This week’s top Halloween happenings include the Ghost Hole island art-party, the eighth annual Goin’ Steady Halloween bash, and a costumed jam at the Metro Theatre.
Friday: Dudebox Is Fucking Dead
With DJ James “Eatcha Brains” Redi. United Steelworkers Hall, 25 Cecil St. $5 before midnight, $10 after. Doors at 10 p.m.
Halloween. It’s only my favourite national holiday. Which means this week’s edition of The Night List is dedicated to all things Treehouse of Horror -y. Getting right to it: remember Dudebox , the group of of dudes that throw down and donate funds to good causes? They’re getting spooky on your ass with their third annual Halloween jam, where (maybe) “hipsters dress up as bankers, bankers dress up as hipsters, hipsters make out with bankers and a dude dressed as a taco gets pushed down the stairs for being an asshole.” Hah. For this instalment, Dudebox has chosen the United Steelworkers Hall on Cecil Street (announced in the video below), so just close your eyes and imagine that they might just go Simpsons and that it might just turn out like this . Skip the “Best Costume” awards and decorations. This is all you need to know: “There will only be a slew of people pushing their way toward one of several bars in an atmosphere of pure, hip-hop chaos/ecstasy.” A portion of the funds raised will, once again, go to Manifesto . Find out more here .
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Friday: Goin’ Steady 8th Annual Monster Mash
Lee’s Palace, 529 Bloor Street West. $10. Doors at 9 p.m.
Remember the Goin’ Steady boys from earlier this summer? They’ve since hit a few milestones in their Toronto #PartyRocking careers, and they’re on their way to celebrating a decade in the biz. On Friday, it’s their eighth annual Monster Mash Halloween jam, where they take over Lee’s Palace for a costumed extravaganza and some way-back playbacks. It promises to be “bigger, better and scarier than ever,” with projections and “multimedia mayhem.” Plus, sick outfits: “beyond budget witches and one-sheet ghosts.” It’s just about tunes, tricks and treats. If debaucherous college kids aren’t your speed, then I can’t sell this hard enough. Find out more here .
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Saturday: Ghost Hole IV—Island Edition
With various performers. Artscape Gibraltar Point’s Centre for the Arts, Toronto Island. Advance tickets $12 at Soundscapes. Doors at 2 p.m., party goes until midnight.
If you thought your island days were over for the season, guess again. Get ready for the offshore debut of Ghost Hole , an all day-ish melange of art, music and things that go bump in the night—and the first Halloween-y thing at Artscape’s Centre for the Arts at Gibraltar Point. Curator Vanessa Rieger elaborates: “Ghost Holes are an unexplained phenomena that occur in areas of high paranormal activity. They can be found in attics, alleyways, under bridges or under beds.” The former public school building will be reincarnated with artists playing the role of necromancers, combining art, installation, sound, video and performance to act as human Ouija boards into new worlds…or something. Expect: full immersion, a.k.a. “a haunted outhouse, bodies on the beach, booby traps in the woods, ghostly children under the floorboards” and more. They say it’s family-friendly until the sun goes down—and then all bets are off. Plus, nothing is scarier than being trapped on an island. Play Lost. Or Blair Witch. Find out more about the 30 artists and six musical performances here .
Saturday: Crush Party—Halloween Edition
The Central, 603 Markham Street. $10. Doors at 9 p.m.
I always wanted to meet, um, “my lobster” at a Halloween party so I could tell the hook-up story like a flashback in a sitcom, with costumes and a hilariously-dated backdrop. At this Saturday’s Crush Party, a mixer designed for people seeking other people for whatever reason, it might just happen. Back in May, both The Grid ‘s Sex Detective and I dove penis-first into the world of I’d Tap That , a group of friends looking to bring sex-positivity to the city’s young, hungry, and horny masses. Or anyone, really, from hetero to homo to kinky to trans and beyond. It’s pretty rad if you’re into meeting people looking for “The One” or “The One Right Now” without OkCupid. You even wear little number tags so you can tweet back and forth to each other for a possible love match. (Just read my story .) This edition also features a burlesque performance by Sevvy Skellington. And a bunch of people in costumes. Someone please bone a zombie Obama for me. Find out more here . And this video because, well, why not?
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Wednesday: Porn Theatre Halloween Party
With various DJs. Metro Theatre, 677 Bloor Street West. $10 at the door or online . Doors at 10 p.m.
How sweet it is when Halloween falls on a weekday and people actually want to worship on the day proper? And now that the Metro Theatre in Koreatown—a.k.a. Toronto’s foremost porn cinema—has gone indie , it was only a matter of time before someone appropriated the venue from porn palace into party palace. Now known as Projection Booth Metro, the cinema will host its first Halloween party courtesy of expert party-crasher/music-mogul-in-the-making/heartbreaker Brock McLaughlin and friends. He promises: “cheap drinks, sexual innuendo and occasional grazing.” And hopefully actual XXX—not just some dude dressed as Vin Diesel. So far, the Facebook wall has images of Jian Ghomeshi. (I guess that’s somebody’s porn.) No one is safe. Find out more here .
