SPOOKTACULAR!
Halloween parties all over the boo-rough
By the Boo-klyn
Holiday BOO-reau It’s the season of the witch!
Halloween falls on a
Thursday night this year,
which means that haunted
happenings and spooky soirees
have invaded the weekends
around the pumpkin holiday. To
help you plan, here is our guide
to some of most terrifyingly fun
events happening this season:
Freak out
The season’s earliest adult
Halloween party is “Nightmare
in Coney Island,” featuring
freaky live performances,
including a fire-eater and a
human block-head act — which
involves hammering a nail into
one’s nostril — along with adult
trick-or-treating, and recently
unearthed barrel-aged brews.
“Nightmare in Coney Island!”
Dog-gone adorable: Visit the Great Pupkin
Dog Costume Contest on Oct. 26 to
see awesome outfits like Lucy’s luchadore
costume. Photo by Caroline Ourso
at Coney Island Brewery 1904
Surf Ave. at W. 17th Street in
Coney Island, (718) 996-0019, www.coneyislandbeer.
com. Oct. 19; 6 pm–1 am. Free.
Creepy crawl
Don’t just show off your costume at one bar
— make it to seven during the “Boos and Booze
Bar Crawl” along Fifth Avenue in Park Slope! The
night will begin and end at the Montrose, and your
wristband will score you a drink and a treat at six
spots along the Avenue.
Halloween Bar Crawl at the Montrose 47
Fifth Ave. at Bergen Street in Park Slope,www.
parkslopefifthavenuebid.com). Oct. 25; 6 pm–midnight.
$65.
Dead can dance
Dance your life away at the Gemini and Scorpio
party “Masquerade Macabre: Ghost Town on the
Oregon Trail.” The night will feature the Funkrust
Brass band, disk jockeys, undead dancers, circus
performers, and (for a little extra) a live version of the
video game Oregon Trail, which
should be more fun than a case
of dysentery.
“Masquerade Macabre”
at a private home in Bedford-
Stuyesant (address delivered
with ticket purchase, www.
geminiandscorpio.com). Oct. 25
and 26 at 9 pm. $25–$50.
Scared of the bark
The costumed canines will
take over Fort Greene Park today
during the season’s greatest
competition: the Great Pup-Kin
Dog Costume Contest! Check
out adorable animals in creative
costumes. It is free to watch, but
to register your pooch, there is a
$5 suggested donation — show
up early, because there are only
40 slots remaining in the contest.
The Great Pup-Kin at Fort
Greene Park’s Monument steps
COURIER L 44 IFE, OCT. 18-24, 2019
(Myrtle Avenue at St. Edward
street in Gort Greene, www.
fortgreenepups.org. Oct. 26 at
11:30 am. Free.
Haunted Hill
Let your kids dress up — if
they dare — for a trip through
Prospect Park’s 40th annual
Haunted Halloween Walk.
You will be sure to encounter
scores of werewolves, witches,
and zombies during the wooded
walk, followed by a Halloween
Festival on the Nethermeade.
“Haunted Halloween Walk”
at Prospect Park’s Lookout
Hill enter at Prospect Park
Southwest and 16th Street in
Windsor Terrace, (718) 965–8951,
www.prospectpark.org. Oct. 26;
Noon–3 pm. Free.
Try to sing along!
Join Brad, Janet, Rocky, Dr.
Scott, and the Occasionalists
— Brooklyn’s premiere live
karaoke band — for an evening of “Rocky Horror
Picture Show” karaoke. Sign up to sing “Sweet
Transvestite” with a full band behind you, don some
golden shorts for the intermission’s costume contest,
and enter the raffle for fabulous prizes. The entire
evening will benefit the Center for Anti-Violence
Education, a group that works to combat hate-based
violence.
Rocky Horror Picture Show Live Karaoke at
Littlefield (635 Sackett St. between Third and Fourth
avenues in Gowanus, www.littlefieldnyc.com). Oct. 31
at 7 pm. $15 ($12 in advance).
Spirits rise
On Halloween, get in touch with the spirits: gin,
rye, and mezcal! Cocktail bar the Shanty will host
“Lunar Magic,” a witchy party featuring a tarot
reader, speciality cocktails, samples from several
distilleries, and a magical dance party.
“Lunar Magic at the Shanty 79 Richardson St.
between Leonard and Lorimer streets in Williamsburg,
(718) 412–0874, www.nydistilling.
com. Oct. 31; 8 pm–late. $10 ($25
with tarot reading).
Thrills and chills
Once Halloween is over, you
will have one final excuse to don
your bloody best: “The Coney
Island USA Creeptacular.”
This ghoulish fund-raising gala
will feature plenty of potions,
performances from snake
charmer Serpentina, burlesque
beauties and beasts, and a
sneak peek at the seaside arts
organization’s next demented
musical, “Bloody Brains in a
Jukebox.”
“The Coney Island USA
Creeptacular” at Coney Island
USA 1208 Surf Avenue at W.
12th Street in Coney Island, (718)
372–5159, www.coneyisland.
com. Nov. 2 at 7 pm. $125.
Sitar hero: The around-the-clock show will feature sitarist Neel Murgai,
along with jazz and West African artists. Brooklyn Raga Massive
All the raga
24-hour Indian music
marathon in Red Hook
By Kevin Duggan Raga ’round the clock!
A classical Indian
music festival will take
listeners on a 24-hour sonic
journey, with the music in each
hour aligned with the time of
day.
The Ragas Live Festival,
which will begin at 7 pm on
Oct. 19, at Pioneer Works in
Red Hook, will feature 24
performances designed to take
audiences away from the hustle
and bustle of the city in favor
of the soothing sounds of the
subcontinent, said the event’s
East Flatbush founder.
“We’re used to so much
stimulus, but in this case,
it’s nothing but beauty
and harmony and it sweeps
away all the noise that we’re
all subjected to,” said David
Ellenbogen.
The Indian music tradition
has several modes, or ragas,
that are limited to particular
times of the day, with different
notes and sounds to match the
mood, according to Ellenbogen.
“There’s specific notes
that might be used more in a
morning raga but the overall
feeling is more devotional,
while the evening ragas are
more romantic, with a longing
kind of direction,” said the
guitarist, who will also perform
with several acts during the
event.
The Indian music aficionado
started the marathon show in
2012 as a 24-hour broadcast
from WKCR, the Columbia
University student radio
station, and he brought it to
Pioneer Works in 2016.
This year’s lineup features
both traditional Indian
musicians, such as sitarist
Anupama Bhagwat, and
artists that bring a more
eclectic sound, including Mali
musician Yacouba Sissoko,
who plays a West African
harp-like instrument known
as the kora, and jazz bassist
Reggie Workman, who played
with iconic saxophonist John
Coltrane. Ellenbogen said
that artists who blend Indian
music with other cultures are
a particular draw for the show.
“That’s the sweet spot for
us,” he said. “Cross-cultural
collaborations where these
different cultures can meet.”
The annual event, along with
popular groups like Brooklyn
Raga Massive — which holds a
weekly jam session at the nearby
Jalopy Theatre — have led a
local renaissance of interest in
the eastern music tradition not
seen since George Harrison
started taking sitar lessons from
Ravi Shankar in the 1960s,
according to Ellenbogen.
“There’s been a resurgence
and excitement around this
tradition,” he said.
The bash will end on Oct. 20
with Brooklyn Raga Massive
performing “In D,” a piece that
blends the Eastern tradition
with minimalist composer
Terry Riley’s work “In C.”
Ticketed audience members
can come and go throughout the
lengthy concert, and listeners
around the world can also tune
in to a live broadcast and online
stream from WKCR during the
event, said Ellenbogen.
“We’re just going to beam
this cycle of sound all around
the globe,” he said.
“Ragas Live Festival” at
Pioneer Works 159 Pioneer St.
between Conover and Van Brunt
streets in Red Hook, (718) 596-
3001, www.pioneerworks.org.
Oct. 19 at 7 pm to Oct. 20 at 7
pm. $35 for 12-hour pass, $60
for 24 hours.
Heading out: Those braving Prospect Park’s
Halloween Walk will have to stroll past this
creepy character. Photo by Jolene Siana
/www.coneyisland
/www.parkslopefifthavenuebid.com
/www.parkslopefifthavenuebid.com
/www.geminiandscorpio.com
/www.geminiandscorpio.com
/www.fortgreenepups.org
/www.fortgreenepups.org
/www.prospectpark.org
/www.littlefieldnyc.com
/www.nydistilling
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/www.pioneerworks.org
/www.coneyislandbeer
/parkslopefifthavenuebid.com
/geminiandscorpio.com
/fortgreenepups.org
/www.prospectpark.org
/www.littlefieldnyc.com)
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/www.pioneerworks.org