Tag Archives: Halloween

10.26.19
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A Victorian Theatrical Halloween Guide 2019

Looking for some last minute things to do in the days leading up to Halloween? Ed published his guide on our sister site: otakunoculture.com and it’s republished here for your convenience.

Otaku no Culture

nullBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Halloween has become synonymous with humanity’s once in the year obsession with all things occult. Whether that’s with ghosts, the macabre or fantastic beasts, folks celebrate it in myriad ways as part of this season’s tradition.

Not on this list are the traditional staples–ghostly walks, haunted fun houses and public ghost hunts–and I’m going for unique one offs. Included are theatre productions that are not rinse and repeat. Yes, while we all love to get our Rocky Picture Show on, and Atomic Vaudeville deserves special mention for putting on two different productions.

The call is out there for theatre groups or organizations with an event they wish to have listed that is not on here. Please check the contact us section to email or reply with your event!

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10.26.18
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Paper Street Theatre’s Halloween Treats!

Runs Oct 24th-27th at the Intrepid Theatre
Address: 1609 Blanshard St, Victoria, BC V8W 2J5

Victoria, British Columbia’s Paper Street Theatre knows their pop culture. As an improv group, they enjoy getting audiences to laugh. Some might arrive already in giggles because they enjoy their shows far too much. Their performances take place throughout the year and are themed. That is, they are spiced with a little bit of every literary or oral tradition out there. This themed night had fog machines and ambient lighting room straight out of The Exorcist to get everyone into the mood for supernatural delights!

During this weekend leading up to Halloween, the team has supernatural campfire stories to tell. Some have the taste of urban legend spread all over it and others are truly creepy, Twilight Zone style. Ideas for story titles are taken from a community bucket, and the more bizarre they sound, the more challenging it is to put into a coherent narrative. With improv, the performers do not have time to consult with one another to decide on how the story can go, and everyone has to think quickly as they are under many peering eyes. Under the dimming light, not every glance will glow red.

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11.01.17
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The Post-Halloween Blues? Thoughts on RBCM’s Night Shift Series and Nov 3 & 4th in #YYJ

IMG_20171028_201614920Post-Halloween, I’m not sure what I want to do next. Thankfully, the season is not over with Last Chance Productions bringing Evil Dead the Musical to town November 3rd and 4th to the Metro Theatre! You can click here to buy tickets. I mentioned them in an article last year about them finally coming to town, and this show is worth revisiting since it’s bloodier than Rocky Horror. As with live theatre, there will always be refinement. It’s not often audiences get sprayed than toss stuff in celebration of a scene in the latter.

Honestly, I should not have to leave my hometown of Victoria, BC to have some spooky fun. Usually, I’m tempted to go to Vancouver so I can enjoy Fright Nights at Playland. With this island community, a few events are more or less going to be the same year-after-year. Sadly, Rocky Horror Show fits under this bill as with slightly different Corn Mazes and variations of the Haunted House to navigate through. To get the route you want on Ghostly Walks requires getting a specific tour guide. What I want to experience are the special one-off’s. This garden city is home to an annual theatre production at Craigdarroch Castle which Launch Pad Theatre Company is doing a great job.

About four years ago, the Royal BC Museum (RBCM) experimented with the idea of making a Night at the Museum style fun and having a party like none other — perhaps inspired the film of the same name. Other museums around the world offer something similar, and they are usually geared for the whole family than adults to enjoy. There are even a few which get a touch academic. The articles I read online about these events often makes me think I should travel to check these other options but I always hold back, hoping my town’s museum can offer something similar. In what I’ve experienced at RBCM’s Night Shift, the organizers do a great job. They also touch up a few of their permanent exhibits to get into the spirit.

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10.18.17
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Stay Awhile… Stay for The Red Death & Other Stories From Edgar Allen Poe

22218503_1729800080394782_765507268006924604_oTickets available via www.thecastle.ca
or call 250-592-5323 to book

Show times:
October 17, 18, 19, 24,
25, 26, 30, 31 at 8:00pm
October 20, 21, 27, 28
at 7:00pm and 9:00pm

With Performances by:
David Radford, Christina Patterson, Jared Gowen, Trevor Hinton, Diana Nielsen

When mid-October arrives, the Halloween season is in full swing and the terror can arrive in many a form. This week has Red Death & Other Stories From Edgar Allen Poe (Launch Pad Theatre) and Rocky Horror Show (Atomic Vaudeville) opening for residents of Victoria, BC to enjoy. Those unable to get a ticket for the former (it’s nearly sold out) can wait for next year. The latter will always be around because it’s become a staple ever since it debuted on stage with thanks to Kaleidoscope Theatre.

Pardoning the cliché, to experience Poe’s works performed on a dark and stormy night at Craigdarroch Castle is a must. I’ve been a fan of interactive theater for a long time, and to choose between which show to go to get my pre-Halloween funk on was tough. Audiences either get to be part of the show or they are watching it with a slight wall between realities. With this season, the veil is best broken at the edifice upon a hill.

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09.12.17
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[Victoria, BC] Launch Pad Theatre to Turn Poe Over His Head!

Tickets are on now sale for this year’s Halloween shindig at Craigdarroch Castle. Some may say it’s the end of the world and the last days of disco!

Show times:
October 17, 18, 19,
24, 25, 26, 30, 31 at 8:00pm
October 20, 21, 27, 28 at 7:00pm and 9:00pm 

The gothic and the groovy will jibe with this dramatic new staging of some of the most unsettling stories of Edgar Allan Poe set in a 1970’s B-movie horror milieu and amplified with the disco sounds from the era. This show promises to be different than Launch Pad Theatre‘s past works. Kept in is the exploration of this historic venue (more rooms will be opened up) as this play moves from chamber to chamber (yes, a lot of stair climbing will be involved). Different is in the fact several stories will unfold than one!

In order to get the full experience, theatre-goers will have to return. Who knows, maybe you will have a chance encounter with this place’s real ghosts!

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10.28.16
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Eerie Ed’s Guide to Haunted Victoria, BC Eateries

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Supernatural tales permeate throughout most of Victoria, British Columbia and there’s a handful of ghosts who love visiting eateries. With Halloween near, interest in this world is at its peak, and some may want to dine at an allegedly haunted establishment.

As a paranormal enthusiast who is trying to keep up to date with new tales, I present a catalogue of nearly every haunted eatery in this city. Some I’ve been to dine at and others are still on my bucket list.

In a few stories I’ve personally been told, Monty’s Showroom Pub (closed) was also haunted and I was invited to investigate this place with me and my PARAVI friends. We did not find anything conclusive, but to be in this venue after hours and quiet certainly had a different ambience.

The area around Bastion Square has a fair number of haunts within a square block. With a few friends who once operated a restaurant or late-night pub in this area, they have related to me a few experiences: a past owner/operator of Baja Surf Grill (no longer in operation) mentioned finding wall hangings strewn on the floor and while I think he’s pulling my leg, the area is old enough to have some secrets. But in all the tales he tells me, I figure the ghosts of downtown Victoria love him. He used to run a downstairs pub, close to The Churchill, many years ago and recalls seeing something on the stairs!

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