One Mayfair Place was this weekend’s venue for the Button Club’s sixth Bloodlust Ball held to raise funds for Cancer Research. In previous years, the “debauched” celebfest has attracted equal measure of fame and infamy with a growing reputation for being the Halloween event to be (and be seen) at.

So what is it really like? First off, it’s not cheap: tickets for non-members are £125 which includes canapes, live entertainment and a free cocktail if you get in early. The choice of venue was spot on – if you’re in the mood for some blasphemous boogie, you may as well do it in an ex-church where most of the seven deadly sins are being carried out simultaneously. The same, though, could not be said for the uneven selection of entertainment. Looking as she has been poured into her catsuit, Eloise Prouse is a spectacular electro-violinist while Japanese “performance artist” Yusura Hime is a mesmerising figure, pouring melted wax over her heavily-tattooed body as she cavorts in the middle of the hall.

On the flipside, “star turn” Tina Stevens, ex of S Club 7, does little to impress in her very furry bikini and is upstaged by her guitarist in his natty skeletal outfit. The night’s main act, “Satanist rock band” Bloomfield Avenue performs a series of covers keeps the dancefloor busy and happy while, appropriately for the occasion, murdering a few stone-cold classics along the way.

Debauched? Hardly, but a fun night out for a worthy cause.

All photos (c) Lisa Thomson.

Here’s a grisly gallery for Halloween. Reader Tom Dingley got in touch to tell us about his ‘Infamous City’ photo project:

My project started some years ago when I read through chapters of a book; The Black Plaque guide to London. At first I did not think to photograph them, until I was set a project with the theme of ‘city’. I chose the dark, infamous history of London. It may seem macabre, but London wouldn’t be London without the blood stains on its streets. From Jack the Ripper, to crime and executions, the fascination with our infamous city is global. It is also interesting to see how locations change and develop over years. A murder scene making way for the Truman brewery, for example.

Photographs and captions by Tom Dingley. Find out more about the project at his Facebook page.

Consisting of four short plays, material is mostly based on work by ‘the greatest of all horror playwrights’ Andre de Lorde, who was heavily involved in the eponymous Theatre du Grand Guignol. Hundreds of violent melodramas and cruel farces were staged to pre-film audiences from 1897 until 1962. The press material promised we would be ‘literally sick with fear’ so, anticipating some old fashioned scaring, we downed a vodka and eyeball shot and took our seat.

Opening lines, scenes, first impressions – no matter how good what follows is, these have to be strong. It was a shame then that the first play – in which a mad Victorian doctor performs horrific operations – is the weakest. The pace is slow and actors, who shine in later plays, seem to take the retro setting as license to act artificially and stiff. Not the sort of corpses we are looking for.

Play two sees things pick up. Here is a perfectly pitched atmosphere of the banality in horror which ends, we know, in thrillingly awful surprises. An old man waits at home, the Archers on the radio, a TV dinner. The picture cracks to reveal a deadly secret, involving a burial and a haunting memory. It’s the standout play of the night, in terms of acting and script, and the only completely original one. Maybe Stewart Pringle doesn’t need the clout of the horror Lorde after all.

Plays three and four take us on a journey from contemporary love tryst to an ammunitions factory in World War Two. A lovers game goes sickeningly wrong and a twist in the tale ends in a harrowing scene.

The factory play, in which a blind woman takes bloody revenge on her sighted co-worker is darkly hilarious. A line of blind munition workers stare battily ahead in their John Lennon glasses and there’s a great moment where a hammer gets whacked on a head, like a Tom and Jerry cartoon.

This is a fabulous concept and often The Revenge of the Grand Guignol achieves its aim of giving us a taste of old style horror and fun. It needs to remember consistently what it set out to do though – to make us quake in our boots – it is Halloween after all, mu ha ha ha ha!!!

By Belinda Liversedge

The London Horror Festival runs at Courtyard Theatre until 27 November and includes HP Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror, Camden’s Most Horrid plus zombie science, gothic rock, comedy improv and film screenings. Consult the full programme here. Tickets £12-15.

Lulu and the Lampshades, playing on Sunday

There’s a blinding afternoon of ace music planned. At least, it sounds amazing even though we don’t know any of them.But who wouldn’t want to see early music outfit Princes in the Tower whose motto is ‘We’re here to make you happy. We’re here to make you jive. We’ll make your party rock like it’s 1595′? Or sixties sounding psychedelic folk rock Scouse ladies Stealing Sheep? Or Sisters of Transistors, the Combo Organ Quartet and Ladies Social Club? Check out the line-up. You need it in your Sunday.

Moreover – folksy gigging aside – meet at Cecil Sharp House at 4pm and join a party of revellers going up Primrose Hill where artists and performers – including the fine female Morris Dancing troupe the Belles of London City – will entertain. The group will then process back to the House at sunset, revelling! Dressing up is optional but could be rather fun and there’s mask making for the kids and hot cider to get you in the mood.

One Lord Sinclair will be telling fortunes and playing folk bingo too (watch out, he’s got a foul mouth). This feels like the turn of the season celebration we’ve been looking for and not a zombie in sight. See you at the hog roast!

The Halloween Music Fair is on Sunday 30 October, 2-11pm, inc. sunset procession (meet at the venue at 4pm), £15.50 (Children 8-16 £6, Under 8s FREE) at Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, NW1 7AY.

With Halloween weekend in mind, we delved into the Londonist Flickrpool for photographs taken around London’s cemeteries and burial grounds.

Many thanks to Viramati once and twice, Mr Tudor, Chic*ka, peterphotographic, HoosierSands, Suzanna, *CriCri*, tubb, victorianlondon, IanMH and Konstantin Binder.

Markabre Charade, Halloween DJ photo by Pat Lyttle

Last week, we gave you recommendations for adult, family friendly and filmic Halloween fun but news of seasonal shenanigans just keeps on coming:

To celebrate their collaboration with the Last Tuesday Society on their Halloween Masked Ball, Illamasqua will be holding a free Halloween Make-Up Workshop at their Soho store.

White Mischief’s Halloween steampunk extravaganza “Ghost In The Machine” takes over Kings Cross’ Scala with a creative blend of music, comedy, cabaret, circus and interactive antics (e.g. Bear Gateaux’s spooky booths) as well as some of the best home-made costumes in town. £29.99

The sixth Bloodlust Ball at One Mayfair Club will have fun, food and frolics in aid of Cancer Research. If it’s anything like the last few years, expect a celeb or two.

Held at a secret location in Hipsterville Dalston, Baron Von Sanderson’s Die Freche Muse is a cabaret costume ball with a strict dress code: “Ghoulishly gorgeous, dead aristocrats, starving poets, syphilitic artists… 1920s, 1930s and 1940s only.” £10 adv/£12.50 on the door.

Remember when we went backstage at Madame Jojo’s? The venue and the burlesque stars of that night come together again for The Folly Mixtures Halloween Hell Special. £7.50

Vintage porn purveyors Artwank! goes out of 2011 with a bang as they present The Horny House Of Horror at the Horse Hospital. Clips from Hammer Horror and Japanese gore flicks will be shown alongside live burlesque from Roxy Velvet. £10/£8 concessions.

Exmouth Market sees an interactive theatre experience – A Foul Play Halloween Special: The Living & The Dead is described as “a pagan feast with pizza”. £12

Dress up and dance at a special Halloween edition of The Magic Theatre at Lewisham’s Rivoli Ballroom. £14 adv/£16 on the door

Markabre Charade looks like he celebrates Halloween every day of the year. He’ll be behind the ones and twos at the Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club’s Palacio De Los Muertos Halloween Spectakular where you can find music, circus, cakes, face-painting and, er, blood baptisms. £6

The following day at the same venue, you can Come Die-ne with Russella, hosted by fab pancake-flipper The Fabulous Russella with music from the Broken Hearts DJs (both of which appear at this weekend’s sold out Experimental Food Society banquet). Diners can expect themed food including a Stairway To Hell cocktail and the Remains Of Ruby Murray (a pumpkin curry). £30

Another festive eating option is the Halloween Cannibal Holo-Roast at the Old Queens Head. A Sunday roast with a twist, “Corporate Cannibal” Amanda Mae Steel’s event returns for a second year with burlesque from Luna Rosa, prizes for best dressed and a Halloween raffle. Free entry.

For more hot cabaret tips, keep it tuned to our Cabaret Zingers.

Cannibal pumpkin photo by Bob the Binman

Grown up scary stuff:

• Disturbia is a concert by the BBC Concert Orchestra at Royal Festival Hall playing ‘an unforgettable psycho-dramatic musical tapestry’ with a free eye mask, tickets £12
• Harrowing Halloween at the Old Operating Theatre is a evening with the ‘London Magician and a series of Séances’, tickets £20
• Charlton House hosts The 13th Ghost Of Gruesome Greenwich, ghostly dramatic performances in the Jacobean mansion with tours of the (haunted) house, tickets £10/brave over 12s £7
• Late night spooky storytelling at the Criterion Theatre sees Mark Gatiss read E.F Benson’s In The Tube, Tim McInnery tackle MR James and Patricia Hodge read Elizabeth Bowen’s ‘The Demon Lover. Dress appropriately, drink a devilish cocktail, £12.50
• The Festival of the Dead at Battersea Arts Centre sees nabakov arts fill the place with artsy party stuff – beware, ‘the spirits are restless’ – tickets £15
• The London Fortean Society meets on 27 October to talk about investigating ghosts at The Bell pub, E1 at 7.30pm, £3/2
• Live theatrical experiences unfold at London Horror Festival at the Courtyard Theatre, Hoxton from 25 October
• If you fancy an “evening of twisted tales, cabaret and Halloween oddities” book for Terror season at Soho Theatre, starting 19 October

Dress up for dreadful dancing at…

• Fleeting Festival Halloween Special at the Alexandra, just £3
• Halloween 9 at CAMP in aid of Oxjam, suggested donation £3
• Belle Epoque Halloween Special boasts aerialistes and a better class of costume at Euston Grand Hall, tickets £20
• S.L.A.G.S Chill Out Halloween Special at the RVT, £8 before and £5 after 7.30pm
• The Night of a Thousand Zombies! at Club de Fromage in Angel, tickets £6.50
• The Last Tuesday Society’s Danse Macabre at the Coronet, £35
• The Book Club rolls out the Hideous Big Ten Inch Halloween Horror Show, £5 after 9pm

Find films to affright you:

• Halloween Havoc ‘Bates Motel’ pop-up cinema shows Psycho and shorts in Blackheath, tickets £12
• Halloween Screamings bring classic horror movies to Hackney’s Round Chapel, tickets £11.50
• The Bootleg Cinema invite you to a Zombie Apocalypse Sleepover with an undead double bill on a campsite near Grange Hill tube, tickets £10.
• The Evil Dead Trilogy at Prince Charles Cinema takes place on Bonfire Night but it’s still dead scary, tickets £20/15
• If you’re a member of the Jameson Cult Film Club see the Blair Witch Project and Invasion of the Body Snatchers at Union Chapel Islington.
• All four Final Destination films take you through the Saturday night at BFI Imax, tickets £29.50

Family friendly frighteners:

• The Old Operating Theatre at London Bridge is a gory place to visit at the best of times – this half term the kids can find out about amputation, plague, poison and bodysnatchers – admission £5.90 / kids £3.40
• Go on a Night Safari at Syon Park Tropical Zoo during half term, 6-7.30pm, adults £7.50/kids £6.50
• Follow the Halloween Trail at the Florence Nightingale Museum during half term, museum admission £5.80/kids £4.80
• Find free spooky activities in Lyric Square, Hammersmith all half term week, including a walk round Margravine Cemetery
• Find out about poo, bats and spiders during a Halloween half term at the London Wetland Centre, Barnes, centre admission £10.55 / kids £5.85 / under 4s free
• Fulham Palace throws One Bigg Spooky Party for kids and families on Sunday 23 October – tickets for kids £16.50 / adults £11.50
• Find out how broomsticks fly at Witch Weekend at Hendon’s RAF museum
• Osterley House goes potty for pumpkins
• Take a family ghost tour round London’s famously haunted Ham House – tickets £8.50 / kids £6.50
• Watch Ghostbusters at BFI Imax

For five weeks, the Shoreditch venue will play host to all things grisly and gruesome for this brand new festival of live theatrical horror and the macabre.

From their website:

“The dead shall rise, the guilty will batten on the innocent and the people in the front rows may leave splattered in gore.”

At the slowly beating bloodied heart of the festival is Theatre of the Damned’s Revenge of the Grand Guignol – the sequel to their 2010 production, Grand Guignol – made up of four short horror plays. Accompaniment is provided by noise artist Corpse Lights, and there’s a “smell track” too: a state-of-the-art aroma system to make sure you’re feeling properly queasy.

The London Horror Festival also features an extended appearance by the UK’s only repertory horror theatre company, Nouveau Guignol, as well as a gory collection of new works by contemporary writers. We like the sound of Phantasmagoria’s production of Camden’s Most Horrid; a new adaptation of H P Lovecraft’s The Dunwich Horror; and spoof lecture Zombie Science 1Z on the science of the undead by Theoretical Zombiologist, Doctor Austin.

Like your performing art challenging and dark? This is the festival for you. Someone actually fainted at last year’s Grand Guignol show. You’ve been warned.

The London Horror Festival is at the Courtyard Theatre, Bowling Green Walk, 40 Pitfield Street, London, N1 6EU from 25 October to 27 November. (No performances on Mondays, just special events.) To find out more, visit www.londonhorrorfestival.com. Tickets range from £8-£16.

Every week we select a photo from the Londonist Flickr pool, taken in the last seven days, that illustrates this season or time of year in London.

This week, a churro-chomping pumpkin, courtesy of Simon Crubellier.

For a bit of Hallowe’en fun, five football fanatics interrogated the ghosts of Highbury through a Ouija board. The highlights can be heard on Resonance FM tonight, but first Chris Roberts sets the spooky soccer scene.

It’s a popular complaint amongst contemporary football fans that the game has changed beyond recognition and money is ruining everything. Some counter this by saying it was always about money and dodgy deals. In order to get to the bottom of this Café Calcio (a football show on London’s art radio station Resonance 104.4 FM) decided to ask supporters from another era what they thought.

In a cross over between Britain’s Most Haunted and Football Focus they set up a séance at the old Arsenal Stadium. Highbury is an ideal choice. It is said to be haunted by the spectre of Herbert Chapman, Arsenal’s most successful pre-war manager, and the shade of a horse who died during the construction of the North Bank. Add to these the fact that dozens and dozens of die hard Gooners have their ashes buried behind the old goal at the Clock End and former Arsenal Stadium has as many dead as a reasonably busy cemetery.

On a misty Autumn night, three Arsenal fanatics – plus Chris Dixon (a Crystal Palace supporter) and Chris Roberts (Everton) who were there to ensure some sort of spiritual equilibrium – met in a flat in the former North Bank to talk tactics with a team from the other side via the dubious medium of the Ouija board. Among the Arsenal fans was the great grandson of Sir Samuel Hill Wood, the chairman during Herbert Chapman’s reign.

True to 1970s hooligan form, a few naughty spirits opted for the “we are evil” option and had to be ejected from the Ouija board. However with the old pitch in the background and the three Gunners with their fingers on the pointer the board started to answer such vital questions as:

The spirit world also offered opinions on Arsene Wenger, David Dein and the role of money in the game today. Highlights will be broadcast can be heard on Resonance FM tonight at 9pm, alongside a feature on soccer stadiums as sacred places and a piece on Herbert Chapman and his influence on football. A special forty minute podcast of the séance will follow on Halloween itself.

Disappointingly we never got the ghost of Chapman himself and have no plans to try again at Hendon St Mary Parish Church where he is buried.

By Chris Roberts. Image by Daniel Morgernstern. Tune in to Cafe Calcio – a football fanzine radio show broadcast out of London on Resonance 104.4 FM – tonight at 9pm to hear more. (Repeated Saturday at 15:30.) There’s an audio preview here.

Trying to list *everything* going on in London for Hallowe’en would be like attempting to corral a city of zombies. Instead, here’s a selection of the best events to catch our attention. There’s plenty more going on, so feel free to add your own tips in the comments.

Perilous Parties

• London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard are having a fundraiser on Friday. Eight acts (including the puntastic ‘Scales of the Unexpected) put on a haunting show at the 2 Brewers in Clapham.
• Boho Bar in Dulwich present their free-entry Boo! party on Saturday. Special Hallowe’en punch, costumes encouraged and projected horror movies should set the mood.
• Scala in King’s Cross will be converted into The Haunted Ballroom on Saturday. Organisers White Mischief promise a night of ‘unique live music, curious vaudeville, vintage DJing, interactive theatre and eccentric dressed up characters’. Tickets, however, are harder to get hold of than a spectral snake covered in phantom custard.
• All Star Lanes Brick Lane hosts the Bangers & Mash’s Halloween Party on Saturday. The usual melange of fancy dress and spooky fun will be complemented by free bowling for the first 50 entries.
• The Voodoo Spell party takes place at ‘celebrity haunt’ Trader Vic’s at London Hilton, on Park Lane on Sunday. Costume appears to be mandatory, and you’ll get a mix of DJs, tarot readers, performers and, intriguingly, ‘hidden cemeteries’.
• Drop East on Commercial Street hold their 8th annual fancy dress party on Saturday. Entry is free.
• Spooky singing, fun and games courtesy of The Choir With No Name at 93 Feet East this Thursday. The £8 entrance fee goes towards homeless charities.
• Award for most unexpected location must go to the Lost Souls party (Saturday) at the London Aquarium. DJs, costumes, pirate hosts and fish. Plenty of fish.

Damnable Dining

• As previously mentioned, Shoreditch store Maiden will dispense unsavoury savouries and less-than-sweet sweets from its basement from Thursday till Sunday.
• Sister venues The Betsy Smith (Kilburn), The Winchester (Islington) and The Lodge Tavern (Ealing) will stage a ‘Fangtasia‘ evening on Saturday (and Sunday in the latter case). Expect silly cocktails and garish decor.
• Bermondsey Square is putting on a Hallowe’en fair (Saturday), with apple bobbing, pumpkin carving and various creepy foodstuffs.

Fang-tastic Theatre

• The Insti2ute at Pleasance Islington ‘is a fully immersive, scary and funny experience for Halloween’ involving a guided tour through a dark labyrinth. Runs Thur-Sun.
• The Hallowe’en of Crossbones on Sunday is part theatre, part folklore and part procession. Lovably loopy John Constable leads a ‘ritual drama’ that culminates in a trip to Crossbones in Southwark.
• Leicester Square Theatre presents Ross Lee’s Scream House on Thursday, a mix of comedy and light entertainment.
• The eminently scary Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre now has an extended run until February and will put on a special midnight show on Sat/Sun.

Screaming Screenings

• Proto-Zom-Com Beetlejuice is showing at the Club de Fromage film club on Thursday, at the Bowery on New Oxford Street. Come in costume.
• Those with the stamina might be tempted by Electric Cinema’s all-night horror fest, featuring The Thing, Re-Animator, Evil Dead 2 and Poltergeist (Saturday).
• The BFI IMAX has its own all-nighter on Saturday, and in 3-D. Their selection comprises The Hole 3D (2010), Piranha 3D (2010), Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D (2010), My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) and The Final Destination 3D (2009).
• Catch The Thing and The Shining at Jetlag bar on Cleveland Street on Sunday.
• For our money, the best selection comes at Roxy Cinema on Sunday with The Exorcist, The Ring and Halloween.

Witchin’ Walks

• South-East London Folklore Society are organising several walks over spooky season. Take your pick of London Bridge, Westminster, Farringdon and Peckham. (Wed/Thur/Fri/Sun.)
• A walk with a white witch around some of the West End’s spookiest spots. Tue-Sat.

Creepy Kids

• Gruesome all-year-round, the Old Operating Theatre in London Bridge are hosting a macabre medley of plays and demonstrations over the half-term period.
• The Garden Museum deserves a special accolade for inventive programming, hosting a Hallowe’en talk on Saturday about the world’s most deadly, poisonous plants.
• The V&A Museum Of Childhood will put on an afternoon of Hallowe’en themed fun on Sunday.

Image courtesy of MikeKingPhoto.

]]>

Trying to list *everything* going on in London for Hallowe’en would be like attempting to corral a city of zombies. Instead, here’s a selection of the best events to catch our attention. There’s plenty more going on, so feel free to add your own tips in the comments.

Perilous Parties

• London Lesbian and Gay Switchboard are having a fundraiser on Friday. Eight acts (including the puntastic ‘Scales of the Unexpected) put on a haunting show at the 2 Brewers in Clapham.
• Boho Bar in Dulwich present their free-entry Boo! party on Saturday. Special Hallowe’en punch, costumes encouraged and projected horror movies should set the mood.
• Scala in King’s Cross will be converted into The Haunted Ballroom on Saturday. Organisers White Mischief promise a night of ‘unique live music, curious vaudeville, vintage DJing, interactive theatre and eccentric dressed up characters’. Tickets, however, are harder to get hold of than a spectral snake covered in phantom custard.
• All Star Lanes Brick Lane hosts the Bangers & Mash’s Halloween Party on Saturday. The usual melange of fancy dress and spooky fun will be complemented by free bowling for the first 50 entries.
• The Voodoo Spell party takes place at ‘celebrity haunt’ Trader Vic’s at London Hilton, on Park Lane on Sunday. Costume appears to be mandatory, and you’ll get a mix of DJs, tarot readers, performers and, intriguingly, ‘hidden cemeteries’.
• Drop East on Commercial Street hold their 8th annual fancy dress party on Saturday. Entry is free.
• Spooky singing, fun and games courtesy of The Choir With No Name at 93 Feet East this Thursday. The £8 entrance fee goes towards homeless charities.
• Award for most unexpected location must go to the Lost Souls party (Saturday) at the London Aquarium. DJs, costumes, pirate hosts and fish. Plenty of fish.

Damnable Dining

• As previously mentioned, Shoreditch store Maiden will dispense unsavoury savouries and less-than-sweet sweets from its basement from Thursday till Sunday.
• Sister venues The Betsy Smith (Kilburn), The Winchester (Islington) and The Lodge Tavern (Ealing) will stage a ‘Fangtasia‘ evening on Saturday (and Sunday in the latter case). Expect silly cocktails and garish decor.
• Bermondsey Square is putting on a Hallowe’en fair (Saturday), with apple bobbing, pumpkin carving and various creepy foodstuffs.

Fang-tastic Theatre

• The Insti2ute at Pleasance Islington ‘is a fully immersive, scary and funny experience for Halloween’ involving a guided tour through a dark labyrinth. Runs Thur-Sun.
• The Hallowe’en of Crossbones on Sunday is part theatre, part folklore and part procession. Lovably loopy John Constable leads a ‘ritual drama’ that culminates in a trip to Crossbones in Southwark.
• Leicester Square Theatre presents Ross Lee’s Scream House on Thursday, a mix of comedy and light entertainment.
• The eminently scary Ghost Stories at the Duke of York’s Theatre now has an extended run until February and will put on a special midnight show on Sat/Sun.

Screaming Screenings

• Proto-Zom-Com Beetlejuice is showing at the Club de Fromage film club on Thursday, at the Bowery on New Oxford Street. Come in costume.
• Those with the stamina might be tempted by Electric Cinema’s all-night horror fest, featuring The Thing, Re-Animator, Evil Dead 2 and Poltergeist (Saturday).
• The BFI IMAX has its own all-nighter on Saturday, and in 3-D. Their selection comprises The Hole 3D (2010), Piranha 3D (2010), Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D (2010), My Bloody Valentine 3D (2009) and The Final Destination 3D (2009).
• Catch The Thing and The Shining at Jetlag bar on Cleveland Street on Sunday.
• For our money, the best selection comes at Roxy Cinema on Sunday with The Exorcist, The Ring and Halloween.

Witchin’ Walks

• South-East London Folklore Society are organising several walks over spooky season. Take your pick of London Bridge, Westminster, Farringdon and Peckham. (Wed/Thur/Fri/Sun.)
• A walk with a white witch around some of the West End’s spookiest spots. Tue-Sat.

Creepy Kids

• Gruesome all-year-round, the Old Operating Theatre in London Bridge are hosting a macabre medley of plays and demonstrations over the half-term period.
• The Garden Museum deserves a special accolade for inventive programming, hosting a Hallowe’en talk on Saturday about the world’s most deadly, poisonous plants.
• The V&A Museum Of Childhood will put on an afternoon of Hallowe’en themed fun on Sunday.

Image courtesy of MikeKingPhoto.

]]> http://londonist.com/2010/10/what_to_do_in_london_for_halloween.php/feed 10 http://londonist.com/2010/10/music_choice_25-31_october.php http://londonist.com/2010/10/music_choice_25-31_october.php#comments Mon, 25 Oct 2010 12:36:47 +0000 Amanda Farah http://londonist.com/?p=24408

Zombie Zombie

The end of October is here, bringing with it the opportunity to either celebrate or ignore Halloween. Festive or not, there are plenty of options this week to get your musical fix.

Tonight, the Strange Death of Liberal England will be at the Lexington with support for the Wikipedia-loving Ambassadors of Morocco.

Tuesday, rhythm-driven synth rockers the Woe Betides are launching their album Never Sleep at the Buffalo Bar.

On Wednesday, former Libertine and Dirty Pretty Thing Carl Barat is bringing his solo project to Scala. Screaming Females, a band who live up exactly to their name (except for the plural), are at the Luminaire. And for something outside the indie rock sphere, Walls are playing Heaven.

Thursday at Shoreditch Town Hall will see the fantastic falsettos of Everything Everything upstaging neo-goths White Lies, so be sure to show up early.

Brave the trains on Saturday and catch Youthless and their garage-dirtied club beats at the New Cross Inn.

For Halloween itself, the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Diasaster are having a Halloween ball at Heaven, and electronica duo Zombie Zombie are playing the songs of John Carpenter at Corsica Studios.

]]>

Zombie Zombie

The end of October is here, bringing with it the opportunity to either celebrate or ignore Halloween. Festive or not, there are plenty of options this week to get your musical fix.

Tonight, the Strange Death of Liberal England will be at the Lexington with support for the Wikipedia-loving Ambassadors of Morocco.

Tuesday, rhythm-driven synth rockers the Woe Betides are launching their album Never Sleep at the Buffalo Bar.

On Wednesday, former Libertine and Dirty Pretty Thing Carl Barat is bringing his solo project to Scala. Screaming Females, a band who live up exactly to their name (except for the plural), are at the Luminaire. And for something outside the indie rock sphere, Walls are playing Heaven.

Thursday at Shoreditch Town Hall will see the fantastic falsettos of Everything Everything upstaging neo-goths White Lies, so be sure to show up early.

Brave the trains on Saturday and catch Youthless and their garage-dirtied club beats at the New Cross Inn.

For Halloween itself, the Eighties Matchbox B-Line Diasaster are having a Halloween ball at Heaven, and electronica duo Zombie Zombie are playing the songs of John Carpenter at Corsica Studios.

]]> http://londonist.com/2010/10/music_choice_25-31_october.php/feed 1 http://londonist.com/2010/10/review_terror_2010_southwark_playho.php http://londonist.com/2010/10/review_terror_2010_southwark_playho.php#comments Fri, 22 Oct 2010 15:10:07 +0000 Franco Milazzo http://londonist.com/?p=24381

Southwark Playhouse’s Terror 2010: Death and Resurrection (to give it its full name), is back again. Thankfully free of vampires and werewolves, the show is made up of four short plays, three of which have been created especially for Terror 2010 by acclaimed writers.

The first pair, The Exclusion Zone by Mark Ravenhill (who we recently spoke to) and Neil Labute’s The Unimaginable span the ridiculous to the sublime. The former begins with two gay daters trysting outside the city and beyond their comfort zone. The tale reaches an apparent denouement then suddenly veers from camp fire fare to high camp farce. If Ravenhill came to challenge our definition of horror, he’s certainly achieved that.

American film director and screenwriter Neil Labute is best known for his wordy works and Unimaginable doesn’t disappoint in this respect or any other; it is probably the best written and realised of the four pieces here. Labute plays to his strengths and presents us with a soliloquy with a difference. Moving around an unlit stage, the speaker addresses the audience telling of how he turns parents’ misplaced trust and assumptions about their children’s whereabouts into opportunities for kidnap, violation, torture and murder. The near-total darkness means that the perverted protagonist’s face is never seen and that we are forced to focus on the words.

Before and between the plays, Sarah-Louise Young appears in a nurse’s uniform to deliver some deliciously macabre cabaret numbers. Her pro-suicide song, delivered with a satanic smile, makes the case better than anything since the M*A*S*H theme tune†.

After the interval, April de Angelis’s Country introduces us to Elaine, a recent widow, and her psychiatrist friend who has come to comfort her. The story is dragged out and the ending will be patently obvious early on to anyone who has seen something a certain Mr Hitchcock made. The final play, Reanimator written by William Ewart from original short stories by HP Lovecraft, is the tale of two student medics who find a way to bring back the dead. The five actors play multiple roles crossing accent, age and gender with a fantastic fluency. The story is so-so but the acting here is worth the entrance price alone.

There are some deeply creepy moments in Terror 2010 and some unintentionally laughable ones but, as a whole, it hangs together and is a better overall experience than the wildly overhyped Ghost Stories. The phrase “real horror show” is eminently apt here.

Terror 2010 will be on at the Southwark Playhouse until Hallowe’en. The show lasts 135 minutes with an interval. “Terror 2010 contains scenes of a shocking and disturbing nature which some people may find distressing and so is strictly 16+.” See here for tickets and more information.

Links

A trailer for Terror 2010.

An interview with Mark Ravenhill, talking about his plans for operas about Raoul Moat and Berlusconi’s Italy.

† Interesting fact: the lyrics to Suicide Is Painless were written by the 14-year-old son of Robert Altman. Altman senior made about $70,000 directing the film version of M*A*S*H; for his musical efforts, Altman junior walked off with over $1m or more than $5,000 per word.

So, how was the movie? Read our review of Colin here.

]]> Union Chapel is a creepy sort of place especially when there are zombies stumbling around in candlelight and casting shadows cross the smoke machine fog. It’s a terrific venue for movies too. As part of the Jameson Cult Film Club‘s Chills in the Chapel series, last night’s screening of Colin – London’s own micro-budget zombie flick – played to a full house with the film’s maker Marc Price and Colin star Alastair Kirton on hand to speak and mingle. Next in the film club line up is the horror classic Halloween, which is sold out. But tix are still available for Spinal Tap in early December at Clapham Grand.

So, how was the movie? Read our review of Colin here.

]]> http://londonist.com/2009/10/in_pictures_screening_of_colin_at_u.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2009/10/trick_or_treat_the_dark_side.php http://londonist.com/2009/10/trick_or_treat_the_dark_side.php#comments Fri, 30 Oct 2009 17:05:57 +0000 Dean http://londonist.com/?p=15053

Image / Toby Ord

Marylebone dwellers, best lock your doors and switch off the lights this Saturday: seems a ruthless gang of trick-or-treaters are using the seasonal excuse to don masks and demand prezzies as a license to commit ill. A group of eight youths entered the Union Cafe on Marylebone Lane this week, abusing customers and staff and attempting to pinch diners’ mobile phones, according to management. The small army of under-10s were chased outside, where it became apparent that they were merely the acolytes of a coterie of teenaged overseers. According to a local landlord, it’s a common problem in the area at Halloween: they descend en masse with their masks and costumes, take whatever they can get their paws on, and “don’t take no for an answer”.

Not satisfied with other things on offer this Halloween? Looking for something a little dark, a little immersive, a little (or a lot) funny? Then we would like to introduce you to The Avernus Institute. Its groundbreaking genetic experiments have put it on the frontline in the battle against disease, but ethically, uh, ‘questionable’ things are happening behind those closed doors – which are closed no longer. Come meet the staff as Avernus invites the public inside for the first time. Take a tour, and perhaps catch a glimpse of experiments gone horribly wrong… We take no responsibility for what may happen to you in there.

Created by David Puckridge and Pappy’s Fun Club‘s Brendan Dodds, and starring The Penny Dreadfuls‘ David Reed, Humphrey Ker and Thom Tuck, the Institute is a promenade show specially designed for the new, labyrinthine space next door to the Pleasance Islington. Prepare to be plunged into darkness, totally disorientated and scared out of your tiny minds.

The Institute, 29th October 8pm, 30th October 7pm, 8.30pm, 31st October 7pm, 8.30pm, 10pm, 1st November 7pm, 8.30pm. Tickets £10 / £8. Pleasance Islington, Carpenters Mews, North Road, N7. Be in the Pleasance bar 20 minutes before the start of each performance. For more information, see the Pleasance website.

The Abattoir Pages by Foolish People (previously presenting Cirxus) and Guerilla Zoo, is staged in the old abattoir, Clerkenwell. Combining theatre, art installation, straight-up horror attraction and treasure hunt, it explores Gaelic and Pagan rituals, tenuous musings on artistic creativity, torture, abuse and human depravity.

Creepy moments abound in this impressive, genuinely scary space full of terrifying dark damp spots, embellished by impressive set and lighting. Forbidding masked ushers glide about. Talking is forbidden. The audience wanders freely around paintings and sculptures. A hidden bar with entrance test is a nice touch. Convincing dread and fear pervades throughout. Spatially and visually, The Abattoir Pages delivers all the right atmospheric, decorative thrills.

However… We never found the treasure hunt. When the first cycle ended we didn’t know when or how to leave. Once the initial chills subsided, the less rewarding elements of The Abattoir Pages became apparent: it’s a spine-tingling set but a toe-curling script. Picturesque girls in Camden Market couture muttered incredulous lines like “The human story is the blade which kills the truth of history with the poison of myth.” Incomprehensible scenes played out between attractively tortured characters, all talking impenetrably about The Book, The Forest, God, Creation, Gwyllt… it was rather a relief when Helen Mayer and her wretched book were finally dealt with in the (anti)climax.

Like a Haunted House computer game designed by David Lynch, you could wander around for 30 minutes and be quite satisfyingly spooked. But the effects are blunted by a script mangling psychotherapy in a Gaelic mythology writing workshop. It’s an entertaining Halloween outing at one of London’s genuinely scary spaces, but go for the atmosphere, not for the theatre.

The Abattoir Pages at The Old Abattoir, until 1 November. Three entry times each evening: 7.30, 8.30 and 9.30 and special Halloween matinee performances on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November. For more information and to book, go to The Abattoir Pages website.

In recent years there’s been a definite surge in crafting in London. The Make Lounge filled the void for short workshops in contemporary crafts with an indie twist and was swiftly followed by the Papered Parlour and others. Whether it’s cupcake decorating or crocheted arigumi classes you’re after, it’s available.

So what comes next, when you’ve sewed your recycled tote bags, knitted the tea cosy and made fascinators to match every wedding outfit? If you fancy something more whimsical, try The Making Space in east London. Run by Simon Aronson, a RADA-trained prop maker, you can try your hand at creating chain mail – for jewellery or armour, apparently – making a wooden cane with a bespoke topper, or book-hollowing.

For Halloween, they’re offering their two day mask-making workshop this weekend. Dental alginate is painted on the face – over carefully vaselined eyelashes and eyebrows – and covered with strips of plaster to create a solid cast. Once carefully peeled off, this forms the mould for a plaster of Paris model – a precise replica of your face on which to sculpt your perfectly fitting papier mâché custom mask. The mask dries overnight after the first day, and you return on Sunday to cut, fill, sand and paint your creation.

Also catering for corporate events and hen or stag days, the Making Space’s atmosphere is noticeably less female than other London venues – this is a professional workshop and the class list means that it’s likely to appeal to men as much as to women. Aronson is keen to show participants how to use industry techniques to achieve the look they want. It’s within walking distance of Brick Lane and Columbia Road to grab something to eat during breaks. Welcome to extreme craft in London.

By Gail Haslam

The annual spook-fest of Halloween is looming and there is, as ever, a pressure to be doing something for the occasion, if only to avoid children knocking on your door for treats (and the alternative ‘tricks’ they may be offering are even less desirable…). To save you from hiding behind the sofa with the lights off all night, here are a few things we’ve spotted for Halloween – if you have any other suggestions, do add them to the comments below.

THEATRE

The Abattoir Pages at The Old Abattoir: a creepy, sensory overload in Clerkenwell, mixing performance, art installation, haunting and treasure hunt-style evening… with suggestions that audiences won’t be hunting but may well be the hunted during the night.

Zombie Prom at the Landor Theatre: Hairspray / Grease 1950s-style teen musical romance. With zombies. Need we say more?

The Witch of Edmonton at the Courtyard Theatre: “Shakespeare meets Tim Burton and The Wicker Man” in this new adaptation of the play from 1621, based on a true tale of London witchcraft and witch-hunting.

The Fitzrovia Radio Hour at Shakespeare’s Globe: spooky old school radio show performed live, with a special programme of flesh-creepers for Halloween. We’ve just noticed that there’s a £10 a plate buffet and a £4.50 Fitzrovia Radio Hour tuck box if you want – that’s just dandy.

FOOD AND DRINK

Wandsworth Common Beer Festival: Halloween themed, set in a Grade II listed building with food supplied by Le Gothique, it’s definitely a different, distinctly more alcoholic way of marking the event.

FILM

Herzog’s Nosferatu at the Biscuit Factory, Bermondsey: interesting venue, creepy classic film, no obligation to wear a costume or get drunk (but it is Halloween, so you might want to anyway)

I’ll Be Back…Film Quiz at The Victoria, Mile End: from the same people behind the Bigger Boat film quiz, this is going to be a Halloween special of the full lights, camera, action quiz we know and love.

CLUBBING

Dungeon Disco at Land of Kings, Dalston: dress code is spooky and line-up is impressive… prepare for a big night out.

Beach Party Massacre at Beach Blanket Babylon (Shoreditch): we may not have read the info correctly but we think this evening promises motorbike burlesque, dinner, kinky life drawing and some devastating dressing up – this is not the place to go if you’ve just cut some holes in a sheet as your outfit.

OTHER, DRESSING UP, TRICKS AND / OR TREATS FOR FAMILIES

In the Dead of Night, Late at V&A Museum: performances, screenings, story-telling and a whole lot of posing in this most decorative Late museum opening in London. It will be classy. There will be costumes. There will be Japanese horror stories and a tour of the new mask display.

Family fun days at Forty Hall, Enfield: because kids need a slightly different emphasis to adult Halloweens, this looks like the right sort of thing – a building tour with live actors and activities and minimal chance of incurring permanent psychological damage

Halloween Half Term Horror at the Old Operating Theatre: macabre old medical playtime for kids who have the stomach for it (and for accompanying adults not too squeamish about old teeth-pulling practices and mixing your own herbal remedies)

One Eye Grey events: three days of ghoulish outings with our friends who write the penny dreadful – bike rides, dining at a lido and ghost stories in a pub.

Mexico’s Day of the Dead at Vibe Bar, Brick Lane: a one day festival celebrating Mexico’s love affair with death, featuring sneak preview glimpses of new art exhibition from Beatriz Canfield Zapata, live music, food and beer. Altars, offerings, stilt walkers and clowns also promised.

Image Ghoulishly Green by Annie Mole from the Londonist Flickr pool – thank you!

We managed quite a build up to Halloween this year. We scoured the city for rituals and ghosts. We brought you films, adventure games and tourist attractions. We even went to check out one of the magnificent seven and posed behind gravestones, just for you. But, hands in the air, we didn’t go the lengths of horror fanatic Angie Newman. Cyprus Street in Bethnal Green was the location. Angie’s home was the set. A dungeon and torture chamber the fruit of her labours. Specially for her kids. Aw.

Unfortunately there were no screaming teenage hoodies being tortured into becoming nice to each other, but there was a torso lying on the table with blood and guts streaming out and guests were greeted at the door by a zombie doctor and a killer skeleton. Halloween horror at its best. Nice.

On the tail end of Dead Set, Charlie Brooker’s excellent dark satirical zombie horror set in the fictional Big Brother house and the popularity of Vice President elect Sarah Palin Halloween outfits, not to mention the record breaking zombie dance in Nottingham on Friday, Halloween has been celebrated in much gory spookiness. And now it’s at an end. But cheer up folks, the fire fest of November 5th approaches.

By Penny Lewis

Image courtesy of Simon Crubellier via the Londonist Flickrpool

Londonist had a lot of fun at TrustedPlaces’ Day of the Dead/Halloween party held last night at newbie Mexican restaurant (yet another?), Chilango on Fleet Street. Free booze-n-food, including Hornitos Tequila cocktails, a variety of Mexican beers, nachos muchos and some pretty tasty and fairly massive burritos were offered to the fifty or so TPers (some in spooky Halloween attire) attending this festival feast.

]]>

Londonist had a lot of fun at TrustedPlaces’ Day of the Dead/Halloween party held last night at newbie Mexican restaurant (yet another?), Chilango on Fleet Street. Free booze-n-food, including Hornitos Tequila cocktails, a variety of Mexican beers, nachos muchos and some pretty tasty and fairly massive burritos were offered to the fifty or so TPers (some in spooky Halloween attire) attending this festival feast.

]]> http://londonist.com/2008/11/review_trustedplaces_day_of_the_dea.php/feed 0 http://londonist.com/2008/10/catacombs_graves_dissenters_spooks.php http://londonist.com/2008/10/catacombs_graves_dissenters_spooks.php#comments Thu, 30 Oct 2008 17:50:03 +0000 Lindsey http://londonist.com/?p=10684

If you’ll allow your ghoully Halloween bent to run into the weekend then you could partake of life beyond the burial ground at the magnificient Victorian Kensal Green Cemetery. Last night, its famed and beautifully restored Dissenters Chapel was host to the launch of the latest One Eye Grey and resounded to the ooky tunes of an eccentric organist, lit by candles and populated by mask wearing folklore fiends, quaffing far too much rum punch.

After dark, the burial ground stretched into frozen oblivion and our own inky explorations consisted largely of posing with masks behind gravestones and wondering if that big monument up there really was a bath. But then we’d been let loose on the punch and hadn’t had any dinner.

Your trip, enlightened by the Friends of the Cemetery will be a proper guided tour whatever the weather and will even descend into the catacombs beneath the Anglican Chapel which apparently has only three quarters of its 4000 places filled so bear that in mind if you’re making post-death plans.

Kensal Green Cemetery is resting place for many notable people, royals, engineers, literary types, a cross-dressing Army doctor and the surgeon who attended Nelson at Trafalgar among others and a historic and beautiful, 72 acre garden site, perfect for whiling away a gloomy November Sunday afternoon.

Tours run every first and third Sundays of each month at this (dark, cold, wintry) time of year, beginning at 14:00 at the Anglican Chapel in the centre of the grounds, and finishing around two hours later with tea and biscuits at the Dissenters’ Chapel by Ladbroke Grove. Suggested donation £5.

Photo by Matt Brown

Three big nights of widespread anarchy and strangeness dominate this week– Halloween, Guy Fawkes Night, and Election Night. In between are bits of more cerebral repose to help you keep a grip on reality.

Friday: Halloween is an occasion for overpriced costume parties, but there is a very intriguing alternative: the Haunted Park Walk in the Kyoto garden, Holland Park. This will be a recreation of a Kaidan gathering, in which players blow out 100 candles one by one as they share ghost stories. And the Japanese conquest of all things creepy continues apace. Book immediately.

Saturday: If you happen to dabble in classical guitar at any skill level, take your instrument to Kings Place today for expert guidance from a Trinity Guildhall teacher. Part of the London Guitar Festival in the Fall, which also extends to a range of not-free-but-still-cheap performances and workshops including lessons for the more Hendrix-inclined.

Sunday: Serena Korda’s Wonder Book Lectures is a series of anarchic talks at Camden Arts Centre inspired by the tone of the 1930s-40s Wonder Books. Today the artist asks a question we’re no longer taking for granted: what is money?

Monday: A punk rock artist, a critic, and a Catholic priest walk into a gallery… The gallery is Halcyon, the topic up for discussion is Contemporary Art and Christianity: Friends or Enemies?, and the artist is Billy Childish. RSVP now to find out the punchline.

Tuesday: US Election Live! It may be a monumentally important night, but take all the coverage too seriously and you’ll tear your hair out by morning. Best to watch it with tongue half in cheek at Camberwell’s Sun & Doves, where the media circus will be prefaced with a screening of Brokeback Mountain and accompanied by cheese fries.

Wednesday: It takes more work to avoid free fireworks tonight than to find them, but for our (lack of) money the best bet is Westway’s fire-trowing, dhol-drumming, stilt-walking extravaganza.

Thursday: Watch the School for Gifted Children make all sorts of fun of our city. Laughter @ Late at the Museum of London brings on a slew of free comedy amidst the usual monthly late opening.

Or, you could stay in and stockpile your candy and fireworks.

Image courtesy of Matt from London via the Londonist flickrpool.

Check out London is Free for more ideas of things to do for nowt. Check the websites for more information.

Three further frighteners for you in case our previous shipload of Halloween fun wasn’t enough or to your liking.

FRIDAY 31 OCTOBER

Ear Cinema present Late Noon Sun at the ICA, their latest piece of ‘immersive digital storytelling’. What could that be? Well, Ear Cinema is a mind-bending blend of technology, live performance and aural experimentation; four large canvases form a cube within which audiences sit, surrounded by four simultaneous projections and live performers telling a story. Sound is payed via a cube of speakers, creating 3D sound effect – it is totally immersive and will be extra-spooky for Halloween as Late Noon Sun is the tale of Little Mary and her mysterious, sinister death. Learn more about Ear Cinema and then book a ticket at the ICA.

East End Treasure Hunt with Urbaneer – just as immersive but with a bit more running around, this outing requires you to register a team then journey through the East End of London, following the footsteps of the Krays. Costumes, dark alleyways, surprises on every corner are all yours from 7pm, starting at Bethnal Green tube station. This ain’t a freebie and registration is necessary so if you’re keen, get organised ASAP: start by going to the Urbaneer website.

NOW UNTIL 2 NOVEMBER

Fear of the Dark at London Bridge Experience: we stayed overnight in the underground vaults before the attraction moved in and now we’re going to return for a special Halloween outing. Apparently, electrical faults have plunged the attraction into complete darkness, curiously just in time for Halloween, so all visitors need to navigate these creepy crypts in pitch black conditions. Subterranean creatures have risen and are likely to jump out and scare the sweet bejesus out of anyone brave enough to give this a go – book if you dare on the London Bridge Experience website.

71. A Gaggle Of Ghosts: Part One

With All Hallows Eve just over a month away I’d like to share with you some of London’s finest, although not necessarily most known ghost stories which The Saturday Strangeness has been bereft of since its beginnings.

Sutton House at Hackney, built in 1535 and in the care of the National Trust, is most certainly a very haunted building. In 1990 an architect visiting the premises encountered a ghostly blue lady whilst he was laying in bed. The figure hovered above him, and appeared to be a rather aggressive spectre that also shook the bed of a house steward more recently.

A white phantom lady also haunts the place and is said to be the deceased wife of John Machell who once owned the house. She died during childbirth in the house during the 1570s. However, the eeriest spirits which the house harbours are spectral dogs, which also date back to the middle of the 1500s when Mr Machell, who was then a wealthy wool merchant, owned such animals. Their banshee-like wails are often said to reverberate around the rooms, especially at night when a majority of apparitions are said to wander and act.

Dogs are emblazoned on the family coat of arms, and anyone who visits the house with their own dogs are sure to be in for a surprise, for it is often noted how such animals act rather strangely as if in the presence of some unseen entity. The ghostly dogs are said to loiter at the top of the staircase for it is at the bottom of the stairs that visiting dogs sit, and refuse to go any further, yet always stare wildly up the flight.

Photo by Terminalnomad Photography on flickr

31. Phantom Assailants: Part Three

The last two episodes of the Strangeness have concentrated on bizarre and elusive individuals who have slashed their way into folklore. This third instalment in the mini-series continues the thread except that the victims have been domestic cats!

1998 was a very grisly year throughout the city with regards to frequent mysterious moggie murders, by way of decapitation and tail removal. Forty cats had turned up in eight months from as far a field as Bexley and Sidcup towards Kent, and further into the heart of London at Camden, Tottenham and Hackney. Environmental officers from Bexley Council investigated one particular carcass that had been completely drained of blood and bereft of head. Strangely, most of the victims were found not far from their homes, often discovered in the back or front gardens.

On Halloween 1998, a pet cat with a severed head was found in a garden in Wimbledon. The horrifying discovery led some to believe that a satanic cult were on the prowl at night, whilst others claimed that the ‘M25 Monster’, a local big cat, possibly a lynx, had devoured the domestic variety.

At Stepney and New Barnet around the same time, other cats were found, but their heads remained absent, and on November 11th a psychologist was called in by police to create a profile of what the press had dubbed ‘the cat-ripper’, with The Independent reporting that the “… cat ripper may attack humans next”, causing a reasonable stir in the press and the local community. Ten rabbits were next on the hit list, but further south at Twickenham, towards the festive season, an Eileen Tattershall lost her cat Bonkers in grisly fashion. Even a £1,000 reward couldn’t flush the mystery attacker out.

As the sliced up moggies turned up, many cat owners would be spending their Christmas without their beloved pussies.

To be continued…

By Neil Arnold

If you missed out on Halloween fancy dress or just want an excuse to get decked out in Victorian garb, then White Mischief offers the perfect opportunity.

White Mischief is a night of cabaret, vaudeville, and live music that encourages audience participation and dressing up. The event will be taking over Scala in Kings Cross this Saturday from 8pm until the wee hours. This show’s theme is ‘From The Earth To The Moon’ and promises to be full of Jules Verne-inspired madness, including ‘trips through time with an Edwardian space pirate,’ (no idea what that means, but when was the last time anyone complained about anything pirate related?).

Bands for the evening include co-curators Kunta Kinte, and Brighton’s nature-loving fiends British

Sea Power are headlining. The award-winning 1927 Cabaret will be offering-up (small surprise) cabaret – a good chance to catch them before they take their show Off-Broadway in New York.

By Amanda Farah

White Mischief: From the Earth to the Moon, Saturday 10 November, 8pm to 3am at Scala, Kings Cross. Tickets (including a code to save £5) and tips for costume rentals are available at White Mischief’s website here.

Londonist got the big scoop of the week with what may be the first images of notorious street artist Banksy in action. They also got on a runaway train without an operator provoking a response from the transport authorities. Elsewhere, London’s answer to Central Station is about to open for business, and Londonist got a sneak preview. Meanwhile, spooky goings-on beneath London Bridge, where a cache of skeletons provided an apt story for Hallowe’en.

Bostonist knows how to party, and party it did this week! As the Red Sox played their winning Game 4 against the Colorado Rockies in the World Series, one fan composed tunes for each player on the team. Then, when the Red Sox won the World Series, fans celebrated all over town and snarfed the free tacos that Taco Bell gave the nation when Jacoby Ellsbury stole a base. Then they watched jigging Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon get his boogie on at the Red Sox Rally after the World Series. Manny Ramirez also invited them–and the entire city of Boston–to his house for drinks, but since the invitation came from the elusive Mr. Ramirez, Bostonist didn’t believe him. And now we’re moving on to the mother of all football games and the rise of Ghidorah on the basketball court. Beyond Red Sox news, Bostonist is honoring the passing of the late, great Robert Goulet by encouraging men to grow mustaches.

This past week, Phillyist got a little naughty, snapped a few pictures of Bigfoot (or maybe it was just a skinny bear…), and sized up the Sixers (the short version? Maybe next year).

As the California wildfires calmed, LAist focused in on Halloween. They visited parties of all sorts and took pictures all over including celebrations in WeHo, the Hollywood Hills, in Museums (very fun costumes) and of course, with the Porn Industry. And remember Charlie Manson? Find out what’s up with his children now. In sports, the big news is Joe Torre as the new Dodgers manager. And in Hollywood, the big news is the writers strike. Also, check out interviews with Richard M. Sherman (he wrote the score to Mary Poppins) and musician Joe Henry.

In a city famous for its hedonism on All Hallow’s Eve, SFist witnessed firsthand the death of Halloween in the Castro via live reporting on all of the non-action that went down. Even San Francisco City Hall folk got into a fight over the holiday, as well as the subsequent public transportation, shutdown. But thanks to an act of God, in the form of a 5.6 earthquake, they saw the city saved from normalcy, if for only a few shaky seconds. The SFist team also weighed in where they were at the time of the 5.6er. On a lighter note, local clothing retailer bebe decided to ban fur. Nixing Mischa Barton and fur? Well played, bebe.

In the Big Apple, Gothamist was mesmerized by Halloween revelers who topped themselves with amazing costumes and incredible decorations. It’s unclear if James Lipton went as a pimp, but he admitted he did work as one back in Paris. Mayor Bloomberg decided that a deceased former detective who spent hours working rescue and recovery at Ground Zero wasn’t a hero, and then backtracked when he realized he sounded like jerk. And then a former advertising agency executive sued his old agency included an upskirt photograph Maria Sharapova as evidence.

But wait… that’s not all! Check out this week’s favorites on Austinist, Chicagoist, Houstonist, Sampaist, Seattlest, Shanghaiist, and Torontoist.

Londonist Banksy photo: Chloe; Bostonist’s image of Jonathan Papelbon: Victoria Welch; and Gothamist’s (aweome) Lego bride and groom photo: