The Tampa Theatre will present its very popular A Nightmare on Franklin Street this month. The events will be held from Saturday, October 16 through Sunday, October 31. According to Jill Witecki with the Tampa Theatre, “Now in its ninth year, the series will fill Tampa’s most historic (and haunted) movie palace with all of your nightmare favorites, like classic horror films and creepy cult favorites.”
There will be two screenings of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with a live floor cast and audience participation. The theater will offer ghost tours and Late-Night, Lights-Off Paranormal Investigations. The elegantly gothic stylings of Phantasmagoria will be back this year with a Dark Carnival mainstage show. There will even be an evening of spooky campfire stories under the theater’s star-lit sky.
New this year, the Tampa Theatre will kick off the series with a free screening of The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 16. This is a first in a quarterly series of community screenings designed to showcase Tampa Bay area films, filmmakers, actors and locations. Attendees will get to meet two of the film’s stars, Eugenie Bondurant and Paul Wilson. Tickets are free, but RSVPs are required.
Also new this year, the Tampa Theatre will offer ‘Mummy & Me’ screenings of family favorites like Hocus Pocus on Monday, October 18 and The Nightmare Before Christmas on Monday, October 25 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $10 for nonmembers or $7 for Tampa Theatre Members. Tickets are free for kids 12 and younger.
You will not want to miss SpiritsFest: ‘Backstage’ on Saturday, October 30. Patrons can prowl never-before-seen corners of the majestic movie palace as they are regaled with tales of Tampa’s dead by Phantasmagoria’s skillful storytellers, each episode expertly paired with a creepy craft cocktail. Tickets are $100 ($90 for Tampa Theatre Members), and timed entry reservations will be available between 5-8 p.m. Attendance is extremely limited.
The series culminates with a matinee showing of the 1922 silent horror classic Nosferatu. Artist-in-residence Steven Ball will provide live musical accompaniment on Tampa Theatre’s original Mighty Wurlitzer Theatre Organ.
For times and tickets, please visit www.tampatheatre.org/nightmare. The Tampa Theatre is located at 711 N. Franklin St. in the heart of downtown.
