Ballet Des Moines welcomed a crowd of spooky season enthusiasts to Hoyt Sherman Place with their haunting season debut, Ghost Stories. Clearly audiences were ready to celebrate the macabre the week before Halloween, and Ballet Des Moines delivered with a spirited evening of poignant tales told through dance. The ghostly vibes began well before the […]
Halloween
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Scaring and caring go hand in skeletal hand at this homemade Iowa City haunt
Alex Rain, the artist behind Alex’s House of Horrors, started 28 years ago with a single Frankenstein figure, who can still be spotted along the spooky walk between the front and back of their home. Rain’s creations range from local landmarks (The Black Angel) to figures from Greek myths to the delightfully, horrifyingly gory. Rain […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Ballet Des Moines’ October show includes the world premiere of a Poe adaptation, dark poetry and a graveyard of ghosts
Stirring the cauldron of creativity, Ballet Des Moines will conjure a captivating evening of dance with its frightfully fantastic Ghost Stories, Oct. 23 and 24. The first official performance of the company’s 2026/27 season after a preview in August, Ghost Stories includes Nevermore, another world premiere from the unbridled imagination of the company’s resident choreographer, […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked at ICPL: Howl-worthy werewolf fiction
I just finished reading Rosie Danan’s Fan Service, and it has reawakened my shapeshifter-loving heart. It’s a redemption story of a washed-up child actor who once played a werewolf on TV, and who thinks he’s turning into a real werewolf (and he just might be). The only person who can save him? His biggest fan. This […]
Posted inCommunity/News
This small Iowa city is a Halloweentown on the Mississippi
The first time I walked through McGregor late at night in the fall, I kept stopping to look at the houses. Porch after porch had joined in: pumpkins on steps, skeletons in windows, entire yards given over to the season. On Main Street, scarecrows sat on park benches and wooden ravens perched on storefronts and […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Eat like a John Waters character
Not every food scene Waters filmed is as unspeakable as Divine’s final bite in Pink Flamingos. From Mr. Pinky’s eclairs in Hairspray to the pizza aroma Polyester audiences inhaled via Odorama scratch-and-sniff cards (in between the scents of glue and gasoline), Dreamland joints occasionally make the stomach rumble amid all the churning. Here are some […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Fully Booked at ICPL: Horror classics for young readers
October is upon us, and the veil grows thin, which means it’s time to put aside our beach reads and turn towards some darker books. As a child, I loved being read to by my mom, and our go-to for a long time was Hauntings: Tales of the Supernatural, a collection of 19th and early-20th […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Review: Oogie Boogie, Nosferatu, a sword-swallowing jester and other creatures of the night entice for Kitty and Red’s Burlesque Revue
The lights dropped low at Rock Island’s Circa 21 Speakeasy on Oct. 10 as “She’s My Witch” started to play. Out of the darkness, Kitty Bardot stepped into the spotlight, her confidence instantly taking over the room. From that moment on, the crowd was hooked. Laughter, cheers and applause filled the space as the second […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Five questions with Chase Abner ahead of his new Halloween-themed music festival, set in a historic Iowa schoolhouse
As a parent to a 4-year-old, I’ve come to realize that, when it comes to finding things to do, the Halloween season can be tricky. Scoping out a spooky-themed event for a possible family outing becomes a recon mission. How scary is it going to be? Too scary? Not scary enough? Going too heavy on […]
Posted inFood & Drink
Iowa beer picks to match your Halloween costume
Don’t know what to be for Halloween? These costumes pair perfectly with a beer from one of Iowa’s devilishly talented craft breweries. Illustrations by Emma McClatchey; beer can images courtesy of the breweries A Witch Witch Slap (6% ABV), Clock House Brewing Whether you’re Elphaba, Glinda or some Etsy curse merchant, this year-round hazy IPA […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
The Slaughterhouse in Des Moines sates its fiendish fanbase with year-round haunts, escapes, ‘spookeasies’ and Slipknot-inspired scares
Driven by a voracious appetite for fright, Central Iowa fans of haunted house experiences continue to seek the best venues for adrenaline rushes. One dark destination stands apart from the others, a haunt with a novel-length backstory and themed experiences all year: The Slaughterhouse. A growing fanbase awaits the latest offering from the immersive fright […]
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Two eerie short stories by Victoria Shellady
Stories written and submitted by Victoria Shellady Sourdough Elizabeth Moore had dinner on the table at 5 p.m., like she did every other weeknight. That night’s creation was a new recipe torn from the pages of the latest edition of Better Homes and Gardens. The Best Pot Roast You Will Ever Have, the article claimed. […]
