Support Local Business While Your Kids Trick-or-Treat!
I love this town! I’ve been haunting it for a long, long time. Its city streets, neighborhoods and backyards are in my blood, and as Dracula is so fond of saying, “The blood is the life.” It’s up to all of us to “Keep Louisville Weird” in our own way. I thank all of you who’ve read and supported the Louisville Halloween website this season, as well as my own little contribution as The Phantom of the Ville, and I encourage you to continue to support all the local businesses that make this city unique. This Saturday, October 27th, starting at Noon and lasting until every business in the Highlands area on Bardstown Road and Baxter Avenue closes, you can Trick-or-Treat and find some great deals at shops and restaurants all along the route. Halloween costumes are encouraged and kids can get candy at all the participating locations. All those businesses officially taking part are listed athttp://www.thehighlandsoflouisville.com/BardstownBound.php .
Brought to you by the Highland Commerce Guild, this event is a great opportunity for both kids to go Trick-or-Treating in a safe and community sponsored celebration of Halloween and a chance for you to give back to the community by supporting the local businesses along the way. Eat lunch or dinner at any one of the dozens of local restaurants like the Bristol or Mark’s Feed Store. Order a local pizza at Bearno’s, BoomBozz, Impellizerri’s or Wick’s. Get some hot apple cider or a pumpkin latte at Heine Brothers Coffee.
Before I shuffled off the mortal coil, I spent a number of years living and working in the Highlands area, so I’m in a unique position to recommend a few stops that Halloween fans should check out when in the area on Saturday.
If you’re looking to rent or buy a scary movie to watch on Halloween night, I recommend Wild & Woolly Video at 1021 Bardstown Road, which just celebrated its 15th Anniversary in the Ville with a Zombie Hike in the Jefferson Memorial Forest. The independent video store, which has one of the best Horror selections of any video store in the country, has hosted horror celebrity signings with such stars as Ken Foree (“Dawn of the Dead,” “Leatherface: Texas Chainsaw III”), Caroline Munro (“Maniac,” “Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter,” “Dracula A.D. 1972”), George Romero (director of the entire “Night of the Living Dead” series) and Rudy Ray Moore (“Petey Wheatstraw,” “Dolemite”). They’ve also hosted concerts with spooky music legends like Roky Erickson (“I Walked with a Zombie,” “Stand for the Fire Demon,” “Creature with the Atom Brain”). They always stock up on classic and cult horror DVDS in anticipation of Halloween.
WHY Louisville at 1583 Bardstown Road, a uniquely specific Louisville themed gift shop, always puts up a great Halloween display. Each year they design and sell a new local Halloween t-shirt created by a different local artist. Past years have seen a Louisville werewolf designed by Adrian Wright and a Frankenstein shirt that says, “Louisville, Gooood.” This year, WHY Louisville celebrates the local urban legend of The Pope Lick Monster with a “Goatman Lives” t-shirt (SEE PHOTO) designed by Carrie Neumayer.
Ultra-Pop at 1414 Bardstown Road is a great place to find imported vinyl monster toys and art design books. The owner is a huge fan of both classic horror and Japanese giant monster flicks, and you’ll usually find Godzilla, Ultraman and their friends playing on the big screen TV in the back. Ultra-Pop recently hosted a “Things That Go Bump in the Night” Art Show with monster and horror artwork all by local artists, and most of that artwork will likely still be on display until Halloween before they host another horror related event with the “Amigos de los Muertos” book release party on the Day of the Dead, November 2nd.
If after a long day of shopping and Trick-or-Treating, you’d like to catch a classic horror movie in a theater, head to Baxter Avenue Filmworks at 1250 Bardstown Road on the backside of the MidCity Mall. Midnights at the Baxter presents “The Tingler” (1959) with Vincent Price at Midnight, October 27th. This classic horror film was directed by gimmick master, William Castle, who actually rigged some theater seats to deliver mild electric shocks during the sequence when the Tingler gets loose in the movie theater during its original theatrical run. Expect some type of theatrical shenanigans from Midnight programmer, Beau Kaelin, and his tricky crew.
Treat yourself and your kids to Bardstown Bound Boofest in the Highlands on Saturday, October 27th! Happy Halloween!
