Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
LISA DENTON: Barry, I don’t know if you’re due for a blood donation, but this Thursday through Saturday would be a good time to go by Blood Assurance.
I get that there’s the whole “save three lives” perk that comes with donating, of course, but I’m really excited about the T-shirt. It glows in the dark. Just in time for trick-or-treating.
BARRY COURTER: Usually when I’m skulking around at night, the last thing I want to do is draw attention to myself, but I do like the idea of a glow-in-the-dark T-shirt. I can think of some ways to put it to use, like scaring my wife or the cat.
LISA: There are several ways to celebrate Halloween besides trick-or-treating. There’s a Halloween Bash with Moon Taxi at Track 29 and a Halloween Throwdown with Soul Mechanic and the Jess Goggans Band at Revelry Room. Those are both Saturday. And Revelry Room will host Scarlet Love Conspiracy for a “Rocky Horror Picture Show” presentation on Friday.
That’s not even mentioning the “Hallowine”-themed girls’ night out at Georgia Winery on Friday and the community festivals in Cleveland, Dayton and LaFayette, among other places.
BARRY: And Nick Lutsko and his band are doing a show at The Camp House on Friday that will include playing the “Nightmare Before Christmas” soundtrack live. Lutsko is a big fan of Danny Elfman, who composed the score, and he told me he’s been working on the show nonstop for two months. He’s been so into it, he made demos for the other band members and liked it so much, he turned them into a CD.
LISA: “Nightmare Before Christmas” is an interesting bit of movie-making. There’s been debate since its 1993 release about whether it’s better suited to Halloween or Christmas viewing. I’m not sure why. Anybody who think it’s a Christmas movie must have never seen “It’s a Wonderful Life” or “Rudolph.”
Anyway, director Henry Selick recently put the debate to rest, telling a Telluride Horror Show crowd that it’s a Halloween movie.
Fun fact: In the film’s DVD commentary, writer/producer Tim Burton says the plot was inspired by the overlap of Halloween and Christmas decorations in stores.
BARRY: Yeah, that overlap is scary.
There are several non-Halloween events to note as well this week. On Tuesday, several local filmmakers will gather at The Camp House to talk movie-making. The Mocs host Western Carolina on Saturday at Finley Stadium, and Third Eye Blind is at Track 29 on Friday.
LISA: Third Eye Blind sounds like some sort of Halloween get-up.
And that reminds me: In a tie-in with the Demise haunted house at Winner’s Circle in Fort Oglethorpe, Holiday Bowl Brainerd has been awarding zombie bowling balls as prizes at weekend bowling parties. It’s basically a gruesome zombie face painted on a bowling ball, but the creepy part is that your thumb and fingers go in the mouth and eyes. Yuck.
Get event information every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.
Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.