There's nothing like that pounding adrenalin rush when you've had the crap scared out of you — the cold sweat crawling down your back as your pulse settles down and you realize you're not going over the edge.
That terror factor of crawling into a really bad nightmare is what Halloween is all about. This year, festivities start early with a variety of freak shows ranging from a ghoulish zombie walk and a hair-raising gore-fest to an Alfred Hitchcock-style psychological thriller.
Walk of the undead
Sean Bedard thrives on creating fake blood and gross makeup effects for Halloween. For the St. Albert actor, it seemed a natural progression to go from there to creating the city's first public Zombie Walk in 2009. And he's re-animating the dress-up event on Saturday, Oct 23.
"When I was a kid, Halloween was a big deal. There were lots of events leading up to it," says Bedard. "Halloween is dying and I wanted to give it a reboot. The Zombie Walk is fun. I love doing it. There's a sense of freedom in it, no one judges you and you get lots of attention."
He first donned a zombie costume in the 2009 Fringe show Douche Awesome. And as part of the Edmonton Zombie Walk, he shuffled along Jasper Avenue moaning, groaning and trying to clutch passers-by. "A lot of people dressed in pairs — vet zombies, a bride and groom zombie. Prom dates are big. There was even a hot dog cart zombie.
Last year about 25 creatures showed up in St. Albert dressed in campy costumes ranging from a gross-out Oiler and decomposing voodoo zombie to creepy Xena: Warrior Princess and a couple of droopy seniors. "There were a few baseball players. One even had a baseball stuck in his head."
This year Bedard has scheduled the Zombie Walk for Saturday, Oct. 23 at 9:30 p.m. The costumed undead will meet at the Perron Street clock tower in downtown St. Albert on the corner of Sir Winston Churchill. Everyone is invited.
At 10 p.m. the zombie horde will shamble down Perron Street and St. Anne Street searching for unsuspecting victims before heading off to Grandin Theatre to view Dawn of the Dead, the 1968 four-star horror flick. "It's the best zombie classic there is. George Romero is the king of the zombie movies. It's his masterpiece."
Admission to the movie is by donation and all proceeds will go to the Kinette Club. Be on the lookout for a Santa zombie collecting proceeds.
Entombed in gore
Hold on to your bladder. Screamfest '10 is screeching into Edmonton for its local debut of a carnival of carnage.
During a telephone interview, Calgary-based founder Mike Sheppard is boiling 100 pig hearts and barbecuing 100 pig feet, all part of the horror extravaganza that runs at Northlands Edmonton Expo Centre from Oct. 21 to 24 and Oct. 28 to 31.
Screamfest produces a gore fest of fear and panic combining five-themed spooky haunted houses, gruesome games and some shocking entertainment. "We started this in Vancouver and it grew from zero to 84,000 visitors," Sheppard says.
Sheppard has had numerous business dealings in the United States and noticed that haunted house festivals were a big deal. "In Canada, we're just starting to grow now."
Two of the more popular haunted houses are Terror Under the Big Top, modelled after a real circus tent collapse in the 1900s, and Nuclear Nightmare, a world of monster mutations after a toxic explosion that destroys the world.
The newest and eeriest is St. Anne Hospital, full of frightening dead ends and detours. "This is the hospital from hell. There's an operating table. There's people dying in the waiting room. There's a lady giving birth and it's a little gross. There's a morgue, and yeah, you have some pretty disturbing stuff," laughs Sheppard.
The Black Hole, a pitch-black environment dares you to find your way out alive without being grabbed by unseen hands, and at Bates Motel you just might see Norman's mysterious mother.
For horror fans looking for action games, Screamfest includes Feed the Demon where visitors are invited to toss a frightening severed head into the mouth of a monster, and Blood Bath where players shoot blood from a severed arm at hideous beings.
There's even The Last Ride, where bodies are tossed into the casket of a rusted-out junkyard hearse. "You're taken for the last ride and smell the exhaust. Then you're lowered into the ground and you hear the dirt falling on you. Then you feel the bugs picking at your feet and smell the rot."
Additional entertainment features Ryan Stock and Amber Lynn, the shock jocks from Discovery Channel's TV show Guinea Pig; Fatt Matt, the world's largest contortionist weighing in at 450 lbs., and Brianna Belladonna, a famed female sword swallowers.
Not recommended for those under 14. Hours are 6 p.m. to midnight. Admission is $20. Call 780-451-8000 or online at www.ticketmaster.ca. For more information visit www.screamfest.ca.
Power of the subconscious
Fringe Theatre Adventures kicks off its season opener with a lot less in-your-face blood than Screamfest. But the psychologically challenging Any Night is no less frightening. It simply preys on the mind slowly, silently and insidiously.
Daniel Arnold and Medina Hahn, two local playwrights dedicated to creating new Canadian works through their theatre company DualMinds, have remounted this award-winning play.
Originally a Theatre Network commission, Any Night focuses on a troubled modern choreographer who has just broken off a relationship. Anna moves into a basement suite and is drawn into a tender romance with Patrick, the young landlord and a tech geek who creates websites for non-governmental agencies.
"She starts to fall for him as the romance percolates. She's a sleepwalker and starts to experience night terrors. She's not sure what is happening. Is she dreaming or living through it," says director Ron Jenkins.
This 80-minute goose bumpy chill-fest, part romance, part thriller, is lined with unexpected twists. "It's not meant to be a slaughter fest. It's meant to be a play that explores love and trust, the conscious and subconscious."
"It's a great story of a troubled young woman and a man who tries to help her and it goes sideways."
Any Night runs Oct. 21 to 31 at the Westbury Theatre in TransAlta Barns, 10330 – 84 Ave. Single tickets range from $19 to $23. Call 780-409-1919 or visit www.fringetheatre.ca.
