear? — that we must buy a ticket, see the show, and suck the hope out of the evening. Otherwise, it's curtains! We evaporate! We cease to exist!
photography courtesy Lil Buck
2nd Annual Memphis Dance Festival
Collage Dance Collective, 505 Tillman Street
Saturday, October 1, noon-4 p.m.
Memphis, I put a spell on you and now you're mine. Ah say into pie uppa-maybe-uppen die! So dance, DANCE, DAAANCE until you die! Hahaha! Come, sisters! We fly! We fly to the Memphis Dance Festival, where dancing shall be amok, amok, amok, amok, amok.
Book says the free day will feature special performances from Memphis’ own Lil’ Buck, Alvin Ailey from New York City, Chloe Arnold’s Syncopated Ladies from LA, Hot 8 Brass Band from New Orleans, Nashville Ballet, Memphis Grizz Girls, Ballet Memphis, New Ballet Ensemble, Collage Dance Collective, and many more. Plus, there shall be food trucks. For more information, look here and then DANCE, DAAANCE until you die.
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photography courtesy crosstown arts
Fright-tober
Crosstown Theater, 1350 Concourse
Saturday, October 1, 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.
I smell children. Sisters, don’t we love children? Shall we entice them with these magical paintings to put them in a trance? Book says they’re called movies and can be quite spellbinding, and Crosstown Arts is showing spooky ones all month on Saturdays, showing Hotel Transylvania (PG) this week at 2:30 p.m. Hmmm … and it says here that it’s free with registration. So come, little children, we’ll take thee away into a land of enchantment.
And to distract the parents afterwards while we lure their beasts away, Crosstown Arts will show more of the magical paintings at 6:30 p.m. Book says this week they’ll be entranced by The People Under the Stairs (R), also for free.
In the weeks to come, the nonprofit will continue its Fright-tober with screenings of Frankenstein (PG), The Birds (PG-13), Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (G), The Shining (R), Coco (PG), Rosemary's Baby (R), Hocus Pocus (PG), and Return of the Living Dead (R).
photography courtesy memphis zoo
Zootoberfest
Memphis Zoo, 2000 Prentiss Place
Saturday-Sunday, October 1-2
Bring to a full rolling bubble. Add two drops oil of boil. Mix blood of owl with the herb that's red. Turn three times, pluck a hair from my head. Add a dash of pox and a dead man's toe. Dead man’s toe, dead man’s toe! Dead, dead, dead! Take one down, pass it around, 99 bottles of beer … What’s this about beer? I’ve never needed beer in one of my potions. Oh, Book, thou hast tricks up thy sleeves. Sisters, let us fly to the Memphis Zoo. Book says it’s Zootoberfest, and we can drink the brews, too — not to be confused with witch’s brew — from local breweries as we walk through the zoo. (Guests can purchase a $12 commemorative stein. Refills are $6. You must have a stein to participate in Zootoberfest.)
Oh, look here, Saturday, the zoo is also hosting its annual Art for Elephants, and the magnificent beasts will be painting. How charming. And I’m sure there will be lots of children, whose youth we can suck and live forever. Hahahaha!
