A Surreal Party, a Dead Parade, and More Recommended Events

Undead: Haunted House of Dances

Thursday 24 - Thursday 31, Factory on 5th

Their name – Ventana Ballet – references the Spanish word for “window,” which makes sense given this local contemporary dance company’s penchant for showing audiences new viewpoints on the art form. As such, you’ll find their Halloween offering quite “window”-opening. An immersive experience, Undead utilizes pro theatre and dance artists to create mature-audience-only style creatures and scares. Chills abound – literally, as they promise this year the venue has air-conditioning. Join the troupe at any of their performances from now until All Hallows Eve as show director AJ Garcia-Rameau puts on a real creep show.   – James Scott

Meghan Keane, Party of One

Thursday 24, Bookpeople

Being single – honestly, being by yourself in any capacity – is a learned skill, not an innate trait a talented few possess. You gotta exercise your ability for positive self-talk, baby. Author Meghan Keane, who has spent much of her adult life not in a long-term relationship, documents her journey to self love as well as advice for those attempting to start their own path to self-compassion. Party of One combines practices, scripts, and prompts with illustrations by the talented LA Johnson – a must-have for the independent yet insecure spirit. Sheesh: I wouldn’t know anything about that...   – James Scott

The Craft

Thursday 24 - Friday 25 & Tuesday 29 - Thursday 31, Blue Starlite Drive-In

Do you love witchcraft? Wigs? Fairuza Balk? Have I got the sleepover staple for you... The Craft hit the general populace in 1996 and has yet to stop influencing young women to be the weirdos since then. Blue Starlite screens the classic in the lead-up to Halloween, so rock a smeared black under-eye, get a total goth makeover, and bring a pretty loose understanding of Wicca for this Nineties girl-bully nightmare. Justice for Nancy!   – James Scott

B Scene: Surrealism Soiree

Friday 25, Blanton Museum

You know what’s really surreal? That the surrealist art movement is 100 years old. Bet don’t be fooled, this old style is still the life of the party. Celebrate the centennial with Blanton’s epic birthday bash. Dress in daring, Dalí-inspired costumes and enjoy a night of twisted takes. Tickets to the soiree grant more than access to drinks, plant-based sushi, and gallery viewing. They open the doors to music by the Octopus Project and DJ Near Mint, stream of consciousness writing and art workshops, dream interpretation, aura photography, and so much more. Ready for an eclectic experience? Melt your brain like a clock, find the layers of meaning within yourself, and get surreal with it.   – Cat McCarrey

“Soft Opening”

Through January 11, DORF Gallery

Out of the garage and into much fancier digs, community-minded art gallery DORF celebrates its new home at South Lamar’s Zilker Point with the cheekily named group show “Soft Opening.” Amble in before January 11 to see what insights participating artists Eepi Chaad, Michael Anthony Garciá, Nitashia Johnson, Bárbara Miñarro, Natalia Nakazawa, Rebeca Proctor, Libby Rosen, and James Viscardi bring to the concept of softness, or get in on the ground floor at Friday’s opening reception, featuring a performance by Garciá and music by DJ Apanda.   – Kimberley Jones

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back With Live Score

Friday 25, the Long Center

Okay, here are the three reasons you GOTTA attend this screening: 1) All bias aside, we must acknowledge that The Empire Strikes Back is the best Star Wars movie. Few other entries in this now-bloated franchise match the second entry’s visual style or unstoppable action – like, come see me when the Disney Death Star makes anything half as cool-looking as Cloud City. 2) So this screening, right, has costumed characters galore for you to take a pic with – which you can do while holding a Jedi Mind Trick cocktail, purchased from a Long Center “cantina.” Oh and duh: 3) The freaking Austin Symphony Orchestra – you know, the one conducted by local legend Peter Bay – is doing the John Williams score LIVE. Like right in front of your face, directly in your ears, the booming glory of “The Imperial March” fills the room. You’d have to be smokin’ death-sticks to miss this one, pal.   – James Scott

Art Dinner Afterparty

Friday 25, the Contemporary – Laguna Gloria

While not everyone can be among the 300 art world luminaries attending the actual Art Dinner, this year marks the first time the Contemporary’s opening up a little of the magic to the greater public. For a cool 200 for non-members – or a discounted $160 for members – attendees may partake in an expansive cocktail and refreshment menu featuring local vendors like Luna Espresso and Dolce Bacio Gelato, served at a pop-up from Downtown parking palace Garage. There’ll also be performances from by J’cuuzi and DJ SuperNova of Pangea Sound, body painting, and palm and tarot readings available, all of which you’ll enjoy on the beautiful Laguna Gloria grounds. Pro tip from a guy who suffered for his foolishness last time: Just use a rideshare. Parking in that area just isn’t for the faint of heart.   – James Scott

I Walked With a Zombie

Friday 25 & Sunday 27, AFS Cinema

The zombie looms large in the collective creep consciousness – so many interpretations, so many thematic representations, so much hunger for brains. Director Jacques Tourneur’s film is both titled after and based on an article written by Inez Wallace after her experiences with sugar plantation workers in Haiti. But of the 1943 movie’s script, more influence was taken from gothic romance Jane Eyre, with producer Val Lewton asking for “West Indian version of Jane Eyre.” Witness the strange, haunting visions that at the time of its release provoked disgust and now, revisited and explored, strike up a thought provoking dialogue about exploitation cinema.   – James Scott

Sustainability Salon

Saturday 26, Dougherty Arts Center

A quick look at the price tags at any art supply store partially explains the origin of the term “starving artist.” No wonder paintings are so darn expensive! But here in this arts- and earth-friendly town, we like to find creative solutions to conundrums like our art supply bill putting us in the red and nagging at our eco-friendly conscience. Join other artsy folks at DAC to swap supplies, paint, make seed balls, sip cocoa, and chitchat about sustainable art practices, and bring your curiosity, knowledge, and any supplies you have that are seeking a new purpose.   – Kat McNevins

Salvador Dalí’s Naked Feast

Saturday 26, The Vortex

Every year, Vortex – the vibiest venue – puts on a fundraiser called the Naked Feast. It’s interactive, immersive, and sexy. As the name suggests, it involves a human platter upon which to graze from artful hors d’oeuvres inspired by Salvador Dalí’s surrealism. Chef Nic Patrizi offers vegan, meat, gluten-free, and dessert options, as well as a signature Casanova cocktail made from Dalí’s own recipe. There will be live music by Ras-I-Dre, Frederico7, and others, plus tango, live painting, a hookah lounge, a silent auction offering local art, dinners, and services of all kinds, contests, and games – and rumor has it Dalí himself will be in attendance. Really, what else could you want out of a Saturday night? Plus, it’s for a good cause.   – Lina Fisher

The Great PUGkin Festival

Saturday 26, Work & Woof

Pug parents are a special breed, keeping this Austin Pug Club tradition going for 22 years now. Is there anything cuter than an adorable roly-poly smushface all dressed up? We think not! This year’s theme is “Pugstock,” meaning it’s time to break out the bell bottoms, fringed leather jackets, peace signs, and florals. Unless you’d like to go with the Nineties Woodstock – all types of costumes are welcome, as well as natural beauty. But if they do enjoy dressing up, enter your pug pal into the costume contests for puppies, adults, seniors, or pairs for a $10 entry fee, with proceeds going to Pug Rescue of Austin. Enjoy the show!   – Kat McNevins

Not Bad Boogie

Saturday 26, the White Horse

Taylor Rushing’s Not Bad design studios has helped define the look of contemporary independent country, with his illustrations and show posters blending a Seventies Austin aesthetic with a modern melding of hillbilly and hippie. The day-long mini fest Not Bad Boogie follows suit. South Austin swamp swami Ramsay Midwood and Nashville’s Sean Thompson’s Weird Ears bring the psych-country jams while Erin Rae’s gorgeously moving folk from 2022’s Lighten Up and Logan Ledger’s immaculately smooth croon draping last year’s Golden State sweeten the evening. Local trio Sentimental Family Band round out the lineup, adding some Western swing to the Boogie.   – Doug Freeman

Viva la Vida

Saturday 26, Mexic-Arte Museum

It’s time to start making some noise to let dead loved ones know that we’re thinking about them. Make sure they know you’re living life to the fullest at Mexic-Arte’s longest running Día de los Muertos event featuring a grand procession starting at noon and all manner of activities, live performances, local artists, traditional foods, a lowrider exhibition, and much more running until 6pm. The Day of the Dead isn’t for another week, but celebrating the deceased should be a year-round endeavor.   – James Renovitch

Pinthouse’s 12th Anniversary

Saturday 26, Pinthouse Pizza

Pizza and beer remains a classic for a reason, and few Austin haunts do it better than Pinthouse, freshly named the eighth best local brewery by the Chronicle’s beer maven Eric Puga in last week’s Drinks Issue. Celebrate the Burnet location’s 12th anniversary with a good old-fashioned day party, featuring drink specials (the Fresh Drops Fresh Hop IPA and Man O’ War Anniversary IPA will be on deck in canned four-packs), special merch, tailgate games, and, the spirit of Spooky season, a costume contest. The party runs from 12 to 6pm.   – Carys Anderson

Gardening for Birds & Pollinators

Saturday 26, Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Just last week, I was sitting in my mom’s garden in Dallas admiring her Turk’s cap plants, known as a hummingbird favorite and a “Texas Superstar” due to its ability to thrive here and its benefits to our ecosystem. And wouldn’t you know it, as I was gazing upon the small pink and red flowers, a hummingbird broke my reverie with a long visit to snack and pollinate. If you’d like to invite birds and other pollinators to grace your garden, Turk’s cap is a great choice, but there are many ways to maximize your pollinator potential. Learn all about it at a morning workshop led by Wildflower Center Lead Horticulturist Amy Medley. Registration required.   – Kat McNevins

Fantastic Arcade

Saturday 26, the Baker Center

A collabo of local indie game social Games Y’all and avant-garde-ians the Museum of Human Achievement, this “fun-size” edition of the independent and cult video game celebration goes totally turbo. From a showcase of international games, panels, shoutcast play-alongs, and just good ol’-fashioned fraternizing, this is one event that’ll have you happy you left the console at home. Or maybe you brought your DS – no worries. It wouldn’t be the first time a person’s pulled out a handheld at the club.   – James Scott

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

Saturday 26 & Thursday 31, AFS Cinema

All I need from a horror movie is a freaky little guy, and the masked killer of Dario Argento’s final Animal Trilogy entry super fits the bill. Big bulbous eyes, smooth latex skin, and a massive smile characterize the stabbing fiend’s visage – a startling look worthy of the always striking Argento. His rocker protagonist has been framed for murder, and while Roberto Tobias is certainly a lady-killer, he ain’t no real killer – or is he? Come for the, as AFS says, “swishy gay detective” who helps Roberto; stay for a video intro from now New-York-based Queer Film Lost & Found programmer Elizabeth Purchell.   – James Scott

Fangoria Horror Movie Trivia and Ringu Screening

Saturday 26, We Luv Video

Look: I’m not taking arguments on this front. The Japanese original Ringu is the better sibling to its anemic American sister. A much colder take on a J-horror classic – technology as a gateway for ghosts – Ringu combines countryside legends with metropolitan isolation for a frightening tale that sticks with ya. Bulk up your evening plans by hitting the horror movie trivia ahead of the screening, where cult movie mag Fangoria offers primo prizes and free St. Elmo beers for those who know their scary movies. Gore Verbinski, eat your heart out.   – James Scott

Austin Diwali Bash

Saturday 26, the Pershing

Celebrate the Hindu festival of lights with luminary local talents at this party hosted by Austin’s own Desi Vibe Tribe. Delight all your senses: Hear DJs spinning selections of Indo house, afro house, Bollywood, and urban Punjabi as well as live sax and electric guitar performances; learn new dances from professional teachers and see brilliant fire dancers; and taste delicious offerings from Clay Pit. These and the many other festivities filling up the Pershing venue are sure to light up your night.   – James Scott

Young Frankenstein

Sunday 27, Alamo Drafthouse

If this is your first time, you shouldn’t go into a screening of Young Frankenstein expecting nonstop laffs. The movie has its funny moments, but much of it is stupid. However, that doesn’t keep it from being charming, and the ridiculous gags are part of the experience: a way to re-encounter the innocent and confused 1970s and one of the decade’s culture-creators, the vaudevillian Mel Brooks. Young Frankenstein’s cast is Seventies through and through, with Brooks’ lovable collaborators Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Teri Garr, Cloris Leachman, and Madeleine Kahn camping it up.   – Brant Bingamon

Phantom of the Paradise

Sunday 27 - Monday 28 & Thursday 31, AFS Cinema

Okay, okay: Many of you may know the top-of-the-line talents who pushed this Faustian frightener into pop-culture stardom. Obviously the great Paul Williams, who wrote the incredible soundtrack that rocks and rolls throughout all of Brian De Palma’s lurid imagery. (Williams also stuns as the villainous music producer Swan.) BUT did you know behind the scenes was the one and only Sissy Spacek? Yes: Texan Spacek recalled in an AV Club interview some 12 years ago originally auditioning for a role that later went to Jessica Harper. Instead, she became a set dresser on the project, meeting her husband and securing her future fame as De Palma’s Carrie White. “I was really over my head in the set-decorating department,” she told interviewer Sam Adams. “I was just trying to help out, and I was talentless in that department.”   – James Scott

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Want to see all of our listings broken down by day? Go to austinchronicle.com/calendar and see what's happening now or in the coming week.