See also: Halloween: Geekdom's Official Holiday
10) Cruel Autumn: The Fly The bizarre blend of sex, romance and stomach-churning horror at the heart of David Cronenberg's remake of The Fly make the film a perfect selection for Theresa Mercado's Killer Couples-themed Cruel Autumn series. Watching Jeff Goldblum turn into a goopy human/fly hybrid wouldn't be half as disturbing if not for the real chemistry and emotion he and real-life (at the time) wife Geena Davis share onscreen as it happens. That, plus Cronenberg's signature take on body horror, makes for an unforgettable take on science gone horribly, tragically, disgustingly wrong. As usual, Mercado will have some movie-themed souvenirs on hand, so get there early to get your hands on some and grab a good seat.
See The Fly at 9 p.m. Tuesday, October 7 at Crash 45. Admission is free, but drinks aren't, so plan accordingly. For more information, visit the Cruel Autumn Facebook page.
The festival runs from Thursday, October 9 through Sunday, October 12 at the Alamo Drafthouse. Single tickets start at just $11 and a variety of passes and packages are available. For tickets and additional info, including a full schedule, visit the Mile High Horror Festival website.
8) Collectors Supershow Being a geek comes with a lot of accessories. Board games, action figures, lunch boxes bearing images of our favorite shows ... we'll collect all kinds of nonsense with the same obsessive fervor we discuss the meaning and importance of our favorite books, movies and TV shows. If your collection needs a few more items to complete its perfect majesty -- and whose doesn't? -- the Collectors Supershow is the place to seek them out. Everything from action figures to film posters, from every era, will be offered from dozens of collectors and vendors, so plan on treasure-hunting and spending way, way too much money on that last, impossible to find piece for your collection.The Supershow runs from 11 am to 3 p.m. Sunday, October 12 at the Ramada Plaza Convention Center. Admission is $5, but dress as a zombie and you can get in for free. For more info, visit the Collectors Supershow webpage.
Continue for more great geek events in October
7) The Oatmeal - The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances Matthew Inman's The Oatmeal webcomics are silly and strange and sometimes quite funny. They are also immensely popular on the Internet, where you've probably seen some of his work in your Facebook feed or on reddit. His latest book, The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances, tackles running (obviously), food and lots more, including seventy pages of new material. As mentioned, this man is one of the Internet's favorite cartoonists, so if you're among his legion of fans, or even just Oatmeal-curious, plan on showing up early -- this will probably fill the Tattered Cover.Inman will read and sign his new book at 6:30 p.m. Monday, October 13 at Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch. Admission is free; the book costs $16.99. For more info, visit the Tattered Cover website.
6) Phil Goodstein: The Haunts of Central Denver You don't have to believe in ghosts to enjoy a good ghost story, and Denver is full of good ghost stories. This is the season for them, and you'll never look at Denver quite the same way again after one of Phil Goodstein's lectures on its haunted history. Here he'll be drawing on his book The Ghosts of Denver: Capitol Hill to illuminate the city's ghosts, just in time for Halloween. If you enjoy it, you can join in one of his many tours of the city's haunted hot spots.The lecture starts at 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 15 at the Ross-Cherry Creek Branch Library. Admission is free. For more info, including a schedule of walking tours of Denver's haunted neighborhoods, visit Goodstein's Neighborhood Walking Tours webpage.
5) Science Friction: Videodrome Local writer and Hugo award winner Jason Heller hosts this brand-new science fiction film series at the Alamo, and it's kicking off in style with David Cronenberg's Videodrome. Cronenberg's tale of media manipulation, torture as entertainment and the mutating effects of too goddamn much TV looks even more prescient than it did when it was released. Sure, the effects look a little dated, but that doesn't matter -- this is still one of the smartest, weirdest and most disturbing movies ever made about the effects of consuming mass media, and a rare chance to see it on the big screen is not to be missed.
See Videodrome Thursday, October 16 at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets are $10.75. For more information, including showtimes, visit the Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas website.
Continue for more great geek events in October
4) Bootleg Theater: The Fantastic Four Film history is littered with great geek films that should have been made, but weren't (like Jodorowsky's Dune), as well as quite a few that shouldn't have been made -- like the unreleased, craptastic 1994 version of The Fantastic Four. Imagine a superhero movie made for less than the catering budget of a modern superhero movie. Imagine effects, costumes and fight sequences that look like they were put together by an immensely talented seventh-grader. Now stop imagining, because this thing exists, and it is just as gloriously good-bad as that sounds.
See The Fantastic Four Friday, October 17 at 9:30 p.m. at the Sie FilmCenter. Tickets are $10, or $7 for Denver Film Society members. For tickets and more information, visit the Bootleg Theater page of the DFS website.
3) A horde of zombie events Zombies are most dangerous in large numbers and damn, are there a lot of zombie events in Denver this October! So many that we had to set aside all of the undead action in one dedicated zombie events round-up, which we'll be posting soon. If you only want to do one undead-centric event, we recommend the zombie crawl on October 19. Not only is it free, it's also the biggest single zombie gathering in the region, and if the organizers reach their goal, the biggest anywhere, ever
Meet up starting at 2 p.m. Saturday, October 19 in Skyline Park to zombie walk and enjoy the side events (if you need help with your makeup, head down around noon). You can register (it's free, but they want a head count) and get more info, including a full schedule, at the Eye Heart Brains website. If the zombie crawl doesn't sate your need for undead antics, keep an eye out for that zombie events list, which will offer plenty of options for casual and hardcore fans of hungry, reanimated corpses.
2) MileHiCon Denver's oldest science fiction convention is back for its 46th annual iteration, and you don't last almost half a century without doing something right. First and foremost, it's a literary con, but that doesn't mean there won't be plenty of gaming, cosplay, art and activities like the famous critter crunch robot battle. It does mean you also get some sweet author guests, readings and panels about writing, publishing and what makes good fiction in between and all around those other things. Michael Swanwick, Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck top a lineup of more than eighty science fiction, fantasy and horror authors attending, and artist guests of honor Kaja and Phil Foglio will be familiar to anyone with more than a passing interest in fantasy art over the past thirty years.MileHiCon runs from Friday, October 24 to Sunday, October 26 at the Hyatt Regency Denver Tech Center. Admission is $46 for all three days, or day passes are available starting at $18. For tickets and additional info, visit the MileHiCon website.
1) Dismember the Alamo You know what's better than a horror movie? Four horror movies, shown back to back, with a special guest to seal the deal. And here's the twist -- the movies and guest are all a secret until the event itself! Rest assured, though, that the good people of the Alamo know their horror and they're picking some gory gems for your viewing pleasure -- and the secret horror guest is just the bloody icing on the cake. You might get anything from an old favorite to some obscure insanity you've never heard of, but it will all be worth your while. There's also a costume contest, so plan accordingly.The horror movie marathon starts at 5 p.m. Saturday, October 25 at the Alamo Drafthouse. Tickets are $20. To purchase tickets and for more info, visit the Dismember the Alamo page on the Alamo website.
