Harvest Festival and more
Costumes are encouraged for all ages at Saturday's Harvest Festival in North Charleston.
Kids these days, they really have it made during Halloween season. When I was growing up, there was one costume, one night, one event and that was it. Now, they’ve got the school dress-up party, the church trunk-or-treat, the fall festival, the actual trick-or-treating on Halloween night ... so much candy. Not that I’m bitter about it. But, ‘tis the season for sugar, spice and dressin’ up thrice, so here are some family-friendly events for the weekend.
The V-Tones will provide some festive entertainment at Saturday's Harvest Festival.
The City of North Charleston’s Harvest Festival has been rescheduled to Oct. 26 due to the forecast for this weekend.
The City of North Charleston’s annual Harvest Festival returns to the Olde Village on Saturday with costume contests (pets too), a kids’ zone with games, crafts and inflatables, a photo booth, local artists market and entertainment from The V-Tones, a pop-up pumpkin patch and, yes, trick-or-treating. Hey, grown-ups: there will be a mechanical bull (yee haw!).
WHEN: 4-7 p.m. Oct. 19
WHERE: East Montague Ave. near Park Circle, North Charleston
PRICE: Free admission
MORE INFO: 843-740-5854, bit.ly/2BdCnNn
Summerville will screen "Hocus Pocus" at its inaugural Truck-or-Treat Halloween Bash on Friday.
The Town of Summerville will host its first Truck-or-Treat Halloween Bash and Movie, in conjunction with the Parks and Rec Department, police, fire and street departments on Friday. Kids can trick-or-treat along the route of emergency vehicles, tractors, construction vehicles and others, with the opportunity to climb in and explore. There will be carnival games and Halloween-inspired activities, and the kids will need to bring their own bags for candy. Dusk will bring the screening of “Hocus Pocus” (PG, 1993). Costumes are encouraged (parents too), but no pets permitted at this one. 4:30-9 p.m. Oct. 18; Gahagan Park, 515 W. Boundary St., Summerville; Free admission; 843-871-6000, bit.ly/2VtRPyk
Isle of Palms will host Ghostly Tide Tales on the beach on Friday.
Ghostly Tide Tales will return to the beach on Isle of Palms on Friday, presented by the IOP Rec Department. Local pirate storyteller Eric Lavender (the one with the parrot!) will share some spooky ghost stories around the campfire while the family sips on hot chocolate. Be sure to take blankets, chairs and a flashlight (not the one on your phone, that one’s not scary). 6-7 p.m. Oct. 18; 25th Ave. beach access, Isle of Palms; Free admission; 843-886-8294, bit.ly/2oG7cYx
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens will host its Halloween Harvest Fest on Saturday and Sunday with general admission. There will be a pumpkin patch, candy apples, cider and s’mores, musical performances, a costume contest and a fun house. 1-5 p.m. Oct. 19-20; Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, 3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston; $20 adult; $10 ages 6-12; $5 wristband ages 3-13 years; 843-571-1266, magnoliaplantation.com/whatsnew.html
Scary songs, movies and trivia
The Charlestones will present the "Halloween Harmony" concert on Thursday. Provided
The Charlestones will bring their a cappella stylings to The Pearl Theatre on Friday, but with a little twist. The third annual family-friendly Halloween Harmony concert will feature songs that are a little more on the spooky side, such as Michael Jackson’s “Thriller,” the theme songs from “The Addams Family,” “Ghostbusters” and more. An actor dressed as Death will host the evening’s festivities, naturally. Costumes are encouraged.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Oct. 18
WHERE: The Pearl Theatre at West Ashley Theatre Center, 1401 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., #11, Charleston
PRICE: $10-$18
MORE INFO: bit.ly/2OriZEs
Charleston Music Hall will screen "The Nightmare Before Christmas" as part of its Sing-a-Long Series on Monday.
Tim Burton has got to be the King of Halloween, considering some of his creations: Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Frankenweenie and the Corpse Bride. As part of its Sing-a-Long Series, the Charleston Music Hall will screen Burton’s “The Nightmare Before Christmas” on Monday. Costumes are encouraged for an evening with Jack Skellington and Doctor Finklestein in Halloweentown.
WHEN: 7 p.m. Oct. 21
WHERE: Charleston Music Hall, 37 John St., downtown Charleston
PRICE: $8
MORE: 843-853-2252, charlestonmusichall.com
The Retro Horror Film Series continues at Citadel Mall this week with screenings of "Friday the 13th” (1980) Oct. 17 and “Jaws” (1975) Oct. 18-24. “Night of the Living Dead” (1968) will run Oct. 25-31. 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. nightly; Citadel Mall Stadium 16, 2072 Sam Rittenberg Blvd., Charleston; $5; 843-769-7600, bit.ly/2nVLiQs
Rusty Bull Brewing will host Zombieland Trivia Night on Wednesday.
Rusty Bull Brewing Co. will host Zombieland Trivia Night on Wednesday, in celebration of “Zombieland 2” opening in theaters this weekend, so make sure to "limber up" and "travel light," but "don’t be a hero." Trivia survivors and winners of the Zombie costume contest can snag some Rusty Bull gift cards, so I suggest brushing up on Columbus’ 33 survival rules. 7-10:30 p.m. Oct. 23; Rusty Bull Brewing Co., 3005 W. Montague Ave., North Charleston; bit.ly/2IRlmNl
Granted, “American Horror Story” isn’t a scary song or movie, but it’s a scary series and creepy enough to make the cut. Bay Street Biergarten will host an American Horror Story Trivia Night on Wednesday, featuring questions from all nine seasons and specialty food and drinks inspired by the series. 8-11 p.m. Oct. 23; Bay Street Biergarten, 549 East Bay St., downtown Charleston; 843-266-2437, bit.ly/31cVkKD
‘Nevermore’
Charleston Stage acting ensemble member Jesse Siak as Edgar Allan Poe in "Nevermore! Voyage Into the Netherworld" at the Dock Street Theatre.
“For never was a story of more woe, than this of Edgar Allan Poe.” Wait. That can’t be right. Or can it?
Charleston Stage has opened the production of “Nevermore: Voyage into the Netherworld” at the Dock Street Theatre, a mystery drama that explores what may have happened to Poe on his fateful voyage on that steamer out of Richmond in 1849. The master of macabre and melancholy, headed for New York, was found several days later, deliriously and incoherently wandering the streets of Baltimore, where he died the next month at age 40.
Poe spent a little time on Lowcountry shores as an army soldier at Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island, the beaches of which are scenes for “The Great Balloon Hoax” and “The Gold Bug.” But what if the Holy City is present in more than those two stories? What if the (alleged) experiences of that enlisted teenager’s love, loss and death of a local belle, found their way into his other literary works?
“Nevermore” was written by Charleston Stage founder Julian Wiles in 1994 and “a new haunting original score” has been written by Luke Wakchuk. Seventeen of Poe’s writings are cited in the play, including “The Raven,” “The Telltale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “Annabelle Lee.”
WHEN: Various evening and matinee showtimes through Nov. 3
WHERE: Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church St., downtown Charleston
PRICE: $29-$67
MORE INFO: 843-577-5967, charlestonstage.com
