This Week in Geek (10/28/19–11/3/19)

Welcome to This Week in Geek, your guide to events of interest to the Minnesota geek community for the week of Monday, October 28, to Sunday, November 3.

Twin Cities Horror Festival Season 8

What: Theater & Comedy
When: continuing Monday, October 28, through Sunday, November 3; see site for showtimes
Where: Southern Theater

The Twin Cities Horror Festival returns for its eighth year with “11 terrifying days of onstage horror” at Minneapolis’s Southern Theater. See the festival website for the full lineup of horror-themed performances, which include theater, dance, and more. This is a chance to explore deep-seated fears through theater. Individual tickets start at $15, with additional festival-pass options available.

Medieval Monsters and Moral Instruction

What: Educational
When: Monday, October 28, at 5:00 p.m.
Where: Metropolitan State University Library and Learning Center

If you want to think about monsters and the Middle Ages, this is the event for you. Professor Carolyn Whitson will present images of monsters, and go into detail about what they were, and more importantly why they mattered to the imagination of medieval peoples. This event is free.

Twin Cities Monday Night Backgammon

What: Gaming
When: Monday, October 28, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Minneapolis Richfield American Legion

Enjoy a night of backgammon with two tournaments. Entry to this event is $5, and this is a great chance for both pros and newcomers to learn this classic game of strategy.

Creative Night

What: Arts, Community
When: Monday, October 28, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Event Horizon at the Waterbury Building

Let your creativity shine with drawing, painting, crafting, or whatever your heart desires at Creative Night, a weekly event put on by Crafty Geek and the Geek Partnership Society. This is a free event, so bring some of your own stuff to work on, bring some snacks, and hang out in a collaborative space.

Pokémon Go Trainer Tuesdays at Parkway Pizza

What: Gaming, Food & Drink
When: Tuesday, October 29, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Parkway Pizza

A trainer strives to catch them all, and gain prowess and respect. This weekly event at Parkway Pizza is an opportunity to catch fun drink and food specials, meet other aspiring trainers, and square off against worthy opponents to win status and power. You can and will win, even if winning may just mean having a good time meeting other pocket-monster fans.

Movie Trivia

What: Trivia
When: Wednesday, October 30, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Moon Palace Books

This movie-trivia event, presented by If I Only Had a Brain Movie Trivia, continues at Moon Palace Books. Expect challenging movie trivia, great prize support, and a fun community. Admission is free, and showing up early to grab a coffee or cider at Geek Love Cafe is strongly encouraged.

Mystic Dawn/Amtgard: Park Days

What: Gaming, Sports & Fitness
When: Wednesday, October 30, at 6:30 p.m.
Where: Oak Grove Park

Amtgard, a global organization focused on the sport of medieval-fantasy combat, will be hosting a gathering in Oak Grove Park. Participants can take part in glorious quests, battle, and more, all with the use of foam weapons for the sake of safety. Garb is encouraged, but not required, and loaner weapons are available. This is a free-to-play event, but long-term players are expected to support the organization with $6 or $10 dues.

Hausu

What: Movies
When: Wednesday, October 30, and Thursday, October 31; at 7:00 and 9:00 p.m.
Where: Trylon

Hausu is a classic of Japanese cult cinema and will be screening at the Trylon for Halloween. Hausu follows the story of a number of teenagers traveling to a country house to visit one of their relatives, and features surreal deaths, magic, weird set pieces, and a celebration of friendship. This film is now over 40 years old, but still seems surprising. Tickets are $8. Be sure to check out the Trylon’s other listings for this week as well.

Alaween Halloween Carnival

What: Family, Arts, Movies
When: Thursday, October 31, at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Alamo Drafthouse

Come on down to the Alamo Drafthouse to kick off trick-or-treating with a Halloween carnival. Spooky and family friendly, this free event features face painting, a bounce house, carnival games, tricks and treats in the theaters, and spooky specials for the parents at the Vetted Well. Be sure to check out the Alamo for seasonally spooky screenings as well.

Sir Nicholas de Mimsey-Porpington 527th Death Day Happy Hour

What: Meetup, Books
When: Thursday, October 31, at 4:00 p.m.
Where: Royal Foundry Craft Spirits (Minneapolis)

Celebrate the 527th anniversary of the almost-decapitation of Sir Nicholas de Mimsey-Porpington (a Hogwarts ghost of Harry Potter fame) with a Halloween happy hour. Event organizers promise that heads will not roll, so mortal beings who require heads to keep living are welcome to attend and enjoy Halloween cocktails.

Crafty Geek/Make It Sew

What: Arts, Meetup
When: Thursday, October 31, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Event Horizon at the Waterbury Building

The Geek Partnership Society’s Crafty Geek club and its sub-club Make It Sew meet Thursday evenings at the Waterbury Building, and invite you to “bring your crafty stuff to do” or to “hang out and work with the crafty stuff we have here!”

The Rocky Horror Show

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Thursday, October 31, through Saturday, November 2; at 7:30 pm with additional midnight show on November 2
Where: Macalaster Theater and Dance Building

Help break in the new Theater and Dance Building at Macalaster with a performance of the cult icon Rocky Horror Show. The cult classic is a send-up of drive-in B movies, and features classic songs like “The Time Warp.” Costumes are encouraged, but props are to be left at home. Tickets are $10, or $5 for Macalester community members.

Halloween (1978 Digital)

What: Movies
When: Thursday, October 31, at 8:00 p.m. (doors at 7:00 p.m.)
Where: The Parkway

This stripped-down slasher redefined the genre with its simplicity, atmosphere, and pounding action. John Carpenter’s direction and music are reason enough to see this in the theater. Tickets are $9 in advance or $11 at the door. An added bonus for Trekkies—given that Michael Myers essentially wears a cheap Captain Kirk mask, you could half-imagine this as a Star Trek episode gone really wrong.

Goosebumps: ’90s Halloween Party

What: Nightlife
When: Thursday, October 31, at 9:30 p.m.
Where: Honey

Find out what goes bump in the night at this ’90s-tastic Halloween spectacular presented by Flip Phone and hosted by Sasha R Cassadine. There will be a costume contest at midnight, and a night of great music. The cover is $10 cash at the door, and this event is 21+.

Haunted Basement

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Thursday, October 10, through Thursday, October 31; various times
Where: Rosedale Shopping Center

The Haunted Basement conjures up psychological horror, artist-created environments, and immersive performances in the 14th terrifying season of their legendary haunted attraction. Brave thrill seekers can embark on their traditional, full-contact experience, or go in solo with an Invocation ticket for maximum frights. The Haunted Basement also offers no-touch, low-intensity, and “fraidy cat” tours to accommodate attendees’ individual needs and spook preferences, and teen 15+ tours that require a parent or guardian. Tickets are $15–30, and all attendees must bring an ID and sign a waiver. A full list of showtimes and an FAQ on what to expect can be found on the Haunted Basement website, and check out our take on the new event’s new location here.

Book Launch: Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow by Kevin Kuhn

What: Books
When: Friday, November 1, at 6:00 p.m.
Where: Cream & Amber

Kevin Kuhn, author of Do You Realize, will be celebrating the release of a new book Ten Tales of a Dark Tomorrow. This book, inspired by the original The Twilight Zone, includes horror, science fiction, and more.

UGG FSA BattleTech Tabletop

What: Gaming, Meetup
When: Friday, November 1, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: Fallout Shelter Arcade

Come on down for an evening of tactical-mech combat! The United Geeks of Gaming meet Friday nights for a beginner-friendly session of the tabletop mech game BattleTech at Fallout Shelter Arcade in Northeast. FSA’s Virtual World gaming pods also run the immersive video-game version of BattleTech.

Halloween Ball and Costume Contest in the Historic PNA Hall

What: Nightlife
When: Friday, November 1, at 8:00 p.m.
Where: Rogue Buddha Gallery (Minneapolis)

Come dance away the night after Halloween with music from Mari Navarro (founder of Gothess), Grant Maryland (of Dark Enegery), and DJ Shannon Blowtorch. In addition to the good tunes, enjoy a costume contest and a gothic photo booth by Jana Rose. Tickets are $10.

Harry Potter’s Cauldron: A Magical Cocktail Class

What: Food & Drink
When: Friday, November 1, at 9:15 p.m.
Where: Norseman Distillery

Celebrate a teenage wizard and the adventures of his classmates in a magical boarding school by mixing alcoholic beverages (as they definitely did in potions class). This is your chance to feel like an alchemical badass as you create two fun wizard-inspired drinks. This is a 21+ event, and tickets are sold out for all but the 9:15 p.m. event.

Featherstone Pottery Annual Sale & Open House

What: Arts
When: Saturday, November 2, and Sunday, November 3; at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Featherstone Pottery (Red Wing)

Featherstone Pottery, a farm-turned-pottery workshop in scenic Red Wing, is the creative workspace of Tom and Jeff Larkin. This event is an annual opportunity to see the space, and pick up some pottery pieces for your collection.

GPS UGG Open Gaming

What: Gaming, Meetup
When: Saturday, November 2, at 10:00 a.m.
Where: Event Horizon at the Waterbury Building

The Geek Partnership Society’s United Geeks of Gaming group offers its open-gaming session, to which gamers of all ages and abilities are invited to “spend the day hanging out with fellow geeks playing, learning, and teaching games.” Attendees are encouraged to bring their favorite board games, card games, and role-playing games, but the group has amassed an impressive library of its own games as well.

Weekly Comics Chat

What: Meetup, Comics
When: Saturday, November 2, at 3:00 p.m.
Where: Midtown Global Market

The Girls Only Comic Club hosts a Weekly Comics Chat on Saturday afternoons where there will be shared opinions, drinks and fries for comics fans. Additional information about this event is posted on the Girls Only Comic Club’s Facebook group. Individuals interested in attending are encouraged to join.

Wits Reunion Show

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Saturday, November 2, at 7:00 p.m.
Where: The Fitzgerald Theater

Comedy and music geeks rejoice, as Moe, Munson, and Hodgman (all Johns) take the stage for a night of comedy and joy. If you ever wanted a view into the early glory days of Twin Cities-comedy nerd/public-radio Twitter (circa 2009–10), this is the place to be. The main special guest, John Hodgman, is known for his books, appearances on The Daily Show, a hit podcast, and Apple ads. Mr. Hodgman will be joined by mystery guests. Tickets are $35–55.

Action Movie: The Play

What: Theater & Comedy
When: Saturday, November 2, through Saturday November 16; at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Strike Theater

There’s nothing more thrilling then a looming deadline and a project that just won’t come together. Follow the journey of a screenwriter climbing a sort of creative Nakatomi Plaza, facing the Hans Grubers of overplayed tropes, and story threads that just don’t click. This satire features serious homage to beloved ’80s and ’90s action-movie tropes. Tickets are $10–15.

Shieldmaiden Sunday

What: Gaming, Meetup
When: Sunday, November 3, at 12:00 p.m.
Where: Source Comics & Games

Shieldmaiden Sundays are a dedicated space for female nerds and geeks at Source Comics & Games. This is a recurring weekly event providing a space for women to play games, chat about comics, cosplay, or just enjoy the company of other geeks. See the calendar for more events!

Al Church’s Cinematic Orchestra Presents: Death Rides a Horse

What: Movies, Music
When: Sunday, November 3, at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Parkway Theater

Al Church, a prolific and versatile musician in the local scene who plays with a variety of bands and has backed up local greats like Gaelynn Lea, brings his musical talents to this monthly movie series. This Cinematic Orchestra will provide live backing tracks to classic films, and October’s film is Death Rides a Horse, a classic Western tale of revenge. Tickets are $10.

So, which of these events will you be attending? What events would you like to see featured in the future? Let us know in the comments section below or contact us via email. And don’t forget to add your events to the Twin Cities Geek Community Calendar!