Mummies may be wrapping things up and witches may be flying south for the winter, but the season of spectres isn't over yet. On Nov. 1 from 5 to 8 p.m., the Arkley Center for the Performing Arts presents a dazzling Dia de los Muertos party ($20, $12 kids). Celebrate this rich and colorful Mexican holiday with a lineup that includes headlining Latin rockers from San Francisco, Rúkatan Latin Tribe (with lead guitarist Carlos Hernandez — Carlos Santana's nephew) and local favorites, Mariachi de Real Mexico. Spooky storyteller Carpathian keeps the audience on the edge of its seat, while dancers from Arcata Rueda and Humboldt Folklorico click up their heels. Enjoy the eats and sweets from the Rita's truck and Los Bagels, and, after goblin, get your boos on at the Arkley Margarita Bar.
Arkley Center's Gailey Browning says, "It's such a fun celebration, and we felt that it would be great ... for everyone to join in the family fun and to experience this remarkable culture."
Swirl your capes, put on your fanciest face paint, señors and señoritas, and come out to celebrate the Day of the Dead with your loved ones near and departed.
Where can your little ghouls and goblins load up on sugar and show off the clever costumes you spent hours making? Several spots throughout the county are having trick-or-treat activities and costume parades on Halloween, Saturday, Oct. 31. Here's where to go for the good stuff.
Kids are invited to meet at the kiosk a little before 11 a.m. for the McKinleyville Shopping Center Halloween Parade at 11 a.m. (free) to parade around the shopping center to trick-or-treat.
In Arcata, little Elsas and Bernies can scamper around the Arcata Plaza from 4 to 6 p.m. visiting merchants giving out candy and mingling among giant puppets, jugglers and more (free). The Halloween Fairy will also be posing for pictures.
Trick-or-treating goes down in Old Town Eureka from 2 to 4 p.m. with participating businesses handing out candy to costumed kiddies 12 and under accompanied by an adult (free).
In Fortuna, little minions 12 and under in costume and with an adult are invited to candy-handle downtown from 3 to 5 p.m. (free). Farther south, kids in costume can parade and trick-or-treat at the Benbow KOA at dusk, after cupcake decorating and a movie from 3 to 5 p.m. (free).
There's a lot of ground to cover, but that's why Snickers and sneakers were invented. You got this, parents.
The downtown/Old Town terror-tory is the perfect place for little werewolves of Humboldt to roam and romp this Halloween.
Redwood Art Association, Eureka Main Street, downtown businesses and Eureka Parks and Recreation are putting on a full day of family fun at the It's Scary! Halloween Block Party on Saturday, Oct. 31 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on F Street between Sixth and Seventh streets (free).
From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Redwood Art Association, check out spooky and spectacular art at the It's Scary! Themed Exhibit. There's also an art wall, photo booth and art auction. On F Street, take part in cakewalks at 11:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. (tickets $1), check out cool and creepy art and watch dancers in the street. The Discovery Museum will be handing out candy, healthy snacks and treats, and will be open with special kids' activities (free). At the Morris Graves Museum, explore the Junque Arte Exhibit from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum will also have a cool outdoor Halloween display and face painting. While you're in the vicinity, take the tykes trick-or-treating in Old Town from 2 to 4 p.m. (free). At the Eureka Theater, the Kinetic Paranormal Society performs at 2:30 p.m. followed by a Kid's Costume Contest at 3 p.m. and a screening of Para-Norman at 4 p.m. ($5). Finally, the day wraps up with Eureka Parks and Recreation's Halloween Carnival at the Eureka Municipal Auditorium from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. with games, candy and prizes (free).
They're baaack ... After taking last year off, the creative minds behind the Kinetic Lab of Horrors are ready to serve up some serious scares, shrieks and shivers at the Kinetic Sculpture Lab, Eighth and N streets in Arcata, starting Wednesday, Oct. 28 and running nightly through Oct. 31 from 7 p.m. to midnight ($12). The brains behind the brains have built a spooktacular house of horrors crawling with special effects and mechanical, kinetic creations. If the lines are long, don't worry. Not only are the 15-or-so minutes of terror worth it once you get inside, spooky rockers the Dead Drops keep you entertained while you wait. Ages 13 years and older suggested.
Grave Matters and Untimely Departures, one of Humboldt's most fascinating and frightening tours, brings to life tales of local residents and their unfortunate demises this Sunday, Oct. 25 from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Sunrise Cemetery in Fortuna ($15). This history/theater hybrid features actors and storytellers in full period costume recounting stories of those who died by their own hands, at the hand of another or in some ghastly manner. Tours leave every 10 minutes and a shuttle scoots you to the cemetery from the parking area in Newburg Park.
"By the pricking of my thumbs/ Something wicked this way comes."
Ladies and gentlemen, prepare yourself for the gravest show on earth when a haunted circus rolls into town. Big Top thrills and carnival chills take center ring at the historic Eureka Inn for Cirque de Soulless, the Rotary Club of Southwest Eureka's fiendishly fun fundraiser, Saturday, Oct. 24 from 7 to 11 p.m. ($60).
In the vein of Bradbury's Dark Carnival, the evening promises a cavalcade of eerie entertainers that include a contortionist dancer "whose preternatural flexibility will amaze and scandalize," a mermaid singing her siren song, a ghostly pianist, jugglers, hula hoopists, a cartoonist, a balloonist and evil, evil clowns. And for a divining good time, a palm reader and tarot card reader will circulate among the guests. Is that guy in the corner giving you his eye? Settle your nerves a bit with food and drink from the circus buffet and no-host bar serving specialty cocktails, beer and wine. When it's time to further unwind, DJ Goldilocks spins beastly beats for those who want to kick up their heels.
Proceeds benefit Humboldt Senior Resource Center's Home-Delivered Meals Program. So dress for the occasion (you want to blend, right?), frolic with the freaks and mingle with the macabre for a worthy cause.
Celebrate the abundance of good living in the quaint town of Blue Lake this weekend at the annual Blue Lake Harvest Days. There you'll find a cornucopia of music, dancing, food, drinks, crafts, decorations and more.
On Saturday, Oct. 24, grown-ups can knock back a few at the All Day Hoppy Hour at Mad River Brewery. Stop in from 6 to 8:30 p.m. to catch live music from Home Cookin' featuring locals Joyce Hough, Gary Davidson, Tim Gray and Fred Neighbor (free entrance). Later, stroll over to Dell'Arte International's Carlo Theatre at 7:30 p.m. for the Harvest Days Barndance, where you and your partner can swing to the Striped Pig Stringband and caller Lyndsey Battle ($5). Afterward, head across the street to the Logger Bar to enjoy a cocktail or two and listen to The Undercovers at 9 p.m. (free, 21 and up).
Sunday's Great Pumpkin Event at the Mad River Grange is packed with fun from noon to 4 p.m. (free). Bring your own pumpkin and see how it measures up in the homegrown pumpkin contest, take part in an old-fashioned cake walk, play harvest-themed games, check out the arts and crafts booths, enjoy live music and more.
What is life like for veterans returning from war? What happens "over there" and what happens "in here" for those who serve, and for their families? Frequently, returning veterans experience alienation and invisibility as they integrate back into a society that has not experienced what they have. Through a three-part series of workshops over the last several months, the Arcata Playhouse and area creators and producers put together an impressive, important piece giving voice to the experiences, changes and challenges for this oftentimes silent faction of our community. Echoes of War, a multimedia performance that documents veterans, their families and survivors of war and their experiences of coming home, plays at the Arcata Playhouse on Oct. 22 through Oct. 24 at 7 p.m., and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 25. ($10, $8 for veterans).
Local storyteller Ali Freedlund held workshops where veterans and those affected by war shared their experiences and, with her help, fine-tuned them for presentation. Stories include those of Vietnam War veterans, a National Guardsman who served in Afghanistan, a Bosnian Muslim who fled her home in Sarajevo, a Jewish woman who escaped Nazi Germany, a veteran of the Iraq War and a Navy veteran who participates in the Run to the Wall every Memorial Day. Participants also had their photos and stories captured for local audio archive and the Library of Congress by audio engineer Tammy Rae Scott.
For the performance at the Playhouse, directors Zuzka Sabata and Jacqueline Dandeneau bring together the narrative pieces, visual images and live music representing the different war eras to create the final production. The playhouse will also be draped in large banners from "A Break in the Battle," a project from Fort Benning depicting soldiers, their tattoos and the stories behind them.
Finally, a compilation of a recording of the live performances at the Playhouse and the archived tapes will be broadcast on KHSU on Veteran's Day, Nov. 11 at 7 p.m.
One of science fiction's best B movies comes to the Eureka Theater on Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. when the original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956) drops from the projector and onto the screen ($5). Hang onto on your seat. This one'll scare the plants off of you.
Kevin McCarthy plays a doctor who returns to his hometown to find worried people complaining of the same thing: their loved ones aren't quite right. They look the same, but they are flat, expressionless vessels — and the combination is chilling. The doctor discovers that seedpods from outer space have descended upon the town and are replicating its unsuspecting inhabitants, throwing the townsfolk into a paranoid game of "us vs. them."
This low-budget film was made terrific by taut direction, tense scenes, stellar acting and a hybrid script that is both humorous and terrifying. There's no violence, nothing graphic — just fear building upon fear until panic runs amok. And panic is the monster in this movie. The pods are icky and the soulless replicas are creepy, but the real terror is the crescendo of fright, the fear that this could happen to you, and even worse, while you're asleep and totally unware. Many consider the film's subtext to be a veiled criticism of McCarthyism and the sweeping hysteria it fed and fed upon. Others claim it's an allegory for Communism turning people into party-line drones devoid of individuality, or a warning about nuclear war (glowing, dehumanizing pods falling from the sky). Whether all of these or none were intended, this type of invasion — something taking over your identity in such an everyday setting — was pioneering in film and sets Invasion apart as one of the most alarming science fiction movies of all time.
Have fun watching this one in the dark, poddy people, but keep one eye on the screen and another on the person next to you. And for heaven's sake don't nod off or you could be next.
The Clarke Museum is hosting two fun events this Saturday, Oct. 10. From noon until 3 p.m., enjoy Archaeology and Cultural Awareness Day, a free day at the museum as part of Archaeology Month. Join the Clarke Museum, California State Parks, Redwood National Park, and the Humboldt State University Anthropology Club for demonstrations on local Native American basket weaving, flint knapping and more. People of all ages can participate in make-and-take art projects and other indoor and outdoor activities. While you're there, grab some lunch out in front of the museum at the traditional open-pit salmon barbecue from 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. ($20). The barbecue features freshly caught Klamath River salmon prepared in traditional Native American style. The salmon is cut into filets, seasoned, skewered with hand-carved sticks and roasted over an open pit. The street will be closed to traffic so everyone can gather outside to enjoy great food and support the Clarke Museum. Plates include salmon, fry bread, coleslaw, beans and a soda. In addition to barbecue, you can explore vendor booths featuring Native American gifts and jewelry.