Nightmare on Franklin Street is as much of a Tampa Bay holiday tradition as pumpkin spice lattes and Instagramming pictures of the new Halloween merch in Target.
And yes, by “holiday” we mean Halloween. We always mean Halloween. So when we open up emails like the one that came this morning, announcing Tampa Theatre’s 13-night lineup of horror, horrible and horror-inspired events, we do a little buttdance in our chairs.
Here’s what’s on tap for this year’s Nightmare on Franklin Street, which screeches to a start this year on Oct. 19., broken down by category:
Ghost of Tampa Theatre tours
This rococo-style movie palace must be haunted, right? Of course it is. Learn the stories and, if you’re lucky, meet one of the haunts.* $12; $10, under 12; free for members.
Oct. 19, 23, 25, 26, 29, 30: 3 p.m.
Oct. 21-22 & 28: 11:30 a.m.
Oct. 26: 10:30 p.m.
*Neither Tampa Theatre nor Creative Loafing Tampa guarantees a ghost sighting.
Pause-O-Ween
OK, so maybe you’re not in a movie mood — that doesn’t mean you can’t drink in the spooky ambience of this stately theater. Literally: On these nights, Tampa Theatre will give you free shots, and if that isn’t enough, you can head to the bar for seasonal drink specials (we have our fingers crossed that they’ll finally make a murderita for us). And, because they know you probably need some food in ya’ if you’re gonna drink, they’re also offering two bucks off their popcorn.
Happy hours take place on Oct. 19, 24-26 & 31. All happy hours start at 4:30 p.m. and end at 6:30 p.m., except for Halloween (see below for details)
Oct. 19: Dr. Paul Bearer opens the season (Uh, seriously, Tampa Theatre? We’re putting up our decorations this weekend!) with the first happy hour. Look for the hearse, grab a photo with the good doctor (actually, that’d be the good doctor, junior, technically) and hang around for the 6:30 p.m. screening of his 2018 Halloween special.
Oct. 31: 6-9 p.m. Screw the kids in the neighborhood — just set out a card table, a bowl of treats and head to the last Pause-O-Ween of the season. For every drink you buy, you get a raffle ticket. Plus, they’re fronting you the first ticket, so you’re starting ahead of the game.
Oct. 19: Stage & Scream… er… Screen
6:30 p.m. Hi Noon, Goodbye Dr. Paul Dr. Paul Bearer intros this year’s Halloween special, Hi Noon, Goodbye Dr. Paul. There’s frighteningly little information about it, but hey, Dr. Paul Bearer, and free shots before the 12-minute comedy. After the screening, hang around for a Q&A.
9:30 p.m. Rocky Horror Picture Show Let’s do the time warp again, shall we? The 1975 classic cult film The Rocky Horror Picture Show actually sucks out loud if you’re not familiar with the audience partici… pation aspect of this cultural phenomenon. Tampa Theatre promises a shadow cast and tells us anything goes except for hot dogs, rice or water guns. So come loaded for bear — with newspapers, toast and cards. You know what to do. $15; $12, members.
Oct. 20: All-Day Nightmare
Here’s a question for the ages: What’s simultaneously enduring and endearing about this sextet of “horror” films that so impacted Gen Xers? For us, it was the scene with the dead kid in the waterbed (in the ’80s, see, lots of us had waterbeds — don’t ask, OK?). For others, it was the “washing down instant coffee with Diet Coke to stay awake” (Starbucks’ espresso-covered coffee beans were still a few years off) moment of quiet desperation. Which one is it for you? Reminisce with a full day of Nightmare on Elm Street — they’re showing all six back-to-back. Relive the horror — or, at least, the humor — of some of the most ingenious, witty scary movies of the ’80s.
They’re all about 90 minutes long and they’re all, in case you’d forgotten, rated R. That doesn’t mean don’t bring your nine-year-old; it means you should probs be prepared for a few sleepless nights if you do. Kids don’t always get the same sick-ass Freddy Krueger humor. Tickets cost $10 per film, or, if you’re a real fan, $40 for the day (members pay $7 and $35, respectively).
10 a.m. A Nightmare on Elm Street 1984
12:30 p.m. A Nightmare on Elm Street 2: Freddy’s Revenge 1985
3 p.m. A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors 1987
5:30 p.m. A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master 1988
8 p.m. A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: Dream Child 1989
10:30 p.m. Freddy’s Dead: The Final Nightmare 1991
*Note: Mummy and Me shows, noted below, are kid-friendly not-so-scary movies. Kids 12 and younger get in free.
Oct. 21: Boo-tiful Brides
A day of wedded bliss, Halloween style. Which, it turns out, isn’t as blissful as one might imagine.
2 p.m. Mummy & Me* Corpse Bride 2005. PG. 77 min. Animated. $10; $7, members; free, 12 and younger.
4:30 p.m. Bride Of Frankenstein 1935. Not rated. 75 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
7 p.m. The Brides Of Dracula 1960. Not rated. 85 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
9:45 p.m. The Brides Wore Blood 1972. R. 84 min. Horror. Filmed in Northeast Florida. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 22: Hotel Horrors
Stay the night? Um, better think twice about that.
3 p.m. Mummy & Me*: Hotel Transylvania 2012. PG. 91 min. Animated. $10; $7, members; free, 12 and younger.
6 p.m. Psycho 1960. R. 109 min. Thriller. $10; $7, members.
9 p.m. Eaten Alive 1976. R. 91 min. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 24: Full-Moon Freakout
When the moon is full, emergency rooms fill up with the most unusual cases, city council meetings take bizarre turns and the werewolves come out in force. TBH, that last one scares us the least. Just in case, though, stay off the moors, OK?
7:30 p.m. Teen Wolf 1985. PG. 91 min. Comedy. $10; $7, members.
9:30 p.m. An American Werewolf In London 1981. R. 97 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 23
6 p.m. A Quiet Place 2018. PG-13. 90 min. Sci-Fi & horror. $10; $7, members.
8:30 p.m. Hereditary 2018. R. 127 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 25
7:30 p.m. The Slumber Party Massacre 1982. R. 77 min. Horror. Post-screening, join the Q&A with Slumber Party stars Debra De Lisa (Kim) and Joe Johnson (Neil) — here’s your chance for a selfie and an autograph. $13; $10, members.
Oct. 26
7:30 p.m. The Cat And The Canary 1927. Not rated. 108 minutes. Mystery. When is a silent movie not silent? When it’s accompanied by the Tampa Theatre’s Mighty Wurlitzer organ. Dr. Steven Ball plays this magnificent instrument as the silent sinister film plays. $13; $10, members.
Oct. 28
2 p.m. Mummy & Me* Hocus Pocus 1993. PG. 96 min. Family. $10; $7, members; free, 12 and younger.
5:30 p.m. Phantasm 1979. R. 88 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
8 p.m. Bubba Ho-Tep 2002. R. 92 min. Comedy & horror. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 29
7 p.m. Spirits of the Bay: An Evening of Live Storytelling with Deborah Frethem Part-time Gulfportian and local author Deborah Frethem takes the stage to cozy up to some local spirits. Hear her ghost stories, and, after the show, get her to sign your copy of her book. $10; free for members.
9:45 p.m. Beetlejuice 1988. PG. 92 min. Comedy. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 30
While we’re more fans of the 1990 It and the 1997 made-for-TV The Shining (trust us on this), it doesn’t mean we’d kick these iterations of two fo Stephen King’s iconic films out of our beds. Except we do make it a policy never to sleep with clowns. Or Jack Nicholson.
6 p.m. IT 2017. R. 135 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
9:30 p.m. The Shining 1980. R.146 min. Horror. $10; $7, members.
Oct. 31
9:30 p.m. Halloween (40th anniversary) 1978. R. 91 min. Thriller. $10; $7, members.
This article appears in Aug 23-30, 2018.
