Tag: 201022

Horror movies, costume parties and other Halloween fun

Though the list of Halloween parties isn’t as long as it would usually be for a year where the big day falls on a Saturday, there are still celebrations with live music and several spooky-themed movie screenings.

• Cinemagic theatres in Hooksett (38 Cinemagic Way; 644-4629), Merrimack (11 Executive Park Drive; 423-0240) and Portsmouth (2454 Lafayette Road; 319-8788) will present Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining(R)from 1980 starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall on Thursday, Oct. 22, at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $13.25 and can be purchased at cinemagicmovies.com.

• Join Twin Barns Brewing Co. (194 Daniel Webster Hwy., Meredith) for a spooky pumpkin painting session on Friday, Oct. 23, from 4 to 7 p.m. There will be music, snacks and dozens of pumpkins available to paint, courtesy of Picnic Rocks Farm. Admission is free and BYO pumpkins are OK too. Visit twinbarnsbrewing.com.

• This weekend at the Milford Drive In (531 Elm St. in Milford; milforddrivein.com, 673-4090) catch some classic scares for a variety of ages. On one screen: Pixar’s 2001 animated movie Monsters, Inc. (G) featuring the voices of Billy Crystal and John Goodman, followed by 1993’s Hocus Pocus (PG), featuring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker. On another screen: 1980’s Friday the 13th (R) followed by 1996’s horror movie-dissecting horror movie Scream (R) with Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, David Arquette, Matthew Lillard and, extremely memorably, Drew Barrymore. Both double features start at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 23, and Saturday, Oct. 24. Admission costs $30 per car (for up to six people; each additional person is $5).

• Liquid Therapy (14 Court St., Unit B, Nashua) will host a Halloween Trivia Extravaganza on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. The game will be devoted to all things Halloween and if you show up in costume you get bonus points. First-place winners get a $50 gift card and bragging rights. Visit liquidtherapynh.com.

• The Capitol Center for the Arts in Concord (448 S. Main St., ccanh.com) is holding a virtual conversation with Kathy Najimy to celebrate 1993’s Hocus Pocus (PG) on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 8 p.m. Tickets to the live, moderated Zoom discussion featuring viewer questions and clips from the movie costs $20 for one device. See the website to order.

• If the recent Netflix movie Vampires vs. The Bronx left you wanting to know more about director F.W. Murnau and his connection to filmatic vampire lore, head to Wilton Town Hall Theatre (40 Main St. in Wilton; wiltontownhalltheatre.com, 654-3456) on Sunday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. for a screening of his 1922 silent movie horror classic Nosferatu accompanied by live music performed by Jeff Rapsis. Admission is free but a $10 donation per person is encouraged.

Rapsis will return to Wilton Town Hall Theatre to provide the live music accompaniment on Saturday, Oct. 31, for a special Halloween Lon Chaney double feature at 7:30 p.m. The silent film line-up includes The Unknown (1927), which features Joan Crawford, and West of Zanzibar (1928), which also features Lionel Barrymore. Admission is free but a $10 per person donation is encouraged.

• If you couldn’t make it to Wilton Town Hall Theatre on Sunday, head to the Flying Monkey Movie House and Performance Center (39 S. Main St. in Plymouth; flyingmonkeynh.com, 536-2551) on Wednesday, Oct. 28, at 6:30 p.m. for a screening of Nosferatu (1922) featuring Jeff Rapsis’ musical accompaniment. Admission costs $10 per person.

• Chunky’s Cinema Pub will host a live, 21+ trivia night with “horror movies” as the subject on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m. in Manchester (707 Huse Road) and Nashua (151 Coliseum Ave.), as well as on Sunday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. in Manchester. Reserve a spot for your team of up to six people with purchase of a $5 food voucher.

Chunky’s is also holding 21+ screening of the 1988 Tim Burton filmBeetlejuice(PG) starring Winona Ryder, Michael Keaton, Alec Baldwin and Geena Davis at its three locations. Catch the movie Thursday, Oct. 29, at 8 p.m. in Manchester, Nashua or Pelham (150 Bridge St.). Tickets cost $4.99.

Chunky’s will also host Live 21+ “Ghouling” Pianos Halloween Party featuring dueling pianos. Costumes are encouraged. The performance will be Friday, Oct. 30, at 8 p.m. in Nashua and Saturday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. in Manchester. Tickets cost $20.

• Catch a video rebroadcast of the Northern Ballet’s production of Dracula on Friday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at the Bank of New Hampshire Stage (16 S. Main St. in Concord; banknhstage.com, 225-1111). Tickets cost $16 (plus a $3.75 fee).

• The Statey Bar & Grill (238 Deer St., Portsmouth) is planning a scavenger hunt on Friday, Oct. 30, with participation from Brgr Bar and Dwyer’s Pub, followed by live music and a costume contest on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 8 p.m. Visit thestateybar.com for details.

• Instabar (61 High St., Hampton) is hosting Halloween parties on Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. featuring live music, a costume contest and more in a heated outdoor space. Visit instabarhampton.com for details.

• An Online Halloween Storytelling event hosted by the Warner and Hopkinton historical societies will take place on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. Tune in to the Zoom call and hear a few spooky historical tales about witches, ghosts and other supernatural themes. If you have a scary story of your own, you are encouraged to share it. For access to this free event, email [email protected] or [email protected]. Costumes are encouraged but not required.

• Halloween at The Drive-In will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 4 p.m. at Cheshire Fairground (247 Monadnock Highway, Swanzey). Gates open at 2 p.m., and live music starts at 4 p.m. with Pink Talking Fish, followed by Mihali and Neighbor. One ticket is equivalent to one car pass for five people. Ticket prices start at $99 and increase depending on section selection. Secure your spot at drive-in-live.com.

• Celebrate Halloween at Area 23 (254 N. State St., Concord) on Saturday, Oct. 31, with seasonal food and beverages, a costume contest, music and more. Visit thearea23.com.

• Auburn Pitts (167 Rockingham Road, Auburn) will host an outdoor Halloween show on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 4 to 7 p.m., featuring cover band Joppa Flatts. There will also be a costume contest with prizes, a bonfire, fresh food and beverages and more. The event is weather-dependent. Visit auburnpitts.com.

• Jewel (61 Canal St., Manchester) is hosting a Halloween party on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 7 p.m. The cost ranges from $10 to $15. Find them on Facebook @jewlnh.

• Join LaBelle Winery (345 Route 101, Amherst) for a Monster Mash dinner, a 21+ plated dinner event, on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 6:30 to 10:30 p.m. The event will include a multi-course meal, a costume contest with prizes, a DJ and more. Tickets are sold by the table only (limit of six guests per table), starting at $167 per table of two. Visit labellewinerynh.com.

• Murphy’s Taproom & Carriage House (393 Route 101, Bedford) will host a socially distanced Halloween drag show on Saturday, Oct. 31, featuring two performances from 6 to 8 p.m. and from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m. Both shows will have the same performers and performances. The first show will also have a buffet with items like chicken marsala, steak tips and vegetarian pasta primavera. The cost is $60 for the first show (buffet meals included in price) and $25 for the second show. Visit murphystaproom.com.

There are still plenty of spooky events for kids of all ages this year, following Covid-19 safety guidelines. All events are subject to change, so check before you head out for some Halloween fun.

• The Haunting of Wilton returns this year. Wilton resident Randy Koelher is displaying scary creaturesalong Main Street Park and on top of the granite walls at Town Hall now through Halloween. Families are welcome to walk through the exhibit while following Covid-19 protocols. Wear your costumes for photo ops, and don’t forget your mask. Visit wiltonnh.gov.

• The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire (6 Washington St. in Dover; childrens-museum.org, 742-2002) will hold its Not So Spooky October with online offerings and make-and-take kits at the Trick or Tree-T tree inside the entrance of the museum, where you can pick up crafting kits to make Halloween-themed crafts at home. Kits are available on Thursday mornings at 9 a.m. and are distributed on a first come, first served basis. Visit the museum at any point during October and try different Spooky Muse Studio Crafts such as ghost pencil toppers and reflective spider necklaces,free with admission. Online Spooky Science Videos are available on the museum’s website and its YouTube and Facebook pages every Wednesday. Tune in on Wednesday, Oct. 28, for “Spooky Sparks.” Go online to reserve a time for visits.

• The Harvest of Haunts at Charmingfare Farm (774 High St. in Candia; 483-5623) will look a little different this year. On Saturday, Oct. 24, and Saturday, Oct. 31, visitors can board a horse-drawn wagon and travel deep into the woods to hear a spine-chilling story from the farm’s storyteller. Capacity is limited this year, and wagon groups will be divided into two sections of 10 passengers (all-adult groups only seat eight). The package for 10 people is $249 and must be purchased online in advance. Complimentary hot cocoa will be provided. Reserve your tickets at visitthefarm.com.

• Children’s trick-or-treat at Charmingfare Farm is on as well and is more merry than scary. It’s a perfect event for those who want an exciting Halloween experience without being frightened, with barnyard animals, pumpkin painting and more. Children can trick-or-treat at the farm on Saturday, Oct. 24, Sunday, Oct. 25, and Saturday, Oct. 31. Tickets start at $22 per person; admission is free for children 2 years old and under. Purchase tickets and view time slots online at visitthefarm.com.

• Catch Live Magic & Juggling by Robert Clark at Chunky’s Cinema Pub in Nashua (151 Coliseum Ave.; Chunkys.com) on Saturday, Oct. 24, at 12:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Tickets cost $10. The show is billed as “high energy and crowd pleasing” for all ages, according to the website.

• Manchester Community Music School (644-4548, mcmusicschool.org) is hosting a free virtual haunted open house on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 2 to 4 p.m. There will be a costume contest, a scavenger hunt with a chance to win gift certificates and musical instruments, student and faculty performances and a tour of the school. Registration is required.

• In lieu of their traditional tailgate trick-or-treat event, Deerfield Parks and Recreation is hosting an Outdoor Movie Showing and Costume Contest on Sunday, Oct. 25, at Gazebo Field. The best costume for the contest will be chosen at 4:30 p.m., followed by a showing of Hocus Pocus. Reservations for a space are $10. Register online at deerfield.recdesk.com.

• The Canvas Roadshow (25 S. River Road in Bedford; 913-9217) is hosting a Kids Spooky Painting Event on Sunday, Oct. 25, from 2 to 4 p.m. Create a Halloween-themed canvas. The cost per canvas is $22, and purchase must be made online in advance. Visit thecanvasroadshow.com to sign up.

• The YMCA of Greater Nashua’s 13th Annual Halloween Spooktacular will take place on Sunday, Oct. 25, from noon to 4 p.m. at YMCA Camp Sargent (141 Camp Sargent Road in Merrimack). Free and open to the community, this event will feature decorated cars that will distribute candy while socially distanced. Families may register for one 30-minute time slot, and each person must have a ticket. Families can secure up to six tickets for free upon reservation. Register online at https://bit.ly/2GscT5d.

• The Mr. Aaron Band Halloween Bash is outdoors and socially distanaced this year at Kimball Jenkins School of Art (266 N. Main St. in Concord). The band is playing two shows, from 10 to 11 a.m. and from noon to 1 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 25. Tickets cost $10 per person and are available for purchase at mraaronmusic.com.

• Hopkinton Halloween Jack-o’-Lanterns is a perfect opportunity to show off your pumpkin carving skills. Bring your jack-o’-lantern to the Veterans Park wall (near the Cracker Barrel and First Congregational Church) Thursday, Oct. 29, through Saturday, Oct. 31. Place a single battery-operated votive candle in your jack-o’-lantern and the Hopkinton Recreation Department will light it each night.

• Kids are invited to go trick-or-treating at the third annual Halloween at City Hall in Manchester (1 City Hall Plaza) on Friday, Oct. 30, from 3 to 5 p.m. This year will also include Downtown Trick-or-Treat, where kids can get a treat from participating businesses. Masks are required and social distancing is encouraged. Visit manchesternh.gov.

• Kid’s World Indoor Playground of Salem (288 N. Broadway) is having Socially Distant Halloween Costume Parties on Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31. The cost is $49 for a family of four, and $11 per additional person. Each person will receive a small pumpkin to decorate and prepackaged goodie bags containing five allergen-friendly candies. Hour- and-a-half time slots for both days start at 10:30 a.m. and end at 6:30 p.m. Reserve a time slot at kidsworldsalem.com.

• Concord’s annual Wicked FIT Run is going virtual this year. This Halloween-themed family-friendly walk/run 5K will be held on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Registration starts at $10 per person and includes timing benefits and a downloadable bib. Participants are encouraged to wear their Halloween attire. Register at support.fitnh.org/2020wickedfitrun.

• Trick-or-Treat at the Concord Farmers Market (Capitol Street, Concord, next to the Statehouse) on Saturday, Oct. 31, from 8:30 a.m. to noon. Some vendors have opted out this year, allowing for more room to socially distance. Visit concordfarmersmarket.com.

• Put your Halloween costumes on and participate in the CHaD Trick or Trot 3K at Arms Park (10 Arms St. in Manchester) on Saturday, Oct. 31. The event will start with a Halloween festival at noon, followed by the Primrose School at Bedford Hills Lil’ Pumpkin Runs at 1:30 p.m, and the Trick or Trot 3K at 2:30 p.m. Registration for the run costs $15 for ages 11 and under, $20 for 20 and under and $25 for 21 and over. Register online at millenniumrunning.com/trick-or-trot.

• SEE Science Center (200 Bedford St., Manchester, 669-0400, see-sciencecenter.org) will be open Halloween weekend, Saturday, Oct. 31, and Sunday, Nov. 1. Registration is required, with visitor sessions from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., and 2 to 5 p.m. Any visitor who is wearing a costume will get a free raffle entry. Winners will be chosen in each session. Masks are required.

– Shane Jozitis
[email protected]

Prepare for scares at haunted attractions

From killer clowns to bloodthirsty zombies, New Hampshire haunted houses have scares for everyone.

At Spooky World in Litchfield, open weekends through the end of October, you’ll visit four frightening attractions, including Brigham Manor, an estate with a horrifying history now haunted by tormented spirits; The Colony,a labyrinth in which you’re hunted by sadistic unearthly creatures; Dreamscape, where your worst nightmares — spiders, snakes, aliens, clowns and more — come to life in a 3D experience; and the popular one-mile, 22-minute Haunted Hayride, which takes passengers through a number of scream-worthy scenes.

“You’ve got your cemetery scene, and, of course, you’ve got your creatures from the dead who attack the wagon,” Spooky World co-owner Mike Accomando said. “You’ll see an abandoned house that has been taken over by a cult, and — this one really freaks people out — an abandoned barn and campsite that has been completely taken over by spiders. It’s just littered with them.”

Fright Kingdom in Nashua also has four attractions. There’s Apocalypse Z, a military bunker that has been overrun by zombies; Bloodmare Manor, a Victorian mansion inhabited by the diabolical Bloodmare family; The Abandoned, an old abandoned farm house linked to a series of disappearances of people in town; and, finally, Psycho Circus, a 3D experience where you’re taunted by insane clowns and inundated with sensory illusions that may make you question your own sanity.

“We really try to take [visitors] out of the real world and put them into our world with everything we do,” Fright Kingdom owner Tim Dunne said. “We use animatronics; we have well over a hundred animatronic effects alone. We also use lighting. We use smells. We use video and sound effects and music — all kinds of things to create an atmosphere.”

Haunted Houses have had to make some adjustments this year to allow for social distancing and prevent the spread of Covid-19. At Spooky World and Fright Kingdom, capacity has been reduced, and tickets must be purchased for specific time slots in advance. Both parks require visitors to wear masks at all times, and Fright Kingdom is conducting health questionnaires and touchless temperature checks with all visitors and staff before they enter the park, Dunne said.

Accomando said Spooky World hired more staff than ever before to help keep the park safe.

“Because of the new regulations, there are so many more things we have to take care of,” he said. “We need [staff for] crowd control, for directing people, for sanitizing the [Haunted Hayride] wagon between rides and sanitizing all of the haunts every single night.”

Another big change is that groups from each household are ushered through the attractions in a staggered manner so that they don’t come in close contact with other groups.

“Typically, when it gets busy, we send in larger groups of people who may not know each other, because we have to move things along, but we aren’t doing that now,” Dunne said. “Now, you only go through with the people you came with, which means you’ll have to wait longer, but on the other side of the coin, it means you’re going to have a more personalized experience, and people love that.”

The scares will look much different this year. Actors won’t be able to “get right in your face” anymore, which Spooky World has “always been known for,” Accomando said, and actors at Fright Kingdom are doing their scares from behind plexiglass walls.

“It’s definitely been challenging, having to distance the actors,” Dunne said. “You’re always going to get a better scare when you come into someone’s personal space.”

But Accomando said Covid-19 has pushed Spooky World to get creative with alternative scare techniques and expand its special effects to compensate for the restrictions with the actors.

“Don’t get me wrong; it’s been challenging, but it’s also been exciting to use this new format,” he said. “It’s not going to be what people are accustomed to, but I think we’ve really stepped things up a notch to make sure that we’re still giving people a good show.”

Haunted attractions

Halloween seems like the perfect time to celebrate the fun kind of scariness — but of course it will look different this year. Check out recommendations for trick-or-treating safely, plus all kinds of happenings for kids and adults, from costume contests to haunted houses. Just remember that all events are subject to change (boo) and may have specific safety rules, so check before you head out for your Halloween fun.

Trick-or-treat safely

State offers suggestions

Though the CDC is calling traditional trick-or-treating a “higher risk” activity, state public health officials have created a safety tip sheet for families that want to trick-or-treat and people who want to give out candy.
The tip sheet was provided to most municipalities and is available to view online at readynh.gov. It offers suggestions like wearing a mask or face-covering when handing out candy, and bringing a bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitizer with you while out trick-or-treating.
“Certainly the things we’ve been saying all along … remain true for Halloween,” said Paul Raymond Jr., a spokesman for the state’s Covid-19 Joint Information Center. “Everybody needs to be aware and take preventative measures, including practicing six-foot social distancing, covering their nose and mouth and practicing good hand hygiene.”
Designated trick-or-treat times for Halloween have historically been set at the local level, usually either by a town or city’s board of selectmen or police department. A majority of communities are carrying on with the same days and times they normally do each year, but with the caveat that they could be subject to change based on the rate of positive Covid-19 tests in the days leading up to Halloween.
Some towns, like Exeter and Mont Vernon, have moved up the trick-or-treating times to earlier in the day as a way to better enforce regulations before the onset of darkness. Officials of other towns, like Chester, Fremont and Gilford, have decided not to set any hours at all.
Some cities and towns are recommending creative methods of handing out candy to promote social distancing. Officials in Nashua, for example, which will observe trick-or-treating from 6 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 31, are suggesting people individually wrap goodie bags and line them up for trick-or-treaters to grab at the end of their driveway or edge of their yard. Others are strongly recommending against trick-or-treating altogether, especially in popular communal areas like town commons, and instead recommend some type of stay-at-home Halloween activity, like a family scavenger-style hunt in your backyard.
If you are going to go door to door, many towns recommend you do so in small groups and stay within your neighborhood as much as possible. A Halloween costume mask, Raymond said, is not a substitute for a cloth mask or face-covering and should not be worn underneath. Instead, the CDC recommends using a Halloween-themed cloth mask.

Neighborhood trick-or-treat times