Lite + Brite: 41 Half-Baked Austin Events 10/2
Hello, what’s up, and welcome to the Lite + Brite newsletter.
With our favorite local weatherboi posting Nicholas Cage memes and chihuahua warnings there is a palpable change in the air. No, not just the welcome rains and cooler temps. There’s also something sinister. A mote of eldritch horror has begun to creep into everything we do, everywhere we go. Giants with scythes have made camp in neighbors yards. Dark critters with rictus grins are everywhere we look. Just when you thought it was safe to go to the Austin: THIS IS HALLOWEEN.
Yes, technically the holiday is at the END of the month but it’s the journey, not the destination, man. And this week that journey is giving us silent horror films with heavy metal scores, Twilight lookalike contests, spooky scary skeletons sending shivers down your spine, Sweeney Todd drag, + cryptid powerpoint presentations. For October we’ll be marking events we also track in our Halloween spreadsheet/website with a jack-o-lantern. There are non-thematic things going on too, after all. Space clown variety shows, immersive journeys into the technological moment, very short experimental films, Tim Curry tribute nights, + international discotheques. And of course there’s some bands playing South of the river, we hear.
Reminders: All month long we’re tracking Halloween happenings in our spreadsheet + web app. We also made a playlist of spooky jams for you to get into the mood.
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Let’s do fun stuff!
—Leila + Brian
liteandbriteatx.com
WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO
This past week we attended Secret Stash, Fallout’s Saturday night improv show. It started with a story about getting engaged and somehow wound up with a poisoned puzzle delivered to the wrong hotel room and a cursed monkey’s paw in the possession of the worst wish-makers you can imagine. Obviously next week’s show will be something entirely different, but we’re confident it will be every bit as funny.
We also went to BookPeople’s launch event for local author Erin Cotter’s new historical romance, A Dangerous Bargain. And we got a sneak peek at the new private event space that Here Nor There is opening downtown. We’re looking forward to seeing what events happen there!
On No Humans Allowed, Brian devoted his radio show this week to the year 2011, and some of the chillwave, vaporwave, + hypnagogic bedroom pop that was being promoted heavily in the music blogs of the day. Stream it from the Kpiss archives here.
EVENTS WE’RE EYEING
Friday 10/2
- 🎃The Sweeney Todd Drag Shadow Cast at the Vortex
“Drag King & Gender Diverse Troupe” re-envision the bloody musical - 🎃Spooky Scary Skeletons Night at Tiny Minotaur
Dress up as a skelly but “do not remove all of the flesh from your body + play your ribs like a xylophone” - Art in Motion Showcase at the The Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex
“Animated shorts, GIFs, + motion pieces from local BIPOC artists” on a big screen - To Be Seen at We Luv Video
Watch a doc cataloguing Austin restaurants’ struggle during the pandemic - Do You Need to Read “The Confidence Man”? at the Neill-Cochran House Museum
One-woman show where Herman Melville descendant reads + responds to his final book - Young Greg Abbott: A FuQuisical at Trinity Street Playhouse
Satirically reimagining Abbott’s early days in a musical theater format - 🎃Goth Brooks at Sterling Stage
“Burlesque, drag, dance, + theatrics” inspired by westerns, country, + Halloween - Spice Up Your Life at Hyperreal Film Club
See the Spice Girls film + “come early for photo ops, friendship bracelets” - 🎃(weekly thru 10/30) Cvnty Vampires at Fallout
“A queer majority improv show about messy vampires and their lives & loves”
Saturday 10/3
- Tim Curry Tribute Night at We Luv Video
Watch curated excerpts from Curry’s filmography w/costume contest + trivia - Pizza + Pipes at Carousel Lounge
Live organ music, vintage cartoons, ice cream + pizza - Hot Donna’s Disco at Xuxa
DJs spin disco from many decades + across the world at late-night spot - History Surrounds at Wooldridge Square Park
Live music + picnic, + history-themed augmented reality projections - 🎃Creepy Cryptid Powerpoint Night at the Vortex
Dress up as your fave cryptid + give a presentation on why you love them - AustOberfest at Scholz Garten
Live music, “sausage samplings,” stein holding competitions, + vendors - 🎃Twilight Lookalike Contest at the Hive
Vendors + get shiny for “Twilight look alike contest” / costume contest - 🎃Halloween Toon Time at We Luv Video
Watch some spookily appropriate family-friendly classic cartoons - 🎃Ghost Tour at Pioneer Farms
A haunted hike through 19th century farm buildings - Karaoke Underground at Knomad
Sing karaoke to your favorite punk, indie + alt classics - Fragile Vessels at dadaLab
Interactive art inspired by living in extreme heat w/artist talks, doc, zine making - ATX Protospiel at Dragon’s Lair
Playtest unpublished indie board game prototypes - Do You Need to Read “The Confidence Man”? at the Neill-Cochran House Museum
One-woman show where Herman Melville descendant reads + responds to his final book - Young Greg Abbott: A FuQuisical at Trinity Street Playhouse
Satirically reimagining Abbott’s early days in a musical theater format - 🎃Goth Brooks at Sterling Stage
“Burlesque, drag, dance, + theatrics” inspired by westerns, country, + Halloween - Spice Up Your Life at Hyperreal Film Club
See the Spice Girls film + “come early for photo ops, friendship bracelets”
Sunday 10/4
- 🎃I Scream Social’s Day at the Park at Sparky Pocket Park
Pumpkin painting, writing workshop, “spooky” adult spelling bee + vendors - Video Rodeo at AFS
“Wonderfully weird, experimental, short films”—as in, 60 seconds max - Medieval Menaces at Tiny Minotaur
Join in group drawings inspired by surreal medieval marginalia - 🎃Haxan with Live Score at We Luv Video
Watch classic 1920s silent horror film about witchcraft w/live musical score - Hatchlings: Vol. II at Stage Austin
See new plays involving puppet shows + monsters - House Tour at Casa Neverlandia
Get a tour of a unique Austin home + the cover of “Weird Homes” - Half Baked Shakespeare at Cherrywood Coffeehouse
Actors perform unrehearsed reading of lesser known Shakespeare play - Fragile Vessels at dadaLab
Interactive art inspired by living in extreme heat w/artist talks, doc, zine making - ATX Protospiel at Dragon’s Lair
Playtest unpublished indie board game prototypes - Do You Need to Read “The Confidence Man”? at the Neill-Cochran House Museum
One-woman show where Herman Melville descendant reads + responds to his final book
Monday 10/5
- Voter Registration Deadline in Texas
Make sure you register by this date if you want to vote in the Texas midterms - Heavy Metal Fantasy at Kick Butt Coffee
Vendors, burlesque performers inspired by vintage heavy metal + fantasy art - Rocky II at Sekrit Theater
Watch a classic 80s film at a very special outdoor venue - Half Baked Shakespeare at Radio Rosewood
Actors perform unrehearsed reading of lesser known Shakespeare play
Tuesday 10/6
- A Night in Stars Hollow at Hotel Vegas
Gilmore Girls-themed bands, trivia, karaoke, “Luke-alike” contest - Umlauf After Dark at Umlauf
Live music + accompanying landscape projections
Wednesday 10/7
- The Emerging Road at HOPE Outdoor Gallery
Interactive immersive UT student projects grapple w/the technological moment - Memory Static at Tiny Minotaur
Live podcast taping + film screening of secret 1980s Halloween flick - 🎃Mini Haunted Houses at Lefty’s
“Decorate your own mini haunted house” + watch classic Halloween film - Dance Carousel at Ground Floor Theater
Bite-size modern dance w/short dances by many choreographers
Thursday 10/8
- Dance Carousel at Ground Floor Theater
Bite-size modern dance w/short dances by many choreographers - (weekly thru 10/29) Kicking the Bucket Listening Club at Yarborough Library
Basket weaving, group audiobook listening, + end-of-life discussion
Friday 10/9
- Behind the Mask at Bolm Arts
Masks + mask-inspired art show w/pieces made by the community - Straw Hat Soiree at Tiny Minotaur
Drag performers inspired by the pirate anime One Piece - 🎃Noxx’s Nightshade Nerdlesque: Horrorween II at Tiger Den
“Horror inspired cosplay burlesque” covering things that go bump in the night - UnFOUseen Circumstances at the Vortex
Variety acts + burlesque from a cadre of space clowns - Dance Carousel at Ground Floor Theater
Bite-size modern dance w/short dances by many choreographers - 🎃(weekly thru 10/30) Cvnty Vampires at Fallout
“A queer majority improv show about messy vampires and their lives & loves”
NHA296
Blog Archeology
We’re looking back on the synth tunes that bubbled under the blog house era in 2011. Early stirrings of vaporwave, hypnagogic jams + bedroom synthpop. Bands on labels like Hippos in Tanks + Software and playful + experimental tunes from the era of Hype Machine and bootleg remixes everywhere.
Tracklist
Connan Mockasin – Forever Dolphin Love (Erol Alkan Rework)
Mi Ami – Dolphins (Ital Mix)
Leno Lovecraft – Princess
Airbird – Part of the Game
James Ferraro – Global Lunch
Sleep ∞ Over – Romantic Streams
Ford & Lopatin – Joey Rogers
Perseus – Russian Girlfriends
D’Eon – Transparency
Black Moth Super Rainbow – Old Yes
Gang Gang Dance – Romance Layers ft. Alexis Taylor
Little Dragon – Please Turn
No Humans Allowed is Brian Blackout’s award-winning, weekly robots-themed radio show on internet station KPISS.fm. Machine vibes 4 machines. Songs for robots, androids, mandroids, cyborgs, AIs, cylons, skinjobs, roombas, wifi routers, smart devices, anything colored Bondi blue, and virtual assistants. Humans not required. Broadcasts live every Wednesday at 6pm CT on kpiss.fm, with over 200 episodes now streamable in the archives on topics like and Beach Simulations, Roomba dance parties, undersea adventures + Cyber Texas.
PATREON THANKS
A huge thank-you to our Patreon subscribers Olivia Vance, Jairid, 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.
SOCIALS
Recent weeks found us attending a classic video game fest, admiring a flock of Purple Martins, and checking out some of the unique activities we could find in the UK. Follow Lite + Brite on Instagram to keep up with our adventures. We’re now on Bluesky too. Yay federation! And come chat with us and the rest of the L+B community on our Discord server (where we sometimes post stuff early too).
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 and Side by Sideshows for live music, The Darker Side of Austin for goth and metal stuff, Concept Animals’ ATX Art for You for gallery openings + artist talks, ATX Theatre for plays, and Superfantastica for weird Austin places + things. 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, most often No Lights No Lycra, + also 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 are playlists 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.