by Melanie Crew
Managing Editor
ATLRetro massacres this spooky season with all the haunting and bone-chilling madness your little black hearts desire! We’ve got horror and slasher flicks! We’ve got sinister seduction and the unruly undead! We’ve got ghosts and goblins and monsters, oh my! Become one with the creatures of the night this week and rock out with a helluva line-up of spooktacular shenanigans!
Monday, October 21
The Plaza Theater presents their Little Plaza of Horror Series 40th Anniversary screening of Ridley Scott’s ALIEN (1979) at 7:30pm, and Neil Jordan’s INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994) at 10pm! Rev it up as Kool Kat Hot Rod Walt goes solo for the night at Smokin’ Cues in Stockbridge! Catch a screening of Tara Wood’s documentary on Quentin Tarantino’s first eight films, QT8: THE FIRST EIGHT (2019) at theatres across Atlanta [Regal Atlantic Station Stadium 18; AMC Sugarloaf Mills 18 (Lawrenceville); Avalon Stadium 12 (Alpharetta); and Georgian Stadium 14 (Newnan)]! Spend the night with Steven Gilbert at the Red Light Café! Get bluesy with Bill Sheffield at Waller’s Coffee Shop! Make your way to the Wrecking Bar for a night with Amy Rigby! Rock out and tune into Kool Kat Rev. Andy Hawley’s Psychobilly Freakout Radio broadcasting on Garage 71 at 8pm, every Monday! Get your vinyl fix at Little 5 Points Corner Tavern’s Records of Mass Destruction, every Monday! Swing on by Big Band Night featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 17-member orchestra at Café 290 every first and third Monday of the month! Boogie on down to the Northside Tavern and spend an evening with Lola at her famous Monday Night Northside Jam!
Tuesday, October 22
The Landmark Midtown Art Cinema rolls in the hay with their Classics Series screening of Mel Brooks’s YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN (1974) at 7pm! Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! Get intergalactic with Neil deGrasse Tyson at the Cobb Energy Centre! The Plaza Theater presents their Little Plaza of Horror Series 40th Anniversary screening of Ridley Scott’s ALIEN (1979) at 9:30pm! Make your way to Smith’s Olde Bar for a night with Beauregard Higgins and Joey Harkum! Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! Jam it up with Joe Gransden and his jazz jam session at Venkman’s! The Star Bar delivers a night of retro shenanigans with DJ Quasi Mandisco’s Dance Party featuring retro-soul, funk, ‘80s, ‘90s and more! And as always, groove on down with Swami Gone Bananas at the Northside Tavern!
Wednesday, October 23
Get haunted at the Wren’s Nest during The Edgar Allan Poe Experience nevermore’ing it up through Nov. 3! Emory Cinematheque screens Billy Wilder’s SABRINA (1954) in White Hall at 7:30pm! Get your Americana fix with Hollis Brown at Eddie’s Attic! The Fox Theatre is bewitchin’ with their presentation of WICKED, through Nov. 17! Get rocked with Sleater-Kinney at the Tabernacle! Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! Your favorite band of specters has returned to the Center for Puppetry Arts as The Ghastly Dreadfuls bring you creepy tales, frightful songs and devilish dances, haunting through Oct. 26! The Highlander rocks out with their Punk/Metal/New Wave Karaoke Night, every Wednesday! Get freaked with a screening of Wes Craven’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) at Studio Movie Grill (Marietta/Alpharetta) at 7:15pm! Get folksy with Mt. Joy and Susto at the Variety Playhouse! Catch a Flashback Cinema screening of Tim Burton’s BEETLEJUICE (1988) at theatres across Atlanta [Northlake Festival Movie Tavern (Tucker); GTC Merchant’s Walk Cinemas (Marietta); Movie Tavern at Horizon Village (Suwannee); and The Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sandy Springs), or catch a screening at CineBistro Brookhaven at 7pm! Stomp on down to Waller’s Coffee Shop for their Bluegrass Jam! Honkytonk on down to The Star Bar for Cowboy Karaoke! Funk it up with the Mike Veal Band at Tin Roof Cantina! Get jazzy at the Red Light Café with The Gordon Vernick Quartet! Or make your way to the Northside Tavern for a rockin’ night of blues with the Tyler Neal Band! And as always, it’s Ladies Night at Johnny’s Hideaway which plays hits from Sinatra to Madonna for a generally mature crowd.
Thursday, October 24
Beer & Lounge at the Clermont Lounge with the Subsonics, Kool Kat Rod Hamdallah and more! Get the blues with Mandi Strachota at Waller’s Coffee Shop! Make your way to Venkman’s for Girls Just Dance with Somebody (Ladies of the 80s/90s), hosted by Yacht Rock Revue! The Plaza Theater presents their Little Plaza of Horror Series 40th Anniversary screening of Ridley Scott’s ALIEN (1979) at 10pm! Get rocked with Miss June at The Earl! Out Front Theatre Company presents LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, through Nov. 9! Roots rock it up with Famous Blue Raincoat at Smith’s Olde Bar! Get folksy with Jonathan Wilson and The Dead Tongues at Terminal West! Boogie down with Canned Heat at The Vista Room! Get haunted at the Wren’s Nest during The Edgar Allan Poe Experience nevermore’ing it up through Nov. 3! Your favorite band of specters has returned to the Center for Puppetry Arts as The Ghastly Dreadfuls bring you creepy tales, frightful songs and devilish dances, haunting through Oct. 26! Or spook on down with the kiddies for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! It’s Mai Tai Thursday at Trader Vic’s so get down with some island tunes and have some killer cocktails! The Northside Tavern gets rockin’ with a little Chicago/Delta blues of The Breeze Kings! The Star Bar kicks it in the Little Vinyl Lounge with Karaoke Night, every Thursday! Get your boogie on at Fat Matt’s Rib Shack, as Chickenshack delivers some honky-tonk blues! And as always, boogie down at Mary’s, as the East Atlanta venue gets funky with their weekly Disco in the Village.
Friday, October 25
The Dixie Tavern delivers one hellacious Halloween Party with Kool Kats the Casket Creatures, ELZIG and Los Meesfits! Or get hell-bent at The Highlander with The Tomb Tones, Screamin’ Demons and Ghost Moths! Get bewitched with a screening of Alfonso Cuaron’s HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004) in concert with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! Or catch a broom to the Hocus Pocus Market featuring local art, live tunes with The African Space Program Collective, Dr. Tune, Emily Holloway and more, and other magical shenanigans! Or strut your spooky stuff during the Grant Park Lantern Parade from 6pm to 10pm! Have a screaming good time at the Fernbank Museum’s Fright Night featuring live music, costume contests, twilight access to the Halloween-themed outdoor experience, “Woodland Spirits,” and more! Rock out with Magnapop, Nikki & the Phantom Callers, Tiger! Tiger! and Young Antiques at 529! Get haunted at the Wren’s Nest during The Edgar Allan Poe Experience nevermore’ing it up through Nov. 3! Make your way to the Ivy Wall Drive-In Theatre for their Spook/Haunt/Creep/Gore-tober screening of Tod Browning’s DRACULA (1931) at 8pm! Creep on down to The Earl Smith Strand Theatre for The Music of Thriller & the Rocky Horror Picture Show with a screening of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) at midnight! Death metal it up with Obituary, Abbath and Midnight at the Buckhead Theatre! Get country folked with Ian Noe and Jeremy Ivey at The Earl! The Porchlighters folk it up at Waller’s Coffee Shop! Spend the night with Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra) at Eddie’s Attic! Psychobilly it up at The Star Bar with Fiend Without a Face and more! Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! Get down The Hybrids at the Northside Tavern! Your favorite band of specters has returned to the Center for Puppetry Arts as The Ghastly Dreadfuls bring you creepy tales, frightful songs and devilish dances, haunting through Oct. 26! Time-Warp it up at The Plaza Theater as they continue their tradition of screening THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight, with special Halloween costume contests and mystery prizes!
Saturday, October 26
Get spooked with ghost stories galore during Scary Fireside Stories for Halloween at the Lake Claire Community Land Trust! Get bewitched with a screening of Alfonso Cuaron’s HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004) in concert with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! Haunt on down to the Ivy Wall Drive-In Theatre for their Spook/Haunt/Creep/Gore-tober double-feature screenings of John Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN (1978) and Tobe Hooper’s THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974) at 8pm! Or creep on down to the Center for Puppetry Arts for their Halloween Masquerade Tour, with your last chance to get down with your favorite band of specters at the Center for Puppetry Arts as The Ghastly Dreadfuls bring you creepy tales, frightful songs and devilish dances, haunting through Oct. 26! Allied Ink Tattoo and UrbnPop (Kool Kat Chris Hamer) brings you the Halloweird Tyson’s Corner Fall Fest featuring local artists and ghoulish treats! Rock out with Stiff Little Fingers and The Avengers at the Masquerade! Kool Kats the Casket Creatures bring you their 7th Annual Halloween Party with Die 985, Freakshow Sinema and The Tomb Tones at Sweetwater Bar & Grill! Catch a screening of Lon Chaney’s THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) with live organ accompaniment by Randy Elkins at Druid Hills Presbyterian Church at 8pm! Get down to the The Star Bar and psyche rock it up with The Schizophonics, Bad Spell and Black Cat Rising, or make your way downstairs to the Little Vinyl Lounge for Kool Kat Jeffrey Butzer’s ANT LODGE Presents: Jeffrey Butzer Turns 40 party! Have a deadly good time during Kool Kat VJ Anthony’s COFFIN CLASSICS: Goth Industrial Dance at Amsterdam Atlanta! Boogie down with The S.O.S. Band at Center Stage! Purple Madness pays tribute to Prince at Madlife Stage & Studios! The Rainmen dish out a night of ‘60s and ‘70s rock ‘n’ roll at Northside Tavern! ATL Collective relives Earth, Wind and Fire’s THAT’S THE WAY OF THE WORLD at the Variety Playhouse! Get down with the Polyrhythmics at The Vista Room! Spend the night with Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra) at Eddie’s Attic! Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! Get haunted at the Wren’s Nest during The Edgar Allan Poe Experience nevermore’ing it up through Nov. 3! Time-Warp it up at The Plaza Theater with two screenings of THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975), featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at 9pm and midnight, with special Halloween costume contests and mystery prizes for the last show! Make your way to Waller’s Coffee Shop for a night with the 4 Man String Band! And as always, DJ Romeo Cologne and DJ Kwasi Mandisco transforms the sensationally seedy Clermont Lounge into a ’70s disco/funk inferno late into the wee hours of the night.
Sunday, October 27
Make your way to The Earl Smith Strand Theatre’s Silent Film Series screening of John S. Robertson’s DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1920) at 3pm, with organ accompaniment by Kool Kat Ron Carter! Americana it up with Wyatt Espalin at the Crimson Moon Café! Melvin Seals & the JGB pay tribute to Jerry Garcia at the Variety Playhouse! Horrorific hilarity ensues as Out Front Theatre Company presents LITTLE SHOP OF WHORES, through Nov. 3! Get bewitched with a screening of Alfonso Cuaron’s HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN (2004) in concert with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra! Get spooky at the Halloweentown Market! Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3! Get haunted at the Wren’s Nest during The Edgar Allan Poe Experience nevermore’ing it up through Nov. 3! Catch a Flashback Cinema screening of Wes Craven’s A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984) at theatres across Atlanta [Northlake Festival Movie Tavern (Tucker); GTC Merchant’s Walk Cinemas (Marietta); Movie Tavern at Horizon Village (Suwannee); and The Springs Cinema & Taphouse (Sandy Springs)! Funk it up with Risky Biscuit at Tin Roof Cantina! Get sweet and low down blues-style at the Northside Tavern with Uncle Sugar!
Ongoing
Your favorite band of specters has returned to the Center for Puppetry Arts as The Ghastly Dreadfuls bring you creepy tales, frightful songs and devilish dances, haunting through Oct. 26! [LAST CHANCE!]
Get haunted at the Wren’s Nest during The Edgar Allan Poe Experience nevermore’ing it up through Nov. 3!
Horrorific hilarity ensues as Out Front Theatre Company presents LITTLE SHOP OF WHORES, through Nov. 3!
Spook on down with the kiddies to the Center for Puppetry Arts for THE HEADLESS HORSEMAN OF SLEEPY SILLY HOLLOW, through Nov. 3!
Haunt on down to Netherworld Haunted House’s new deadly digs in Stone Mountain for their horrorific 23nd season getting gory through Nov. 4!
Out Front Theatre Company presents LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, through Nov. 9!
The Fox Theatre is bewitchin’ with their presentation of WICKED, through Nov. 17!
New-Wave it up with Kool Kat VJ Anthony during an 80s New Wave Music Video Dance Party every 2nd Saturday of the month at Amsterdam Atlanta!
Geek it up as NerdLanta presents their Back to the ‘80s Movie Night, every third Thursday of the month, at Mother Bar+Kitchen!
ATL CRAFT presents a magical occult Movie Night every second Friday of every month!
My Parents’ Basement goes old-school with their monthly Pinball Tournament, every first Wednesday of the month!
Geek it up and get to bowlin’ at The Comet Pub & Lanes’ Comet Cosplay, getting nerdy the first Monday of every month!
Dad’s Garage’s Big Boozy Nerdy Game Night brings out the kid in you, every first Monday of the month at 7pm!
Union EAV rocks out with their Punk Rock Karaoke ATL, and every last Tuesday of the month!
The Highlander rocks out with their Punk/Metal/New Wave Karaoke Night, every Wednesday!
Get your vinyl fix during Little 5 Points Corner Tavern’s Records of Mass Destruction! event, every Monday!
Geek it up at My Parents’ Basement with their weekly Tuesday night Nerd Trivia at 8pm!
Nerd Film Mafia screenings at the Diesel Filling Station following NerdCore Trivia, every last Tuesday of the month!
The Plaza Theater Time-Warps it up as they screen, THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (1975) every Friday night, featuring the live cast of Lips Down on Dixie at midnight!
Get your reggae fix with Rub-A-Dub gettin’ down at WildPitch Music Hall, every second Sunday of the month!
Every first and third Mondays are Big Band Nights at Café 290, featuring Joe Gransden and his amazing 16-piece orchestra playing jazz and swing standards in the tradition of The Glen Miller Orchestra and other legendary groups. Second and fourth Mondays are Bumpin the Mango, ‘The groove that makes you want to move!’
Every first Wednesday is the Graveyard Tavern’s Graveyard Swing Night, featuring the swingin’ jazz and boogie-woogie sounds of the Savoy Kings!
If you have a suggestion for a future event that should be included in This Week in Retro Atlanta or see something we missed, please email us at atlretro@gmail.com.