Films, Frights & Friends
Astoria Horror Club brings film lovers
together for a good scare and a great time
HBY JESSICA MILITELLO alloween is just around the
corner, but Astoria Horror Club
members love a good scare all
year round.
The club meets up on the
first and third Monday of every
month to watch a horror movie;
they’ll choose anything within the genre,
from great films to hilariously bad films,
as well as classics and remakes. Most
importantly, the club creates a space for
the community to come together.
“I wanted to make something and
meet some new people. Meetup
groups are probably great, but I didn’t
feel like I could go and be a complete
weirdo with these people and have no
shame in that,” said the club’s creator,
Tom Herrmann. “The thing I love about
my group of friends that I’m super
lucky to have here is that they’ll almost
definitely be down for a bad horror
movie — it’s really fun. I’m really happy
to be bringing people together.”
The club is a grassroots effort that
started with posts on social media sites
like Reddit and Instagram. The turnout
increases every time they host an event.
“I posted in an original Reddit post
14 OCTOBER 2 0 2 1
that got a lot more traction than I
was expecting,” Herrmann said. “I
would have been happy if 12 people
responded. I got a hundred-something
replies and I made an Instagram and a
bunch of people followed it. I’m close
to a thousand followers now. It’s crazy,
the organic traction it got, and I’m
pretty proud of it. It’s cool.”
Because of the strong community
response, the owner of These Are the
Good Old Days on Steinway Street
responded to Herrmann’s Reddit
thread to offer the venue for the events,
and that’s where the club had its first
few meetings. Sadly, the bar closed at
the beginning of September, but the
club found a new home at Heart of
Gold on 31st Avenue.
Madeleine Koestner, a fellow Astorian
who loves horror movies and runs film
festivals, also reached out to Herrmann
when she heard about his idea for a
club. She has been working with him as
a co-organizer since their first meetup
on July 6. Her interest in scary movies
and experience running film festivals
has made her a perfect partner in
putting these events together.
“He’s got the energy and passion
for doing this and I have the technical
know-how,” Koestner said. “I’ve done
a lot of screenings in the past, so this
is my passion and it’s really fun. I can’t
believe how many people in Astoria
want to watch horror movies; there’s
clearly an appetite for it.”
The club has only been around since
the summer, but there are already some
regulars, like Justin Bacolo, a graphic
designer who recently moved to
Astoria with his wife. Bacolo is working
on creating fun scratch-offs so that club
regulars can win prizes.
When he and his wife learned about
the club, he remembered her saying,
“Let’s check this out. This might be fun,
and it’s a good way to get out, meet
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