by Jeff Ayers
For those of you who’ve not experienced NIGHTMARE’s annual haunted houses the last few years here in NYC you’re really missing out. Those in the know will tell ya, the productions are top notch, the creatives involved dedicated and intensely passionate, and the whole shebang is usually a scarifying adrenaline rush rarely obtained outside of an encounter with a Lamia (watched Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell last night, hence the reference… Man alive was that neat-0). NIGHTMARE creator Timothy Haskell and his crew work on this show all year long and it shows.
I went through on opening night 2009 with the folks from Abracadabra, a staple costume shop on 21st St., themselves appreciators of the macabre and horrific, and I must say with no hyperbole it was my best experience yet.
This year’s production concerns Vampires, (the installation has been transformed into the “Museum of Vampyric Artifacts”) and does well to portray various interpretations of them throughout history- from Nosferatu to Castlevania playing on a relic front-loadin NES to bloody zombie-hybrids made popular by 28 Days Later. You begin your tour of MoVA guided by a rather innocent looking vamp and then things… well, they go to hell; In a hand basket. So as to not ruin any of the various chills and spooks I won’t go into details. However, I will recommend pushing the red buttons (in keeping with the museum theme they’re strewn around as if to provide insight and information about the exhibits). Trust me- if you’re a mischievous sprite such as myself you’ll be pushing these every chance ya get.
Ladies- don’t bring lame-o’s too cool to be scared, with their hands in their pockets and cynicism in their souls. Like anything fun, you have to open yourself up to the experience. Fellas- bring girls who like to scream. And if you scream like a girl (I don’t, but did. Twice.) bring yourself. There’s a swell coupon on the back of this week’s Weekly Planet for FP customers to save some bucks on admission. Be sure to use it.
Oh, and this one is definitely not for the kiddies. Unless you bring ’em along on Kids Day Saturday 10/24 froom 10am-3pm.
Nightmare: Vampires NOHO Event Center 623 Broadway at Houston Street (enter on Mercer Street).
now through November 7th
for more details see: hauntedhousenyc.com
The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks– “Those who don’t learn from zombie history are condemned to repeat it.” New York Times Best-selling author of World War Z, Max Brooks, and returns with a graphic novel handbook for encounters with the differently-dead (or the living impaired, what have you). Chronicling zombie attacks down through the centuries (Romans? Pre-historic? None are safe from this terrible scourge!) this GN is old, amazing hat for Max, featuring his signature tongue-in-cheek documentarian approach, and is deftly illustrated by Brazilian newcomer Ibraim Roberson. Roberson’s art in this is so good, in fact, you’ll want to keep an eye on him, especially his forthcoming Marvel one-shot X Necrosha, and any future creepfests.
This really is a top book. Now if only I could come up with some sort of Crypt Keeper pun to end this thing. How about, “Until next time boys an ghouls, Make Mine Carve-l…. eh-ha-ha-ha-ha-HA!:
Wait. That looks like Carvel. As in the ice cream. What I meant was carve, ya know, as in, like, to cut something with, like, a huge knife. Ah, forget it.
