The fourth annual Hammond Horror Festival will offer freaky films, a masquerade ball, a zombie fashion show and a theater show prepared within 24 hours.
The theme for this year’s festival is “7 Brides for 7 Monsters.” Taylor McLellan and Jim Winter coordinated the event, which will take place Oct. 9-11.
“This festival has grown each year,” said Winter. “We have teams of people working on our Freaky Film Night, the Masquerade Ball, including the Monster Bride Fashion show, and the 24-Hour Play Festival.”
The Freaky Film Night will kick off the festival this Thursday with a special screening of “Alien” at Wyatt’s Comics & Cards on University Avenue. A special guest will be attending each event signing autographs.
“New Orleans comic book author Kurt Amacker will be signing autographs, and he will also be a guest judge at the fashion show,” said Tara Bennett.
Amacker will be signing autographs at the Freaky Film Night at 5 p.m., and the movie will begin at 7 p.m. The event will include a costume contest. Entry costs $5 for those in costume and $10 for those out of costume.
A popular event from the past, the Macabre Masquerade Ball will take place at the Hammond Regional Arts Center on Friday, Oct. 10 from 7 to 11 p.m. Those attending are invited to dress in formal attire with a horrific twist.
“The Macabre Masquerade Ball will have the Zombie Fashion Show again, but this time it will be a competition where the best overall look will win,” said Bennett. “We also lowered the price of the masquerade to help accommodate student wallets.”
Masks are required to enter the ball, and a raffle will take place during the evening. Tickets can be purchased at the door on the night of the event with the cost being $10 for those age 12 and up, $5 for those ages six to 11 and free for those under age five.
In addition to the film night and masquerade ball, the HHF will offer a theatrical performance that will feature the female counterparts of several classic monsters. There will be seven short plays performed in one evening for “7 Brides for 7 Monsters.”
“Our final event of the festival each year is a 24-Hour Play Festival and that is where the theme is really showcased,” said Winter. “We always do seven short plays for the 24-hour fest, and we thought we’d have fun and do seven plays about monsters from the female perspective.”
The performance will take place on Saturday, Oct. 11 in the Vonnie Borden Theatre in D Vickers Hall at 8 p.m. Tickets are $7 and will be sold in the D Vickers Box Office starting at 7 p.m.
“There is no comparison for the 24-hour fest,” said Winter. “It is different every time since all of the plays are written, rehearsed and staged for a live audience in only 24 hours.”
Everyone is invited to join in on the Halloween fun this week at these Hammond Horror Festival events, where aliens, zombies and monsters will come to life.