Editor’s Note: Welcome to V3 Weekend, Vanyaland‘s guide to help you sort out your weekend entertainment with curated selections and recommendations across our three pillars of Music, Comedy, and Film/TV. It’s what you should know about, where you need to be, and where you’ll be going, with us riding shotgun along the way.
Music: Spirit Social at O’Brien’s Pub
Halloween usually brings out the best in Boston, and the week ahead is decorated with the usual serving of spooky parties, sinister soirées, and ghoulish gatherings. Those seeking something off the (bruised n’) beaten path can follow faint footsteps over to O’Brien’s in Allston, where on Saturday afternoon Dark Spring Boston hosts the Spirit Social, where the underground shadows emerge for a macabre matinée of ghost story telling, tarot readings and haunted amusements. It’s led by Nichole Ferree, perhaps our fair city’s most trusted purveyor of the darker arts. Here’s the word: “Featuring spine-tingling ghost stories (including a special set from Mollie Stewart, world-renowned paranormal investigator!), mystical tarot readings, and haunting beats by Vamp Daddy. And because our bands are as crafty as they are captivating, enjoy three exclusive cocktail creations with recipes created by the bands!: House of Harm – comes with a limited HoH button; The Ghost Painted Sky; Primitive Romance’s ‘Poison’…Step into the spirit realm, sip something sinister, and dance among the dearly beloved.”
SPIRIT SOCIAL :: Saturday, October 25 at O’Brien’s Pub, 3 Harvard Ave. in Allston, MA :: 1 p.m., 21-plus, $10 :: Event info and advance tickets
Comedy: Beth Stelling at The Wilbur
Spooky vibes are taking over, but not everything goes bump in the night this weekend. Mic’d Up serves it up: “Don’t look now, but Beth Stelling is on her way back to Boston with a new hour of stand-up, and per usual, she means business this time around. Returning to the area for her biggest show in the city to date with a night at The Wilbur on Friday, Stelling is not only bringing comedic firepower in the way of a new hour full of new jokes and stories following the success of her latest self-released offering, The Landlord Special. She’s also bringing the goods by way of friendship, in that she will be joined by locally-forged fan favorite Bethany Van Delft, so the desire to crush is strong as Stelling makes her latest stop in the city. When she isn’t killing on stage, Stelling can be heard as the guest on a number of podcasts, as well as the co-host of Sweethearts, which she runs alongside her best friend, Mo Welch. We know a powerhouse show when we see one, and it would honestly be a huge shame if you saw that the two Beths were getting ready to fully destroy at The Wilbur, and still decided not to go. So trust us on this: Start the weekend off right with a wall-to-wall banger of a comedy show…”
BETH STELLING :: Friday, October 24 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 6:30 p.m., $36 :: Advance tickets
Film/TV: 24th Halloween Horror Marathon at The Coolidge
Those of a certain age will recall few things as terrifying as watching the transformation scene in An American Werewolf in London on some beat-up, old-ass VHS tape during a sleepover with a bunch of weirdo fucking kids from middle school. Now we can relive the magic of misspent, pre-internet youth as The Coolidge Corner Theatre serves up the 1981 supernatural horror film as part of its annual Halloween Horror Marathon this Saturday night. Paired with the OG Creature from the Black Lagoon for a creature double-feature, the films set up the overnight session where the remaining flicks are revealed as the night progresses and turns to morning. Here’s word from the indie Brookline cinema: “The night begins with Creature from the Black Lagoon! Actor and make-up artist Milicent Patrick created one of the most enduring and influential images in horror when she made the Gill-man. See him, scales and all, in startling 3D! From the Amazonian jungle, we next head to the moors of England with An American Werewolf in London! A film whose monster effects are so legendary, they prompted the creation of an Oscar cate-gory for best make-up effects! You’ll believe man can become monster when you see Rick Baker’s hair-raising handiwork on the big screen! The only films more frightening than this first creature double-feature are the ones we’ll keep secret until they hit the screen! Can you survive all 12 hours of these movie monsters, or will you end up mashed!?”
24th ANNUAL HALLOWEEN HORROR MARATHON :: Saturday, October 25 at The Coolidge Corner Theatre, 290 Harvard St. in Brookline MA :: 11:30 p.m., $35 to 45 :: Event page and advance tickets
