Lite + Brite Monthly: October
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the monthly edition of the Lite + Brite newsletter.
October is finally here! We look to be in for some fall weather at last, and whether or not Austin continues to be a dry hellscape as we say farewell to September, the firehose of spooky events has gone from a sprinkle to a torrent. Today we are publicly launching our Halloween 2026 spreadsheet which has well over 200 events already and we’ll be adding more daily. As with previous Halloweens, we’ll select a few of our favorite creepy events to include in regular editions of our newsletter, along with things that don’t involve monsters, bats, or skelephants. Below you’ll find our picks for October, and if you see a jack-o-lantern that means the event is also listed in our spreadsheet. It’s about 1/3 of the picks, so there’s plenty there if you’re allergic to being frightened. If you’re NOT afraid to be spooked, check out the 3rd edition of our annual Halloween playlist, the 2026 edition of our Halloween events spreadsheet, and we’ll now be offering the same Halloween events in a filterable web app format built around that FestWiz thing Brian put together for SxSW. More info on all of those below.
If you’re not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you want to be, click here. We send out one email a week, usually on Fridays, plus this bonus edition around the start of each month. Please support us by contributing to our Patreon and by forwarding this email to your friends who enjoy things like listening to music and leaving the house sometimes.
Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
Looking Ahead to Upcoming Events
Our weekly newsletters will include many more listings, but here are a handful of events that we know are planned for the next month. We’re giving you the heads up now in case you want to pre-buy tickets or block off the time.
- Oct. 1-3: Spice Up Your Life at Hyperreal Film Club
See the Spice Girls film + “come early for photo ops, friendship bracelets” - Oct. 1-3: Young Greg Abbott: A FuQuisical at Trinity Street Playhouse
Satirically reimagining Governor Abbott’s early days as a musical - Oct. 3: Tim Curry Tribute Night at We Luv Video
Watch curated moments from Curry’s filmography w/costume contest + trivia - Oct. 3: Pizza + Pipes at Carousel Lounge
Live organ music, vintage cartoons, ice cream + pizza - Oct. 3-4: Fragile Vessels at dadaLab
Interactive art inspired by living in extreme heat w/artist talks, doc, zine making - 🎃 Oct. 4: I Scream Social’s Day at the Park at Sparky Pocket Park
Pumpkin painting, writing workshop, “spooky” adult spelling bee + vendors - Oct. 4: Video Rodeo at AFS
“Wonderfully weird, experimental, short films” from lots of filmmakers - Oct. 5: Voter Registration Deadline in Texas
Make sure you register by this date if you want to vote in the Texas midterms - Oct. 6: A Night in Stars Hollow at Hotel Vegas
Gilmore Girls-themed bands, trivia, karaoke, “Luke-alike” contest - Oct. 7: The Emerging Road at HOPE Outdoor Gallery
Interactive immersive UT student projects grapple the technological moment - Oct. 7-10: Dance Carousel at Ground Floor Theater
Bite-size modern dance w/short dances by many choreographers - Oct. 9-10: UnFOUseen Circumstances at the Vortex
Variety acts + burlesque from a cadre of space clowns - Oct. 10-11: Lone Star Zine Fest at Blue Genie
Zines + comics fest w/vendors, prizes, + zine making, “80s prom vibes” - 🎃 Oct. 10-11: ATX Theatre Halloween Costume + Thrift Sale at Sterling Stage
Buy a cool secondhand Halloween costume + save the planet, man - 🎃 Oct. 11, 24, 25, 29-31: The Austin Seance at various locations
Take part in a Victorian-style séance + learn about their history - Oct. 14: The Austin Salon at 3005 Cherrywood Rd.
Hear talk on the state of modern therapy w/group discussion - Oct. 15-17 + 22-24: Gerl, Gurl, Gorl! at Stage Austin
“Solo show about love, autonomy, and well, McDonald’s” - Oct. 16: Bit Brigade at Come and Take It Live
Video game speedrunners perform w/live responsive chiptune band - Oct. 16: Multilingual Shakespeare Mixer at Scottish Rite Theater
Hear a Shakespeare speech performed in multiple languages - Oct. 16-17: Future Traditions Fest at dadaLab
“Experimental multidisciplinary performance + video” focusing on Latine artists - Oct. 16-18: Med Fest at St. Elias Orthodox Church
Food, vendors, + traditional dance from Greece + beyond - 🎃 Oct. 15-17: Austin Horror Film Festival at 29th St. Ballroom
Fest of horror films about creepies, crawlies, swamp dwellers, + murderous ball pits - 🎃 Oct. 16-18: Ethereal Horror Fest at Violet Crown Cinema
Film fest w/horror screenings + industry panels - Oct. 17: Slam Portal at St. Elmo South
“Will there be Robots? Mad Scientists? Mustaches? People from Kentucky? We don’t know!” - Oct. 17: Reuse on the Runway at Branch Park Pavilion
Fashion show of ’fits made from reused materials, + DJ, photobooth, charm station - Oct. 17: Centennial Party at the Austin Central Library
Celebrate the library’s big bday w/live music, demos, poetry, live art, + more - Oct. 17: East Side Mini Open throughout East Austin
An ephemeral DIY mini golf course scattered across Austin - Oct. 17: Shiba ATX Pawrade at Pease Park
A parade of Shiba Inu puppers ending in Japanese snacks - Oct. 17: Great Pug Grumble at Sherwood Forest Faire
Calling all pugs + their owners for games, adoption, + fund raising - Oct. 17-18: Eastside Kings Festival at 12th + Chicon
Live music celebrating + preserving African American Blues, Jazz, + Gospel - Oct. 18: The Very ‘Rary at Laguna Gloria
“Eco safari” w/eco-inspired artmaking, activations, + activities - Oct. 18: Panoramic Voices: Curios at HOPE Outdoor Gallery
Choral collective performs “part concert, part art walk” in outdoor gallery - Oct. 19-30: Early Voting at polling sites throughout Texas
Early voting for the primary begins! Please make a plan to vote - Oct. 21: Mac Sabbath w/Clownvis at Come and Take It Live
Possibly the world’s only Ronald McDonald/Black Sabbath combo - Oct. 23: Signmark w/ASL Slam at the Highball
Slam-style performances in American Sign Language, feat. Deaf rapper - 🎃 Oct. 24: The Bloody Ball at the Vortex
“Dark carnival fundraiser” w/immersive performers, live music, + blade rave - Oct. 24: The End of Nowhere at dadaLab
Watch a film made in West Texas about the mystery lights + live music - Oct. 24: The Hive Immersive at Hive Mind Studios
Street artists turn a car wash into an outdoor art gallery w/DJs + live music - Oct. 24: Black Outside Fest at the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex
“A vibrant celebration of Black music, creativity, and food” - 🎃 Oct. 24: Nature Festival & Spooktacular at North Austin Community Garden
Treeclimbing, facepainting, butterfly release, + family-friendly spooky activities - 🎃 Oct. 24: Austin Vampire Ball at Elysium
Vampire drag performers, DJs spinning vampiric tunes, vendors, + photo booth - 🎃 Oct. 24: Murder, Mayhem, + Misadventure at Oakwood Cemetery
Guided tour of the graves of Texas revolutionary figures w/guides in period attire - 🎃 Oct. 24: Viva la Vida at 4th St. + Congress Ave.
Celebrate Día de los Muertos with parade, street fest, ofrenda, vendors, traditional food + dance - 🎃 Oct. 24: Goblintown 2: The Gobbelining at Tiny Minotaur
Goblin live band, “goblin beauty advice,” games, fortune telling, quests, + rituals - 🎃 Oct. 25: Ugly Dog Contest at Jo’s Coffee Red River
Crown the ugliest costumed pooch in town, proceeds support vet services - Oct. 26: The Unsolved Mystery of Ms. Patsy Climb at the Vortex
“An absurd puppet musical” for a tale involving crime + New Orleans - 🎃 Oct. 28: The Rocky Horror Drag Show at Hotel Vegas
Watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show performed by a cast of drag performers - Oct. 29 – Nov. 5: Austin Film Festival at various Austin venues
Our city’s dedicated festival for moving pictures + those who write them - 🎃 Oct. 30: The Rocky Horror Puppet Show at Coldtowne
Experience the campy 70s sensation as told by felt puppets - 🎃 Oct. 31: The Gravest Show on Earth at Pan Am Park
Sinister circus promises “clown alley” + “skelephant” - Oct. 31: MexAmeriCon at the ESB-MACC
Latinx comic artists, live music, DJ, Lotería, ofrenda, + vendors - Oct. 31: Texas Wienerfest at Sherwood Forest Faire
Dachshund racing, costume parade, “wiener wellness spa” + photobooth
L+B PLAYLIST 28
HALLOWEEN ’26
It’s once again the time of year where we break out the spooky tunes. Here are 25 songs spanning decades + style. Horror soundtracks, italo, disco, synthwave, indie rock, + a few modern songs we love to listen to around this time of year.
Listen on: Spotify / Apple / YouTube
Tracklist
T. Rex – Futuristic Dragon
Arab Strap – The Turning of Our Bones
Goblin – Connexion
Amanda Lear – Blood + Honey
The Birthday Party – Release the Bats
The Faint – I Disappear
Boy Harsher – Hard Beat
Curses – Crown of Ruin
Freaks – Creeps (You Are Giving Me)
The Beat Club – Security
Was (Not Was) – Wheel Me Out
Fancy – Slice Me Nice
Kavinsky – Dead Cruiser
Davis – Fissura na Neblina
Ladytron – Miss Black
Noonday Underground – Go It Alone
The Gothic Archies – Your Long White Fingers
The Residents – Hello Skinny
Echo & the Bunnymen – People Are Strange
Nation of Language – Friend Machine
Blouse – Ghost Dream
Paul Zaza + Carl Zittrer – Love Me till I Die
Vesta Williams – Once Bitten Twice Shiy
Dee Dee – I Put a Spell on You
Bryan Ferry – Zamba
Lite + Brite’s Guide to Austin Halloween 2026
If you—as we do—run a newsletter of creative, bizarre, interactive, art-forward events, then Halloween season is the pinnacle of your year. When we started Lite + Brite, oh so long ago, we tried to fit all of Austin’s good Halloween events into the weekly newsletters, but we found that this caused the emails to balloon to unmanageable sizes. Like, if you think they’re long now, you should have seen those. But what were we supposed to do? NOT list vampire balls, costumed parades, seances, Rocky Horror as retold by puppets and by drag queens, or goblin makeovers? Then we simply wouldn’t be doing our job!
Thus, the Halloween spreadsheet was born. This year’s edition, officially launching to the public today, currently includes 234 Halloweenish events, all happening over the course of this month. It’s far from complete! We’re adding new events and new descriptions for events daily, as they’re announced, so that number will only grow. We’re cataloging all the good stuff: costume contests, trick-or-treating, dance parties, haunted houses, horror movies, witches’ markets, and everything else we love about this time of year. We’ll include some of our favorite Halloween events into our regular newsletters, but the lion’s share of Halloween event listings will live exclusively on the Halloween spreadsheet.
This year, FOR THE FIRST TIME, we are offering our Halloween events database not only in its traditional Google Sheets format BUT ALSO as a shiny new web app! All the info will be mirrored in both places. The web app will also be searchable and have filterable pricing info, age ranges, and tags, so you can just see all Halloween-related puppet shows if you like. Lastly, if you’re on the go it doesn’t look terrible on a phone, like spreadsheets do.
Halloween is our favorite season. (Until Austin Studio Tour next month, which is also our favorite season.) We hope this resource allows y’all to take maximum advantage of it. Share it with your friends! Check back regularly! Have a spooky-good month!
All-the-Time Austin Artsy Fun
Our weekly newsletter features upcoming events, but sometimes the activity you’re looking for isn’t an event at all—it’s a place that’s always there. Next time you find yourself with an afternoon when nothing special seems to be going on, you could consider checking out one of these evergreen options.
- Austin Pinball Collective
A cache of free to play pinball machines concealed in an office park - Mesmerize
An interactive dream-like world made of site-specific installations by 15+ local artists - Hyperreal Film Club
A clubhouse for weird cinema, with oddball screenings four nights a week - Tiny Minotaur
Drinking and costumed LARPing, Dungeonsynths performing in the dungeon w/lots of lore - The Eureka Room
Uniquely goofy, silly, + fun immersive games you play with a group. No spoilers! - We Luv Video
The Alexandria Library of video rental. It’s community-run, you can rent movies or watch them in a cinema while literally surrounded by VHS tapes and DVDs. - The Goats at Jester King Brewery
More a theme park geared towards folks who like refermented cherries in their beer (me) than a brewery. I have not experienced the Goat Experience, but I have seen their goats, and I approve. - Cathedral of Junk
A towering achievement to collecting weird old stuff that will spark nostalgia and cause you to wonder at your last tetanus shot timing - West China Tea House
In addition to their events, West China is a wonderful place just to chat with interesting and welcoming people and drink some delicious tea - Mayfield Park and Nature Preserve
A lovely park + nature walk that is protected by a crack corps of dedicated peacocks and peahens. Good luck escaping without some flashy, feathery displays. - Laguna Gloria
The Contemporary Austin’s outdoor sculpture garden. Culture + Nature = Profit. - Austin Creative Reuse Center
A nonprofit shop where you can get any art, craft, or office supplies you can imagine for literal pennies. Eat your heart out, Office Despot. - Museum of the Weird
It’s right there on Dirty 6th but worth a visit. From famous fake paleontology to recreations of horror film sets, there’s lots to see. - James Turrell’s Skyspace
Like Turrell’s best works, this is an art experience which unfolds slowly over time. Watch as the changing colors of sunset remake the space.
Thanks to our Patreon subscribers
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Andrew Creswell, Kelsey C., Liz, Melissa Dunn, Kat, James Gray, Emily Heddleson, Robert B., Roman Gonzalez, Nick Ivons, Molly Fonseca, Lilly Ettinger, Michael Sales, Zach, Erica Speegle, Thomas Refferson, Bones Malones, Katie Green, Colleen MB, Alexander Freed, and Kristen Backor. We’re deeply grateful for your support, which allows us to do things like “pay our Beehiiv fee” and “spend hours researching Austin events when technically we should be working.”
If you’d like to support us on Patreon and get access to exclusive member-only benefits, you may do so here.
About Us
How do we choose which events to feature?
Honestly, it’s pretty random. We might include anything in Austin that we, personally, would conceivably want to go to, generally excluding normal concerts, comedy shows, and movie showtimes because there are many other good resources for finding those. (We especially recommend Showlist for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, Concept Animals’ ATX Art for You for gallery openings + artist talks, and Superfantastica for weird Austin spots). This list is by no means exhaustive; it’s just stuff that caught our eye this week. If you have an event that you want us to consider including, send it over.
Who are we?
We are Leila + Brian. We make this newsletter. We do our own events, like No Lights No Lycra and BYOT, a party where we share very good YouTubes (here’s a playlist from the last one). We go very hard seeing bands at SxSW (here’s a playlist of some of our favorites from 2026). We once got called “local Austin couple” by KXAN. We do some other stuff here and there. We love going out to creative events in Austin, and we want you to join us. Visit us at liteandbriteatx.com, and support us on Patreon if you like what we do.