This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
In our Halloween edition of Pencil This In, we offer you these holiday-related alternatives to trick or treating: Theater in a cemetery; Neil Gaiman and Amanda Palmer at the Ebell Theater; Mark Z. Danielewski conducting his book onstage at REDCAT and The Tingler on the big screen. Read on for all the details.
WICKED LIT
What’s creepier than being in a cemetery on Halloween? Tonight, there are several productions by Wicked Lit at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena. Choose either Production A: Edgar Allan Poe’s The Cask of Amontillado, H. P. Lovecraft’s The Unnamable and Charles Dickens' The Chimes; or Production B of Mark Twain's A Ghost Story, M.R. James' Casting the Runes and Robert Louis Stevenson's The Body Snatcher. This is a nontraditional setting, so expect sitting, standing and walking through the venue.Tickets: $49. Post-show reception included.
SCARY LIT
Tonight for one-night only, authorMark Z. Danielewski returns to REDCAT to “conduct” a theatrical presentation of his limited-edition, illustrated ghost story The Fifty Year Sword. This year's performance will include 40-foot shadows by shadowcaster Christine Marie, sound design by John Zalewski and live music. At 8:30 pm. Admission is $20 for general public, $16 for students, and $10 for CalArts community. And don’t forget to read LAist’s great interviewwith Danielewski himself.
VARIETY*
Tonight author Neil Gaiman and his wife and musician Amanda Palmer are on a brief co-headline tour of the West Coast and are stopping at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre for Halloween. "An Evening with Neil Gaiman & Amanda Palmer" promises an evening of spoken word, songs, stories, chats with the audience and surprises. The stage will contain a piano, a ukulele, two microphones, and (Amanda claims) “a few comfortable twitter-sourced armchairs.” At 8 pm. Tickets: $19.50-$49.50.
FILM
In case you missed LACMA’s Price-a-thon yesterday, Cinefamily screensThe Tinglertonight at 8 pm. The William Castle-directed film—about a lobster-like monster that feeds on terror within the human body—was a gimmick film from the start, shown in “Percepto.” The original theater seats were rigged with buzzers to simulate The Tingler’s attack. Adds Cinefamily: “Best of all, The Tingler features a major subplot based on the Silent Movie Theatre itself and its original owners, the Hamptons. Feel a tingle up your spine as you watch these scenes set in the very location where you are sitting — and maybe a tingle on your tuchas when we shock you Castle-style with real wired seats! Experience The Tingler in “Percepto”!” $12/free for Cinefamily members.
*Pencil pick of the day
Want more events? Follow me on Twitter (@christineziemba). Or follow Lauren Lloyd—who takes care of Pencil on Wednesdays (@LadyyyLloyd).
