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!
SPECIAL EVENTS:
CineVic Presents a Wolfcop
& Another Wolfcop Screening
with Director Lowell Dean attending and Q&A
Ticket Price: $20 Regular
Location: The Vic Theatre
Date: Oct: 18th, 7:00pm
Fans of this B-movie style Canadian cinematic treat will get to learn up close and personal about how this cult classic is all guts, some glory and quite the insane fun romp that it is.
Spook-O Night Orienteering
Ticket Price: $8 per map
* membership req’d / waved for first-timers
Location: Uplands Park
Date: Oct 28th 2017 6:00pm – 9:30pm
The Victoria Orienteers Club has a fun ‘run’ which goes through the ‘haunted’ Uplands area of the town. Ghouls and Zombies are said to stalk about, and it’s a fun way to learn how to navigate the rough woods which makes up Vancouver Island. The life lessons may even help in the event of an actual zombie outbreak, and it’s a kinder approach to a true apocalypse. For more information, please visit their Facebook page.
Ticket Price: $15-20
Location: Victoria Event Centre
1415 Broad Street
Date: Oct 27, 2019
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM PDT
It’s the season to get spooky. With an over-arching theme of Halloween, 10 of the city’s top burlesque performers draw from horror, gore, terror, or the adorably cute to win you over. Tassles, heels, and rhythm all combine to tantalize and leave you with a night you won’t forget. To the winner: The Showdown Crown and $300.00 CASH.
Featuring the talents of: Devaiya Ra, Gala Vega, Keith Williams, Kibble ‘n’ Bits, Hazel Nuez, Lusty Lugnuts, Penis Flytrap, Roma Antics, and more to be announced soon.
Also featuring a special performance by the incredible musical duo Zonnis while the votes are tallied to move you deep down to your bones.
Beyond Belief Ghost Run &
A Vampire Murder Mystery Night
Ticket Price: $25 per car / $35
Location: 104-688 Granderson Road
(see below for information)
Dates: Oct 19th, 7pm (Vampire)
27th. 1:00pm (Ghost Run)
Hidden Gem and Beyond Belief Paranormal Events have two events! One is a family friendly event to discover the haunted history of the Western Communities in Victoria BC with a “Ghost Run” and the other for the adults/goths to play Vampire the Masquerade (well, not quite) but is very close.
At each haunted hotspot, participants get to discover the supernatural associated with the area, gather evidence and must complete a task before going to the next spot. Like those TV reality shows of the same theme, good runners are required and a vehicle is a must. Included this year is a costume and best decorated car contest.
With A Vampire Murder Mystery Night – “Deep in the forest and miles from civilization, a castle sits high atop a mountain – Casillero de la Sombra. Within, the Antonov Clan of vampires spend their days avoiding the sunlight and their nights hunting humans and drinking their blood. While vicious, they and all other vampires follow the “code” set out by the vampire royal family in Romania. An accordance with the code, the Antonov Clan has extended hospitality to many travellers in need of refuge from the sunlight.”
Please call Hidden Gem (250-208-6643) to book or contact findyourself@hidden-gem.ca to book a spot.
THEATRE
ONCE MORE WITH FEELING
An Unlicensed Buffie The Vampyre Slayer Parody
Ticket Price: $20 Regular
Location: Sunset Labs (400 Herald St.)
Dates: Oct: 18th, 19th, 25th, and 26th. 7:00pm
This reimagining of Joss Whedon’s perennial episode will have you watching this show in an all new perspective! Zence is an alien, and he will be your guide to controlling the chaos taking place in the town of Sunnydale with a capricious demon forcing the residents to expose their secrets through musical theatre. Buffy Summers and her friends (Xander, Willow, Giles, and the rest of the gang) must figure out a way to defeat the stylish demon before it claims her little sister Dawn as it’s unholy bride.
THE 39 STEPS
Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre
Ticket Price: $25-47
Location: 2657 Quadra St
Date: Oct 22 to Nov 2
A fast paced whoodunnit for any one who loves the magic of theatre. Clive Barnes of the NY Post said; “The play’s creators have affectionately pushed Hitchcock’s brilliance…into some riotous realm of satire, without losing its essentially Hitchcockian flavor.”
BE STILL
Hapax Theatre
Location: Intrepid Theatre Club
1609 Blanshard St
Dates: Nov 22, 23, 29, & 30, 8pm
Need something post Halloween? Be Still is written by Janet Munsil and is inspired by the multiple-exposure work of Victorian photographer Hannah Maynard. Consumed by grief at the loss of her daughter, this visual artist submerges herself into morbid photographic work and the clockwork routines of daily life with her husband. Intrigued by a friend’s Spiritualist leanings, Hannah questions mysterious goings-on in her studio, and wonders if a reunion with her child is possible.
ROPE
A Thriller By Patrick Hamilton
Ticket Price: $18 (student) – $24 adult
Location: Langham Court Theatre
Dates: Nov 6 – 23, 2019
Two university students, Brandon and Grant, believe that they are intellectually superior and intend to prove it by committing a murder and then throwing a macabre dinner party.
FAKE GHOST TOURS
Ticket Price: $20 pp
Location: Royal BC Museum
Dates: Starts Oct 9, 2019 to 31st
runs 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm, three shows a night
Join amateur ghost hunters/identical twin brothers Abdul and Shawn for a 100 percent accurate history of the Royal BC Museum. What mysteries await in Century Hall? What spirits prowl the shadows of Old Town? What secrets haunt the bathroom by the escalators? This tour will reveal all.
THE CRYSTAL LABYRINTH:
AN IMPROVISED 80’S FANTASY
Ticket Price: 8pm | $15
Location: Intrepid Theatre Club
Dates: Oct 23rd – Sat Oct 26th 2019
Don your sparkliest cape, turn up the synths, and prepare yourself for an epic 80’s adventure. Magic and mysticism abound in this improvised quest through an upside-down world of dragons, goblins, wizards, and of course, puppets! With Paper Street Theatre, just what they will end up using for puppets will probably leave you in stitches and you’ll probably wonder where your shoes went!
DEAD MAN’S CELL PHONE
Ticket Price: $15 (purchase online through Ticket Rocket)
Location: 1923 Fernwood Road
Dates: Sept 24th – Oct 12th (complete showtimes here)
Sarah Ruhl (In the Next Room, The Clean House) has made a name for herself as one of America’s most exciting young playwrights. Her work is always laced with surprise and humour as she tackles contemporary themes, which under a lesser writer’s pen, might come across as didactic.
Dead Man’s Cell Phone is every bit as intriguing as the title suggests. Jean, the main character, impulsively answers a dead man’s cell phone, and from then on, the play unfolds in a perfect blend of suspense and farce. On the surface, the story explores the paradox of modern technology’s ability to both unite and isolate people in the digital age, but on a deeper level it confronts the question of how identity itself is formed. Are we who we think we are? Or are we who others think we are? Both hilarious and nail-biting, Dead Man’s Cell Phone is a great pre-Halloween offering.
JASON STEVENS’
FRANKENSTEIN
Ticket Price: $20
Location: Craigdarroch Castle
Dates: Oct 5, 12, 19, 26th
Actor Jason Stevens returns to Craigdarroch Castle with a new one-man show. Audiences have been delighted by Jason’s past Christmas performances and this October he will debut his interpretation of Mary Shelly‘s Frankenstein.
Join Jason in the Castle Saturday evenings in October at 6pm. Seating on a first come, first served basis. Movies are shown in the dance hall on the 4th floor. There are 87 stairs and no elevators. Please, no stiletto heel as they damage the floors in this living museum.
ATOMIC VAUDEVILLE’S
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW &
IT’S A MYSTERY FEATURING THE QUIN TWINS
This production house is a tour de force for being a home to many a wonderful creative talent based out of Victoria, BC. They are well known for their take on Hedwig and the Angry Inch. To credit everyone would take up too much room, and the Board of Directors and Talent Pool (behind their cabaret series) speaks for itself. Back in 2016, they were involved in bringing Rocky Horror to the island and since then have amped up this show to epic proportions, and it’s amazingly intimate when previous years are often performed in a tight space as Metro Studio.
While Rocky Horror goes without saying, their latest production will be of interest to fans of The Quin Twins. Tegan and Sara, are at it again, pumping out hit pop tunes and solving mysteries by the dozen. Everything is awesome when there is a conspiracy in the air? Who knows, it’s a mystery! Join Atomic Vaudeville for Cabaret numero 81 and get your Halloween on.
