The suspense is killing us! No one knows yet whether trick-or-treating will be organized by towns on Halloween this year, which is leading to some perhaps seasonally appropriate terror (well, OK: anxiety) about what will happen on Oct. 31 and whether homeowners need to go out and buy large bags of candy in advance of the arrival of costumed children.
Until we know what’s happening, there are other ways to express the yearning for Halloween horror — with horror film screenings at the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass., and the Center for Performing Arts in Rhinebeck, N.Y.
There isn’t room here to lay out ticket information, social distance requirements and other details, or even a summary of all the films, but here are the basics.
Coming up at the Mahaiwe
The screenings are indoor but with limited capacity and social distance protocols.
Jordan Peele’s 2017 “Get Out,” will show on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 18, at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.
Two high-definition screenings of the National Theatre’s production of “Frankenstein” will show on two Wednesdays, Oct. 21 and 28, at 7:30 p.m. Actor Benedict Cumberbatch portrays Doctor Frankenstein in the Oct. 21 screening and The Creature on Oct. 28.
“Hocus Pocus,” the 1993 film starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy and Sarah Jessica Parker is Friday, Oct. 23, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 24, at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m.
A true horror double-feature is saved for Friday, Oct. 30, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, Oct. 31, at 4:30 and 7:30 p.m., with the original black-and-white film of “Frankenstein” from 1931 starring Boris Karloff and then the 1940 science fiction thriller “The Devil Bat,” starring Bela Lugosi.
Go to www.mahaiwe.org or call 413-528-0100 during box office hours (Wednesday through Saturday from noon to 4 p.m.).
Coming up at the Center
Screenings are outdoors, on the side of a barn and 40-feet wide, on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 and 8:30 p.m.
The double features this weekend, Oct. 16 and 17, are “The Invisible Man” at 7 p.m. and “The Werewolf of London” at 8:30 p.m.
On Oct. 23 and 24, it will be “The Wolfman” at 7 p.m. and “Frankenstein Meets the Wolfman” at 8:30 p.m.
On Oct. 30 and 31, it’s “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” at 7 p.m. and “Creature from the Black Lagoon” at 8:30 p.m. On Halloween, Oct. 31, each car will be given a bag of treats.
Go to www.centerforperformingarts.showare.com or call 845-876-3080.
