Boulder Weekly 10.31.2024 by Boulder Weekly

Soul meets body Soul meets body

Longmont's Day of the Dead keeps family traditions alive P.8

BEST OF BOULDER EAST COUNTY

NED'S SPOOKIEST AUTHOR P.15

GHOST OF KITCHENS PAST P.27

STEPHEN KING, THE FILM CRITIC WHO WASN'T P.11

Elected officials are not like us. Higher pay could change that BY BRIAN C.

Longmont is home to Colorado’s longest-running Day of the Dead celebration BY TYLER HICKMAN 13 MUSIC DeVotchKa returns to haunted Stanley Hotel for annual Halloween costume ball BY JUSTIN CRIADO

15 BOOKS Nederland author drops new story collection for spooky season BY NATHANIEL KENNON PERKINS

Longmont, Lafayette talk Vision Zero

50 years after Stephen King’s visit, The Stanley still shines

The creepy Colorado connection behind The Changeling

A Feminist Revenge Fantasy is bloody fun

COMMENTARY

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Volume 32, Number 11

PUBLISHER: Francis J. Zankowski

COVER: Tyler Hickman

EDITORIAL

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Shay Castle

ARTS EDITOR: Jezy J. Gray

REPORTERS: Kaylee Harter, Tyler Hickman

FOOD EDITOR: John Lehndorff

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Joel Best, Rob Brezsny, Michael J. Casey, Justin Criado, Brian C. Keegan, Nathaniel Kennon Perkins, W. Scott Poole, Dan Savage, Toni Tresca

SALES AND MARKETING

MARKET DEVELOPMENT MANAGER: Kellie Robinson

SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Matthew Fischer

ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES: Chris Allred, Tony Camarda

SPECIAL PROJECTS MANAGER: Carter Ferryman

MRS. BOULDER WEEKLY: Mari Nevar

PRODUCTION

CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Erik Wogen

GRAPHIC DESIGNER: Chris Sawyer

CIRCULATION

CIRCULATION MANAGER: Cal Winn

CIRCULATION TEAM: Sue Butcher, Ken Rott, Chris Bauer

BUSINESS OFFICE

BOOKKEEPER/ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE: Austen Lopp

FOUNDER / CEO: Stewart Sallo

BY BRIAN C. KEEGAN, PH.D.

Whether through the genius of federalism or the gridlock of a do-nothing Congress, the decisions of local politicians have far greater

impact on most residents’ lives than national offices.

But local politicians face unusual expectations that their professional work should not be professionally compensated. In Boulder, city council members are paid approximately $250 per meeting, amounting to less than $13,000 per year.

Question 2C would raise the pay of the city council members from the “side gig” range to “part-time” range. After the 2026 election, council members would make 40% of the Area Median Income (around $40,000 in 2024) and the mayor would make 50% of AMI (around $51,000).

There are many good reasons to support increasing pay for city council, including

attracting candidates, reducing corruption and improving accountability. I want to focus on two specific reasons: aligning responsibilities and diversifying representation.

The responsibilities of council members have exploded in scale and complexity from the public service fraternity of yore. Council members digest hundreds of pages of materials every week to support their work inside chambers as well as performing a variety of roles outside chambers.

If you have ever been upset that council members do not respond to emails or consecrate more community events with their attendance, you already recognize the failures of the current council pay model.

As Boulder County’s only independently owned newspaper, Boulder Weekly is dedicated to illuminating truth, advancing justice and protecting the First Amendment through ethical, no-holds-barred journalism and thought-provoking opinion writing. Free every Thursday since 1993, the Weekly also offers the county’s most comprehensive arts and entertainment coverage. Read the print version, or visit boulderweekly.com. Boulder Weekly does not accept unsolicited editorial submissions. If you’re interested in writing for the paper, please send queries to: editorial@ boulderweekly.com. Any materials sent to Boulder Weekly become the property of the newspaper.

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Phone: 303.494.5511, FAX: 303.494.2585 editorial@boulderweekly.com www.boulderweekly.com

Boulder Weekly welcomes your correspondence via email (letters@boulderweekly.com). Preference will be given to short letters (under 300 words) that deal with recent stories or local issues, and letters may be edited for style, length and libel. Letters should include your name, address and telephone number for verification. We do not publish anonymous letters or those signed with pseudonyms. Letters become the property of Boulder Weekly and will be published on our website.

OPINION

Professional service expectations require professional compensation levels: One cannot eat civic duty.

While executive compensation in the corporate sector has become grotesquely disconnected from either firm performance or employee pay, it nevertheless helps us calibrate how the council pay proposal stacks up to the “real world.”

Boulder’s city government is run as a council-manager model: City council is like a board of directors that hires a CEO (the city manager). The average compensation for a board director of S&P 500 companies in 2024 was $327,096, or more than eight times Question 2C’s proposal of $40,000.

The total 2024 compensation for all nine council members under Question 2C would have been roughly $370,000, or around 0.1% of the city’s $374 million operating budget. Question 2C is a profound bargain for compensating our leaders for the complex and important work they do.

The second reason to vote ‘yes’ on 2C is to diversify representation on the council. There are many identities that are underrepresented on council, but one identity that is particularly hard to ignore is class.

Do you have a boss? Because seven of our nine citizen legislators do not. In their 2024 financial disclosures, three council members (Brockett, Marquis, Wallach) reported not being employed and four members (Adams, Benjamin, Schuchard, and Winer) reported being self-employed.

The demands of being a city council member make it difficult to hold a normal nine-to-five job. But the current lack of substantive compensation ensures that only financially independent candidates can afford to run for council. This bias absolutely shapes the decisions council makes about the lives of Boulder residents.

Nowhere is this more salient than coun-

cil’s recent and regrettable decision to reject a proposal for a 15% increase in the city minimum wage. The five votes for a lower 8% wage increase were drawn from this set of retired and self-employed members.

Perhaps we should not be surprised that a council composed of owners sided with other owners to keep Boulder’s minimum wage the lowest of any municipality that’s enacted a local minimum wage in the state. But a council that paid enough to allow more working people or renters or people under 40 or people of color to serve on it would probably have made a different decision.

Nevertheless, council asking voters for a raise weeks after rejecting a raise for voters is absolutely terrible optics. But Question 2C’s pay raise does not go into effect until after the 2026 elections, after every current council member will have faced voters again.

Register your own verdict about current council members’ decisions at the ballot box in 2025 or 2026. But rejecting improved council pay now will only continue to limit our ability to recruit a better and more representative pool of candidates in the future. No one should go into politics to get rich. But Boulder’s abysmal current council pay ensures that only the rich can go into politics. When we have a system that allows the rich to make policy, don’t be surprised when the system makes policies that favor the rich.

Vote yes on Question 2C to create a more professional and representative council.

Brian C. Keegan is an assistant professor of information science at CU Boulder and board member of Boulder Progressives. He is writing in his personal capacity.

PERSONAL PROFITEERING FROM A PUBLIC RESOURCE

I am a resident of Boulder, a Colorado voter and a taxpayer. That makes me (along with 6 million of my fellow Coloradans) a part-owner of our beautiful state’s wildlife.

The industry that exploits our magnificent mountain lions and bobcats does not represent the best of our state. With our modern understanding of wildlife biology and behavior, it no longer has a place in Colorado.

Everyone I discuss this issue with is shocked to hear that this activity is even still supported by our state. It is actually big business.

Hound packs with tracker collars can be hired for $8,000. Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s public data show that of the nearly 500 mountain lions killed by trophy hunters in the 20212022 season, 97.3% were killed using hounding. The percentage could actually be even higher, as there were 13 lions hunted without a reported method; data is based on self-reporting of lion trophy hunters in Colorado.

How does chasing cats up a tree with a pack of dogs and following in your truck to shoot it down reflect our collective values? How is setting live traps for bobcats with no possible enforcement of preventing their days of suffering in wet and freezing winter conditions, in the spirit of the law that made leghold traps illegal?

And what is the excuse for hunting thousands of bobcats anyhow, if not for their fur? It is for the personal profiteering from our collectively owned wildlife. I certainly don’t see thousands of Coloradans walking around in bobcat fur: They are being exported.

It is time for this cruelty and exploitation to stop. Please vote yes on 127 to stop the trophy hunting and fur trapping of our wild cats.

— Marije ter Ellen, Boulder

TRUMP’S DEPORTATION THREATS ARE NOT JUST TALK

It has been estimated that around 40% of Latinos are planning to vote for Donald Trump. Many of these voters believe Trump will be better for them economically: Many are small business owners, and most are men.

The former president recently said he would “carry out the largest domestic deportation operation in American history.” History tells us that these threats are not hyperbole.

If you know any Latino Trump supporters, remind them of the 1950s “Operation Wetback” and the deportations in the 1930s. Over 1 million U.S. citizens of Mexican heritage were rounded up and taken to Mexico. As part of local deportation efforts, in 1932 the Boulder County Commissioners allocated funds to pay the railroad to transport people to Mexico.

During WWII, 120,000 JapaneseAmerican citizens lost everything — homes, possessions and businesses — when they were rounded up and put into U.S. concentration camps. The government couldn’t deport them, so they were incarcerated. Do these Latino Trump supporters really believe they and their families will be spared?

Many of you are already very knowledgeable of this history: I am merely reminding you so that you can think about your role in helping to ensure this history does not repeat itself. I remind you so you can remind others who may not know or have forgotten.

There are many stories, articles and historic accounts of what extreme ideologies and right-wing xenophobes are capable of. Pass them on to the doubters.

As the saying goes, “Silence is the voice of complicity.”

— Peter Salas, Lafayette

Courtesy: City of Boulder

LETTERS

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING PROMOTES TRANSPARENCY

I am writing to express my strong support for collective bargaining for police officers in our community of Lafayette. As we continually navigate the complexities of public safety and law enforcement, it is crucial that we ensure our police force has the resources, support and representation they need to effectively serve and protect us.

Collective bargaining allows police officers to negotiate their working conditions, salaries and benefits in a structured and equitable manner. This process not only empowers law enforcement personnel but also leads to a more effective and accountable police force. When officers have a voice in their employment conditions, they can better focus on their primary duty: serving the community. By allowing collective bargaining, officers will have stronger buy-in of their careers and hopefully lead to better retention.

Moreover, collective bargaining promotes transparency and trust between police forces and the communities they

CORRECTIONS

Gov’t Watch in our Oct. 24 issue mischaracterized the nature of the Oct. 31 Boulder County Commissioners hearing and vote on the Lyons Area Comprehensive Development Plan IGA. That vote is to extend the current IGA while a new one can be developed.

The BoCo briefly section of our Oct. 10 issue mistakenly stated that Boulder’s recent ordinance setting a $15.57/hour minimum wage for 2025 would be 9.5% more than the 2025 state minimum. It will actually be 5.1% above the planned state minimum wage of $14.81. Wages would increase by 8% in each of the next 3 years (2025, 2026 and 2027). A final vote is scheduled for Nov. 7.

Our Oct. 3 Vote Guide issue mistakenly labeled ballot question 6C: Eldorado Springs Public Improvement District as 6A.

serve. It encourages open dialogue about working conditions and creates avenues for addressing concerns related to officer wellness, training and community engagement.

In recent years, we have witnessed a growing discourse about the need for police reform and community relations. Adopting collective bargaining mechanisms can be a significant step toward building a more accountable and responsive police force. It provides a structured platform for addressing grievances, negotiating improved working conditions and fostering a culture of collaboration.

I urge our community members and local officials to embrace collective bargaining for our Lafayette Police Officers by voting “yes” on Lafayette Ballot Question 2A.

By supporting this resolution, we invest not only in the well-being of those who protect us but also in the safety and quality of life for all residents. Thank you for considering this vital issue.

— Tyler Maynard, Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 3 Lafayette Trustee

FIND OUR FULL VOTE GUIDE 2024 ISSUE ONLINE: bit.ly/BWVoteGuide24

OR NAVIGATE TO THESE HANDY, 5-MINUTE GUIDES TO:

• State + County candidates: bit.ly/BoCoCandidates24

• Boulder ballot issues: bit.ly/BoulderBallot24

• Longmont + Lyons-area ballot issues: bit.ly/LongmontLyons24

• Louisville City Council candidates: bit.ly/LouisvilleWard1VG

• Superior Town Board candidates + sales tax measure: bit.ly/SuperiorVG24

• Lafayette ballot issues: bit.ly/LafayetteBallot24

• Erie Town Council candidates + ballot issues: bit.ly/ErieBallots24

GOV’T WATCH

What your local officials are up to

BY BOULDER WEEKLY STAFF

BOULDER CITY COUNCIL

On Nov. 7, council will:

• Take a final vote on a plan to raise the city’s minimum wage to $15.57 per hour in 2025. If approved, wages would increase by 8% each of the next three years (2025, 2026 and 2027).

• Review development plans for 183 dwelling units at 1840 and 1844 Folsom St.; a third-story addition to 2040 14th St.; and annexation of 2810 Jay Road.

CITY OF LONGMONT

On Oct. 28, the city:

• Held its first Vision Zero Task Force meeting. Vision Zero is a global initiative to improve road safety and reduce car accidents to achieve zero traffic deaths within the city. Boulder County, the City of Boulder and Lafayette have also adopted Vision Zero strategies, along with many other cities across the U.S.

Additional task force meetings will be held Nov. 18 and Dec. 16 from 6-7:30 p.m. and are open to the public.

LONGMONT CITY COUNCIL

At the Oct. 29 study session, council:

• Discussed an ordinance to allow marijuana hospitality licenses in the City of Longmont. These licenses would allow businesses with and without onsite sales to provide a space to legally consume cannabis in the city.

BOULDER COUNTY COMMISSIONERS

The Boulder County commissioners’ office will be closed Tuesday, Nov. 5 for election day, and commissioners will not be meeting.

On Thursday, Nov. 7, commissioners will:

• Attend a retreat hosted by Counties & Commissioners Acting Together, a lobbying coalition consisting of county commissioners from around the state. The monthly general public comment session has been rescheduled to Thursday, Nov. 14.

LAFAYETTE CITY COUNCIL

On Oct. 29, council:

• Received an update on the city’s Vision Zero Safety Action Plan. Between 2013 and 2022, 67 serious injury crashes and 19 fatal crashes occurred in the city.

Next steps include project development and prioritization of areas for improvement. A draft plan and additional community outreach is planned for 2025.

In September, two children were struck by cars while using crosswalks on Baseline Road. Police presence and signage have been increased in the area. Staff discussed the potential of obtaining a grant to study the entire corridor. Council directed staff to research other safety strategies for this location.

TOWN OF SUPERIOR

On Nov. 1, town board members will:

• Meet with residents for First Fridays Coffee at Superior Community Center (1500 Coalton Road) from 7:45-9:30 a.m. Bring your questions and concerns about current issues for this informal meeting.

All agenda items are subject to change. Karen Nordback contributed to this reporting.

FRIDAY 11/01

GLOBAL ROOTS ENSEMBLE

SATURDAY • 11/02

JUDY NIEMACK: AUTUMN NOCTURNE

JAZZ SUPPER CLUB

COVER DEATH AT THE MUSEUM

Colorado’s longest-running Day of the Dead celebration creates community connection

STORY AND PHOTOS BY TYLER HICKMAN

When Marta Moreno speaks about death, she’s very matter of fact. It’s hard not to be, when she’s been experiencing loss her entire life: her parents, aunts and uncles and 10 of her 13 siblings, all dead. But it’s also because each fall, she brings her loved ones back to life.

“They’re there, their body’s gone, but their spirit’s there,” she says. “They will always be there with you. You can always speak to them and know that they’ll take care of you.”

Moreno has been building an ofrenda, or altar, for Dia de Muertos since she was a kid in El Paso, Texas. When her husband was offered a job in Boulder, she moved her family to Colorado in 1973, eventually settling in Longmont and bringing the traditions of the Mexican holiday with them.

When Moreno first moved here, she didn’t know anyone in Boulder who was building an ofrenda, let alone celebrating Dia de Muertos. But her family still built an altar in their home each year to welcome the souls of their loved ones.

That all changed in 2000, when the Longmont Museum teamed up with Moreno and other community members to host a modest, one-weekend event in their gallery featuring ofrendas, traditional Mexican food, dance, music and art. Twenty-four years later, Moreno’s altar is an enduring feature in the longest-running citywide Day of the Dead celebration in Colorado.

“We helped to get this thing going,” Moreno says, “and it came from something small there, to something big.”

‘STUFF THAT BRINGS BACK OUR FAMILY’

Moreno calls her ofrenda “traditional” in a sense that she builds it for her family members who have died, so that when their souls return to reunite with the living, they have everything they need to rest after their long journey.

The vibrant, stepped altar is decorated with photos of her loved ones, like her

brother David, who earned the nickname “Al Pacino Valenzuela” because of his ever-present fedora. Between the photos, she places heirloom olla de barros (clay pots) for cooking, a hand-stitched dress her mother made, traditional Catholic iconography and statues — even her mother’s old back-scratcher.

“It’s stuff that I have, stuff that brings back our family,” she says. “What you grew up with… what we used to use.”

Moreno hopes her altar will inspire others to build a tradition of their own.

“Hopefully they get encouraged and bring that back,” she says. “Or even if they didn’t have it, to start it, so they can show their children… their mother, grandma — what were they about? That’s the idea.”

BUILDING COMMUNITY

For Anna Macca, the museum’s curator of education, the exhibit provides an opportunity for visitors to not only learn about the holiday and Hispanic culture, but also to find their own way to celebrate.

“Mexican culture is not a monolith,” Macca says. “How people celebrate Day of the Dead is very different from region to region. In some places it can be more somber, and in some places it can be more celebratory.”

By educating people on the nuances and understanding the breadth of cultural experiences, it makes the act of building an altar more approachable, Macca says.

“It lets people know there’s not going to be one way to do this,” she says. “So

This year’s ofrenda exhibit on the Longmont Museum gallery floor.

Mariachi Regional de Mexico on stage at Longmont’s Day of the Dead festival.

you can’t expect things to always be the same or even to be like, in quotations, authentic.”

This message unfurls itself on the gallery floor. In all, there are 11 altars in the exhibit. Like Moreno’s, some ofrendas are more traditional, dedicated to lost loved ones. The “fur baby” altar features hundreds of photos of pets donning angel wings, arranged on a tissue paper rainbow bridge. Across the room, an altar decked out with novelties from Doctor Who, Star Wars and other sci-fi and fantasy classics is dedicated to Kelly Cowling, the late founder of Longmont’s youth-focused nonprofit Grey Havens.

Spanning the entire length of the gallery’s back wall is a mural created by Chicano artist and activist Leo Tanguma and a group of Longmont teens in the 1990s. When the mural was given to the museum, staff contacted the original artists. Three have passed since its making, and the museum asked the group to build an altar around the mural for this year’s exhibit.

“[T]here’s quite a bit of people, new people, that have come to do it because they see and they get encouraged,” Moreno says.

“We do feel really strongly about education and about making sure people understand the history and the symbolism and where those things come from,” Macca says. “My highest hope is that people see the exhibit, read the labels that say what Day of the Dead is and what the symbolism is… and then build their own altar at home.”

RESURRECTING TRADITION

For some of the exhibit’s visitors, the ofrendas are the spark that resurrects a lost tradition.

Laura Zavala was raised in Longmont. She only knew Dia de Muertos through the words of her Mexican-born mother.

“I grew up listening to these stories, but I had never experienced it,” she says. “I only envisioned what it was like.”

Fifteen years ago, she heard about the exhibit and decided to go. “From that moment, it was just like having an epiphany, because it was like literally hearing my mom’s stories.”

Zavala ended up volunteering as an educator for Longmont’s Dia de Muertos event and has had an altar in her house ever since. As the exhibit evolved into a citywide event, she’s also seen local businesses start to participate.

Bakeries across the city now sell pan de muerto — bread of the dead — each

fall. Marigolds, a bright yellow-orange flower thought to attract the souls of the dead to altars, pop up in garden centers each October.

This year, Zavala was able to plant marigolds at the grave of her father, who passed away in August 2023. “It gets me emotional, because I love that what my mom got to do with her loved ones, I get to do with my dad,” she says.

In some regions of Mexico, celebrations in graveyards are a central part of Dia de Muertos, according to Macca. This tradition, too, has grown roots in a small corner of the Longmont cemetery where Zavala’s father is buried.

Last year, families brought lawn chairs, blankets and fresh tamales. By day’s end, full trash cans bore evidence of the food they shared during the hours-long vigil.

“It was just so beautiful, because our little section was literally like a Day of the Dead celebration,” Zavala says. “I drive

by that cemetery all the time, and I had never seen that kind of participation.”

Zavala plans to carry on this new tradition, and hopes she can share it with her own family. “Because I didn’t have that strong connection with the traditions and the celebrations and the food and the way we do things as Latinos, that was very important for me to carry that on with my son. I want his family someday to continue these traditions.”

‘DEATH IS HARD’

As the city’s celebration has outgrown the museum, flooding downtown each October, it’s become an experience that connects the community.

“I love that it brings people together, because we can all share it,” Zavala says. “It doesn’t matter what your religion is, everyone can celebrate this and honor their loved ones.”

“Death is hard. We lose people and pets and things we love, and it feels like they’re gone forever,” Macca says. “But the fact is, it’s part of your life.”

Longmont’s Day of the Dead event came and went Oct. 12, but Moreno hopes the exhibit, which is open through Nov. 5, will continue to inspire visitors.

“Come to the museum and see, check out the altars,” she says. “See if you get encouraged because you’ve had several members of the family pass. Bring them alive.”

One of the pets on the ‘fur baby’ ofrenda.

Exhibit-goers look at the centerpiece, a mural created by Leo Tanguma and a group of teens in the 1990s.

The mural artists: Veronica Moreno, Whitney (no last name given), Viviana Garcia, Krista Munoz, Sonya Marquez, Brian Casias and John Sena.

A gigante after the festival’s procession.

Want great stories? We’ve got em.

Dairy Arts Center | Boulder 10/17 – 12/3

Just in time for the November election comes this smart comedy about ethnic stereotypes, feckless political consultants and one woman’s journey toward personal fulfillment.

This critically acclaimed comedy by Mexico-born playwright Bernardo Cubría pokes fun at America’s obsession with identity politics while exploring one woman’s very non-political quest to become a mother.

By Louisa May Alcott

Adapted and Directed by

Jessica Robblee

12/5 – 12/29

Dairy Arts Center | Boulder

Bring your family to the Dairy this holiday season and spend some time with the March family. Relive their adventures, their passionate loves, their ups and downs and their joy in being together.

SUBSCRIPTIONS & TICKETS at BETC.ORG

THE DEAD ZONE

50

years after Stephen King’s famous visit, The Stanley Hotel still shines

BY JUSTIN CRIADO

An ethereal presence permeates the 115-year-old Stanley Hotel. For more than a century, the spirited landmark has stood guard over the picturesque mountain town of Estes Park, only 38 miles north of Boulder, like a weather-worn sentry who refuses to abandon post.

The feeling creeps into the corners of my mind as soon as I arrive in town to see the keystone building’s clock tower, bathed in a blood-red evening glow, rising into view against the darkened sierra backdrop.

Nearing 10 p.m., my partner and I take in the unexpectedly lively ambience of our new surroundings, especially the miniature hedge maze that greets visitors near the foot of the front steps, from our perch outside the wine bar. The place is crawling with restless spirits.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” one excited guest says to his partner.

“You’ve been waiting for this,” she returns.

As the middle-aged couple disappears through the front doors, their conversation joining the cacophony of static, I can’t help but wonder what other voices will make themselves heard tonight.

‘FOREVER AND EVER AND EVER’

The Stanley, as most already know, is notoriously haunted, but everyone this night is most definitely alive. The 14-building hotel grounds became a beacon for paranormal enthusiasts after Stephen King experienced the spectral lore of Room 217, where he and his wife Tabitha spent one snowed-in night while

doesn’t appear in the movie at all.) There are odes big and small scattered throughout the buildings, from the film’s familiar carpet pattern hidden in unexpected places to “REDRUM” coffee mugs for sale in the lobby gift store.

A concierge next to the front desk, dressed as the undead secretary from 1988’s Beetlejuice, asks if we need help booking a tour or “experience.”

“We’re thinking a ghost tour,” I say. “Will you be here tomorrow?”

ees are just entertaining amateur ghost hunters or not, we’re told there are 200 confirmed, or at least documented, phantoms residing at the hotel. That includes an ornery groundskeeper named Paul, who continues to diligently keep riff raff out of the concert hall with his blunt catchphrase: “Get out!”

the couple was living in Boulder in September 1974.

With The Stanley preparing to shutter for the winter the following day, King suffered a restless night filled with nightmarish visions — the most frightening featuring his 3-year-old toddler running terrified through the halls while being chased by a possessed firehose.

The experience influenced his 1977 psychological-horror masterpiece, The Shining, which centers around the fictional Overlook Hotel and protagonist Jack Torrance’s slow descent into murderous madness after moving his family into the lodge as its offseason caretaker. Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation starring Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall cemented the work’s place in pop culture, though King famously hated the digression from his novel.

Fifty years after his infamous stay, The Stanley has become the beating heart of everything related to the tome. The 1997 ABC mini-series written by King was filmed there. (Fun fact: The Stanley

During his brief stint in Boulder, an emerging young author named Stephen King pitched himself as the new film critic for The Daily Camera. Scan the QR code to read his 1974 letter in full, via Carnegie Library.

“I’m always here,” she quips. “Forever and ever and ever.”

‘GET OUT!’

We quickly find our modest room for the weekend, No. 322. A neatly made kingsize bed facing a flatscreen TV fills most of the room. An undated black-and-white photo near the closet captures three women dressed in white, waltzing in the fields that once lead up to the Stanley steps. A three-legged black dog follows the ghostly figures.

The AC unit’s purr mimics the pulse of a busy heart-rate monitor, but sleep comes easy. The new day brings more exciting adventures, mainly an evening ghost tour. Everyone we run into is eager to share stories. Whether Stanley employ-

There’s also a young wraith named Lucy in the theater’s basement, with whom our quirky tour guide “communicates” using a Dum-Dum lollipop (her favorite), though we’re skeptical of the spectacle.

Room 217, now called the Stephen King Suite, remains the supernatural epicenter, thanks to the undying diligence of chambermaid Elizabeth Wilson, who survived a gas explosion there in 1911. But it’s what she’s done after her death in the 1950s that is noteworthy. People say she still cares for the room, mainly by putting guests’ belongings into drawers if she’s fond of them. If she isn’t, Elizabeth won’t hesitate to let dumbfounded travelers know by neatly packing their bags. Her signature: placing their shoes near the door.

One explanation for why The Stanley is home to so many post-mortem patrons, according to our tour guide, is that the hotel is laid on a foundation of limestone and quartz — precious stones known to attract spirits.

F.O. Stanley, the hotel’s founder and architect, may have realized that all along.

“Nature has endowed Estes Park in a wonderful manner,” a quote accompanying his statue in the middle of the maze reads. “The grandeur of its scenery, its deep blue skies, its clear, cool and invigorating air, its mountain streams of sparkling soft water, its sunny days and delightfully cool nights, are things the summer visitor never forgets, and having enjoyed once, desires to enjoy again.”

The Stanley Hotel has stood guard over the picturesque mountain town of Estes Park for 115 years.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Stephen King’s visit to The Stanley, which inspired his 1977 psychological horror masterpiece, The Shining

The man himself, F.O. Stanley, continues to watch over the hotel that bears his name from a corner spot between the first and second floors. Credit: Justin Criado

MASK OFF

DeVotchKa return to haunted Stanley Hotel for annual Halloween costume ball

BY JUSTIN CRIADO

Nick Urata hears dead people. Or at least he did once at the famously haunted Stanley Hotel in Estes Park after he and his band DeVotchKa wrapped up their annual Halloween gala a couple years ago.

“I finally had my own ghost experience there, which was really exciting for me. I mean, at the time, it was terrifying, but I’d never had one in my entire not-so-young life,” the 57-year-old vocalist and guitarist admits. “I was, of course, a skeptic like everybody else, but it’s for real.”

go,’” he continues. “I’ve always been fascinated by the paranormal, but when it actually happens, you really go into a flight-or-fight mode. Your feet just start moving without you.”

Retracing his steps that evening, Urata describes a late night that ended with an afterparty at the Stanley’s whiskey bar. Before he made it back to his room across the property inside the main building, he and some friends decided to make a quick stop at the ballroom, where the Denver band had been performing during their multi-night residency.

“I had my own stash of wine in the dressing room and a key to the ballroom,” he says. “So I went in.”

That’s when Paul, the undead groundskeeper who’s said to still watch over the hall, made sure Urata didn’t spend too much time down there after hours.

“I was fishing around in my stuff and heard someone walking on stage, then someone started stamping on the stage, like angrily stamping,” Urata says. “It took me a second to realize there’s nobody in the ballroom and my friends are in my field of vision, so there’s nobody on stage right now.

“Needless to say that was the fastest exit in my history. I was like, ‘We got to

‘WE THOUGHT THEY WERE GOING TO KICK US OUT’

DeVotchKa still find themselves returning each Halloween, almost as if the hotel that inspired Stephen King’s 1977 horror thriller The Shining cast some type of spell over the Front Range folkrock quartet. Now Urata, Tom Hagerman (violin, accordion, piano and Melodica), Jeanie Schroder (upright bass, flute and vocals) and Shawn King (drums, trumpet, accordion and organ) feel like eternal members of its new house band.

“Every year, we thought they were going to kick us out and never have us back,” Urata says. “But they keep asking us back.”

The long-running group, which formed in 1997 and broke through after their soundtrack for the 2006 film Little Miss Sunshine received a Grammy nod, returns to The Stanley for a three-night costume ball, beginning Halloween night and wrapping up Nov. 2. The SlaVic

Sisters Macabre Circus Sideshow is also part of the weekend festivities.

It’s the sixth year running that DeVotchKa will serve as ringleaders of the sordid soirée, but Halloween shows are nothing new for the band. They made it a yearly tradition to headline the Boulder Theater for a decade before the Stanley opportunity presented itself.

“Basically, we were homeless for Halloween,” Urata says. “The Stanley found out about it and suggested we do a show at the ballroom there.”

MACABRE MASQUERADE

The costume ball is much more than a concert — it’s a macabre masquerade with magic and fortune-telling, deathdefying aerialists and belly dancers. Think of it as a new-age, no-holdsbarred vaudeville. After all, DeVotchKa, which is taken from the Russian word for “girl,” cut their teeth as a backing band for burlesque acts such as Dita Von Teese.

“When you go to The Stanley, it’s like stepping back in time,” Urata says. “It’s hard not to get enveloped in the history of the place.”

Of course, it’s the paranormal side of this history that attracts most guests to

the real-life version of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining

The hotel offers daily ghost tours that shine a light on the spectral side of the 115-year-old mountain retreat, including inside the current ballroom. Flora Stanley, the wife of the hotelier who built the Estes Park landmark, allegedly still takes the stage there to rehearse her piano.

The ballroom had been built as a practice space for her, though she only publicly performed once before succumbing to crippling stage fright. Luckily, she hasn’t stopped anyone else from bringing the ballroom to life with music.

“That’s the part I love about it,” Urata says of the storied hotel’s connection to the spirit world. “When you get there, you can forget about your normal life for a few days.”

ON THE BILL: DeVotchKa with SlaVic Sisters Macabre Circus Sideshow. 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31; Friday, Nov. 1; Saturday, Nov. 2. Stanley Hotel, 33 E. Wonderview Ave., Estes Park. $70

DeVotchKa’s annual Halloween costume ball at the Stanley Hotel rivals the 1921 July 4th Ball from The Shining Credit: Dave Wood

EXPOSICIÓN COMUNITARIA

27 DE OCTUBRE - 2 DE NOVIEMBRE DE 2024

RECEPCIÓN GRATUITA EL 27 DE OCTUBRE

TALLERES GRATUITOS EL 29 DE OCTUBRE Y 2 DE NOVIEMBRE

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303.443.2122 BMoCA.org

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WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS

Nederland author and Denver Horror Collective co-founder drops new book for spooky season

BY NATHANIEL KENNON PERKINS

“The scariest people in the world,” declares Nederlandbased horror writer Josh Schlossberg, “are the ones who are like, ‘Everything is fine, all the time.’” He shudders. “You’re going to snap and murder me in my sleep, aren’t you?”

If we want the world to be a better place, Schlossberg says it’s essential to acknowledge the darkness dwelling inside each of us. Without doing so, he explains, we can never move toward the light.

“I believe in being honest about taking a look at things,” he says. “It’s like the concept of a vaccine or immunity: Get a little bit of the dirt in you, and you’re better able to kind of deal with how things are.”

Given that attitude, writing horror fiction is Schlossberg’s call for the rest of us to do a little self-improvement. This notion inspired the title and content of his most recent release, a collection of stories called Where the Shadows are

Shown, released Sept. 30 via his own publishing imprint, Josh’s Worst Nightmare.

Schlossberg’s third book explores a full range of subgenres, from folk and noir to biological horror and everything in between. In “The Lemon Trees,” an alternative fertilizer encourages a horrific cross-pollination that ultimately produces a brood of citrus-based abominations. A spiritual medium’s apartment becomes infested with insects, rodents and much worse in “Drain.”

But Schlossberg refuses to take himself too seriously. For example, the cleverly titled “Long Strange R.I.P.” sees Jerry Garcia pay a visit to hell to recover the souls of the Grateful Dead’s many ill-fated keyboard players. “The Dungwich Horror (A Lovecraptian Tale),” in which a constipated man finds his bowels inhabited by a sentient, unearthly

power, presents a dookified take on the cosmic supernatural.

“I wanted to touch as many bases as I could,” he says. “I wanted there to be a story for people who like gross, sick-out things, but at the same time, I wanted there to be a conventional ghost story. Most people are going to find one thing they resonate with. I have a whole bunch of flavors there.”

DEEPER THAN OBSESSIONS

The thread that binds these tales together is Schlossberg’s darker-than-midnight creativity and his ability to create engaging yet deeply flawed protagonists. Overreaction in the face of perceived injustice is a revisited theme, and the characters with the best intentions are often surprised when they mutate into a monster more fearsome than any spook or villain they had hoped to confront.

“I find something that kind of bugs me in life, and that inspires the germ of a story,” he says. “Then I layer on something with a little deeper meaning than just my own obsessions.”

Despite his self-declared tendency to get annoyed, Schlossberg is communityminded. He is a founding member of the

Denver Horror Collective (DHC), a group of writers and editors who lean toward the more macabre side of the spectrum. Started in 2017, the DHC has organized writer feedback groups, readings and performances, as well as seminars to share industry and publishing tips with emerging writers. The organization is always evolving.

“If there are people who are energized to move something forward, it happens, and if there aren’t, then that piece falls away.”

FRONT RANGE FRIGHT

One of the more recent aspects of the DHC is the organization’s role as a publishing house. The group has been actively preparing for the release of their fifth title, Frontiers of Fright: A Southwestern Horror Anthology. Edited by A.E. Santana, the compilation comes out on Halloween and features 18 tales from multiple authors, each of which is focused on some ominous or unnerving aspect of the Southwest region. With a wealth of involved participants, there’s no shortage of dark tales to choose from. The collective boasts dozens of dues-paying members.

Schlossberg insists that this concentration of interest and talent is because there’s something special about Colorado when it comes to horror. He has his theories about why.

“There are ideas that something in the Denver smog might have something to do with warping people’s brains, or the high altitude creates hypoxia, where you don’t get enough oxygen. So it could be low-level brain chemistry issues,” he jokes, then gets more serious. “Cultures are the product of landscapes, and I believe that’s what goes on in the horror community. The extremes in horror mirror the extremes in Colorado’s climate and topography.”

Schlossberg encourages readers to mine the local scene for hidden gems.

“You haven’t read your favorite author yet,” he says. “Make an effort to find new stuff. Venture out on your own. Check out some stuff that you might not know. Ignore the reviews for a change, and you might just find your new favorite book.”

Nederland horror writer Josh Schlossberg says dwelling with darkness can help us move toward the light. Courtesy: Josh Schlossberg

Where the Shadows are Shown, the latest story collection by Josh Schlossberg, was published Sept. 30.

Courtesy: Josh’s Worst Nightmare

FILM

HOUSE HAUNTERS

The creepy Colorado connection behind ‘The Changeling’

BY MICHAEL J. CASEY

Aman has suffered a terrible loss. His wife and child were killed in an automobile accident in front of him, and what was the makings of a happy memory one moment now is the horror that will shape the rest of his days. So the man moves from New York to Seattle and takes up residency inside a historic mansion — which he gets for dirt cheap because no one has wanted to live there in 60 years.

Why that is, he soon finds out. He is John Russell, played by the intimidating George C. Scott. Few actors command the frame like Scott. In Patton, he embodies the indomitable World War II general. In The Hustler, Scott’s Mephistophelian web ensnared both Paul Newman and Piper Laurie. And in the climax of Hardcore, Scott’s Van Dorn tears through walls chasing his daughter’s kidnapper. He is not a man to be messed with. But in the 1980 horror film, The Changeling, a haunted house and a restless spirit decide to screw with Scott’s Russell with such abandon that the audience projects more than it empathizes. If a ghost can fuck with this guy, what chance do I have?

Well, for the writer of the original story, Russell Hunter, not much. Born in Illinois, Hunter was a playwright and composer who relocated to Colorado and, in the late 1960s, rented a house at the corner of 13th Avenue and Williams Street in Denver for pennies on the dollar. Why? Because the house was subject to all sorts of spooky happenings: loud metallic banging starting and abruptly stopping, faucets turning

on and off on their own, and the sound of a bouncing rubber ball following Hunter wherever he went.

All are recreated in The Changeling to great effect — particularly the rubber ball, one of the most chilling moments in cinema — as is the secret staircase Hunter found, leading to a child’s bedroom and the discovery of a diary.

At least that’s what Hunter claimed when he turned his real-life haunting into The Changeling. Phil Goodstein, the eminent scholar of Denver’s sordid past, has a few quibbles when it comes to dates and details in Hunter’s story. Search online, and you’ll find more anecdotal evidence of Hunter admitting in secret that he made an embellishment here or there. But who cares? Why let reality get in the way of a good story?

And The Changeling is a great story — arguably one of the best haunted house movies ever made. It’s spooky without being schlocky, terror with hardly a drop of blood. And as effective as the haunted house device is, the real mystery driving the haunting is so coldblooded and practical that you won’t even think twice about its motivation.

The Denver house Hunter rented has since been razed, and an apartment complex now stands where it once resided. Reports of the complex being haunted are mum, despite being within spitting distance of Cheesman Park — once Denver’s cemetery with a past so checkered it could be the inspiration for several movies. But that’s a story for another Halloween.

ON SCREEN: The Changeling is available to rent or stream on several platforms.

George C. Scott in The Changeling Courtesy: Associated Film Distribution

STAGE

FANGS OUT

Despite a meandering script, Arvada Center’s ‘Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy’ is bloody fun

BY TONI TRESCA

Carolyn Howarth swears horror isn’t her thing, but by the end of Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really, you’d be hard-pressed to believe it. Under her direction, the Arvada Center’s stage is drenched in blood, transforming Kate Hamill’s satirical take on the vampire legend into a savage spectacle. Hamill’s version retains Dracula’s framework while modernizing its characters and themes. Jonathan Harker (Lance Rasmussen) travels to Transylvania to arrange a deal for Count Dracula (Geoffrey Kent), leaving his pregnant wife, Mina (Annie Barbour), back in England. But Mina doesn’t sit on the sidelines; she travels to Whitby to visit her friend Lucy Westenra (Noelia Antweiler), whose fiancé, Dr. George Seward (Gareth Saxe), oversees the mental hospital housing the vampire’s obsessive devotee, Renfield (Jessica Austgen).

A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really.

Credit: Amanda Tipton

embodying a woman who’s fiercely protective of her unborn child and unafraid to stand against Dracula’s oppressive grip. Antweiler is equally magnetic as Lucy — a prim society woman in one moment and a voracious, liberated vampire in the next. Her athletic aerial performance, in which she executes an intricate suspended silk sequence while taunting her prey, is a standout moment emphasizing her character’s ferocious transformation.

HELP WANTED

When Jonathan fails to return home and Lucy’s health deteriorates, Seward enlists his colleague Dr. Van Helsing (Prentiss Benjamin), who quickly discovers the bloodthirsty source of Lucy’s illness. Mina, Seward and Van Helsing band together in a bloody battle against Dracula and his army of women vampires (Katrina Stelk and Mel Schaffer). Kent, a Colorado theater mainstay, embraces Dracula with a calculated mix of menace and comedic flair. His dramatic cape flips and accentuated Transylvanian accent (dialect-coached by Jeffrey Parker) are worth the price of admission alone.

Barbour’s portrayal of Mina adds an emotional core to the production,

Though Hamill’s adaptation is mostly effective, the script occasionally falters. This is especially true in the first act, which drags as it establishes the plot through lengthy monologues and letters, a nod to Stoker’s epistolary novel format that doesn’t translate well to the stage. Renfield’s scenes, in particular, feel a bit overindulgent, and it’s hard not to wonder if Hamill’s fondness for the character (she played Renfield in the original production) kept her from trimming the fat. Ultimately, this production reminds us that the real monsters aren’t supernatural creatures but rather the social forces they represent. Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy is a Halloween treat for audiences looking for a gory yet insightful spin on a classic, even if it may overstay its welcome.

ON STAGE: Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really. Through Nov. 3, Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, 6901 Wadsworth Blvd., Arvada. $47$63

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Annie Barbour as Mina in the Arvada Center’s production

Dracula:

1

8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, Avanti F&B, 1401 Pearl St., Boulder.

Get ready for the spookiest (and longest) happy hour of the year at Avanti. Bartenders will be serving up spooky drink specials all night long while you tear up the dance floor with nonstop monster-mashing. Dress to impress if you want a chance at first place in the costume contest.

1 STARGAZING: THE HUNTER IN THE SKY

5:45-8:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, Ron Stewart Preserve at Rabbit Mountain, 15140 N. 55th St., Longmont. Free

Learn all about Orion, aka The Hunter, with volunteer naturalists and astronomers from the Longmont Astronomical Society. Stargazing in the parking lot will follow a brief presentation at the picnic shelter. Telescopes will be provided; bring a chair or blanket, light jacket and red flashlight. Registration required: bit. ly/OrionStargazingBW.

FUNKY FOODS

6-8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, Louisville Historical Museum, 1001 Main St. Free

Start your weekend off with some hot soda and other staples that graced the tables of our ancestors during winters that were a lot longer and colder than ours. Sample dishes at this open housestyle event and take home recipes for whatever tickles your taste buds. The first 20 guests can participate in a sauerkraut-making demonstration.

1 FIRST FRIDAY

6-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, NoBo Art District, 4929 Broadway, Boulder. Free

Combat the creeping darkness of early sunsets and brighten up your Friday night at this monthly exhibition of Boulder creatives. Stop by the NoBo tent for a map and meander your way into artist studios, the Bus Stop Gallery and the NoBo Art Center while enjoying live music, wine, snacks and activities.

1 TRICK OR BEAT SILENT DISCO

9-11 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1, /pôr/ wine house, 836 1/2 Main St., Louisville. $18

Throw on a pair of headphones and get ready to groove at this silent graveyard smash. With three different music channels to tune into and a lineup of “eerie elixirs,” this 21+ party promises a spooktacularly good time.

1 –

2 THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS

7-9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1 and Saturday, Nov. 2, Backdoor Theater, Nederland Community Center, 750 CO-72. Free

What’s this? A Halloween weekend double feature sure to get you in the holiday spirit — which holiday is up to you. This 1993 Tim Burton classic follows Jack Skellington as he discovers the joy of Christmas and rediscovers the delights of being Pumpkin King.

2 SANITAS BREWING SKI SWAP

Noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, Sanitas Brewing Company, 3550 Frontier Ave. Suite A, Boulder. Free

We may still be holding on to the last days of spooky season, but snow is falling on the mountains, and ski season is here. That means it’s time to level up your setup and get ready to shred. Sell or swap your own gear, or visit the vendors selling both new and used skis, boards and more.

2 NOCHE DE MUSEO: CELEBRATING DAY OF THE DEAD

7-9 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road. $18

Bring the night alive at the Longmont Museum for one last Day of the Dead celebration. Travel from ancient Mexico with live Aztec dance performances by Grupo Azteca Tlahuitzcalli, to the here and now with genre-bending Latin rock from iZCALLi, in one unforgettable night. Eat your heart out, Ben Stiller. Tickets: bit.ly/NocheMuseoBW

2 DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS COMMUNITY WORKSHOP

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2, BMoCA, 1750 13th St. Free

Remember lost loved ones and learn how to put together an ofrenda at this hands-on Day of the Dead workshop, which includes making ancestral amaranth skulls and tiny catrinas. The event will be conducted in both English and Spanish and is open to ages 5 and up. (Anyone under 10 years old must be accompanied by an adult). Secure your spot at bit.ly/OfrendaBW.

2 – 3

EAST BOULDER COUNTY ARTISTS AUTUMN MARKET

10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 2 and Sunday, Nov. 3, Boulder County Fairgrounds, Barn A, 9595 Nelson Road, Longmont. Free

Support your favorite creatives from Longmont, Niwot, Erie, Louisville, Lafayette, Gunbarrel and Hygiene at the first annual EBCA Autumn Market. More than 30 artists will be featured, offering jewelry, paintings, pottery and more the perfect opportunity to get all your holiday shopping done early, because crowded stores are for suckers.

3 FIRST SUNDAYS BIRD WATCHING

1-3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 3, Greenlee Wildlife Preserve, 1600 Caria Drive, Lafayette. Free

Take a break from the Halloween festivities and find some peace and tranquility at this monthly, drop-in bird watching event. Hosted by Lafayette’s open space department, experienced watchers will be available with binoculars, spotting scopes and other tools. Families are encouraged to attend, but children must be accompanied by an adult.

6 MYSTERY MENUBLIND TASTING NIGHT

6:30-8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 6, The Passenger, 300 Main St., Longmont. $50

Put your taste buds to the test during this curated meal at The Passenger. Trust your senses as the chef turns out the lights and guides you through a fourcourse meal in total darkness. Take a stab at the mystery ingredients, and see how fine-tuned your palette really is. Reservations required: bit.ly/ BlindTasteBW

Want more Boulder County events? Check out the complete listings online by scanning this QR code.

LIVE MUSIC

THURSDAY, OCT. 31

KAREN FINCH 6 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

ARIANA SARAHA WITH FLIGHT BEHAVIOR 6 p.m. The Vali Soul Sanctuary, 6717 Valmont Road, Boulder. $35

CAT JERKY WITH MAGNUM MIKE. 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

FLOATS LIKE A BUFFALO WITH TOADSTOOL AND MINKA 7 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $20

TUMBLEDOWN SHACK 7:30 p.m. Nissi’s, 1455 Coal Creek Drive, Unit T, Lafayette. Free

T-PAIN WITH LIL JON 7:30 p.m. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre, 18300 W. Alameda Pkwy., Morrison. $98

THE GOONIES HALLOWEEN ADVENTURE 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19

SHANIN BLAKE WITH SIERRA MARIN AND NIZHANA 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20

SANTA ANA RODEO WITH VELVET DAYDREAM AND THE HIGH LINES. 7:30 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $25

ERIC GOLDEN. 8:30 p.m. The Stillery, 10633 Westminster Blvd., #900. Free

BENJAMIN SPROUL BAND (NIGHT 1) 9 p.m. Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

THE BUDOS BAND WITH NATIVE DAUGHTERS. 9 p.m. Ogden Theatre, 935 E. Colfax Ave., Denver. $50

SATURDAY, NOV. 2

EARL CORREY WITH TONY CRANK 5 p.m. Very Nice Brewing Company, 20 Lakeview Drive, #112, Nederland. Free

DAN HOCHMAN WITH THE STURTZ TRIO 5:30 p.m. Stone Cottage Studios, 3091 7th St., Boulder. $35

WEST OF FENNARIO 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

THE JOE COOL BAND 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

FRIDAY, NOV. 1

HALLOWEEN PUNK SHOW FEATURING ALMOST SAPIENS, CHAIR BOMB, CLEMENTINE, SEWAGE WASTE AND GIRLS 6 p.m. Trident Cafe, 940 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

THE BAD MAMMA JAMAS 6 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

SIRENS 6 p.m. Bricks on Main, 471 Main St., Longmont. Free

MOJAZZ. 6 p.m. Abbott & Wallace Distilling, 350 Terry St., Suite 120, Longmont. Free

ZENARI 6:30 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

UNAUTHORIZED ABSENCE 7 p.m. American Legion Post 32, 315 S. Bowen St., Longmont. Free

FADED FRIDAYS (DJ SET) 7 p.m. Asher Brewing, 4699 Nautilus Ct., Suite 104, Boulder. Free

WOOD BELLY 8 p.m. Gold Hill Inn, 401 Main St., Boulder. $20

BREADBOX WITH MUDRAT DETECTOR 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $20

BEN SOLLEE 7 p.m. eTown Hall, 1535 Spruce St., Boulder. $28

IZCALLI. 7 p.m. Longmont Museum, 400 Quail Road, Longmont. $18

THE PAMLICO SOUND 8 p.m. The Riverside, 1724 Broadway, Boulder. $20

PAIZLEY PARK 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $19

JASON EADY 8 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $24

HOLLOW HEAD WITH LOSERS CLUB AND TEAM NONEXISTENT 8 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $12

JOSHUA RADIN WITH RON POPE. 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $35

BUILT TO LAST 8:30 p.m. 100 Nickel, 100 Nickel St., Broomfield. $13

WISTERIA WITH DAWN PATROL, EATING FLOWERS, PAGANI, ELIOTT GAIRARD, CVDE AND JENNA FARBER. 9 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20

MATT FLAHERTY (NIGHT 1) 9 p.m. Longs Peak Pub, 600 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free

BENJAMIN SPROUL BAND (NIGHT 2) 9 p.m. Mountain Sun Pub, 1535 Pearl St., Boulder. Free

LIVE MUSIC

ON THE BILL

Looking to keep the spooky season vibes going after Halloween? Front Range grindcore staple Vermin Womb performs in support of Japanese death-metal legends Coffins with fellow locals Poison Tribe and Mournful Ruin at Hi-Dive on Nov. 4. Scan the QR code for a Boulder Weekly interview with frontman Ethan McCarthy, also the creative force behind Denver doom purveyors Primitive Man See listing for details

SUNDAY, NOV. 3

BOULDER FRIENDS OF JAZZ JAM SESSION 1 p.m. Avalon Ballroom, 6185 Arapahoe Road, Boulder. $12

JULIAN TAYLOR WITH CRYS MATTHEWS.

2 p.m. Boulder Valley Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 1241 Ceres Drive, Lafayette. $34

DENVER WOMEN’S CHOIR 2 p.m. Broomfield Library and Auditorium, 3 Community Park Road. Free

LOCO UKULELE JAM 2 p.m. Bootstrap Brewing Company, 142 Pratt St., Longmont. Free

JACK HADLEY 4 p.m. BOCO Cider, 1501 Lee Hill Drive, Unit 14, Boulder. Free

BLUE SKY JAZZ COLLECTIVE 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

ROLLING HARVEST 7 p.m. Nissi’s, 1455 Coal Creek Drive, Unit T, Lafayette. $25

LIONEL YOUNG DUO 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. Free

MATT FLAHERTY (NIGHT 2) 9 p.m. Longs Peak Pub, 600 Longs Peak Ave., Longmont. Free

MONDAY, NOV. 4

JOHN HADFIELD WITH RACHEL ECKROTH AND JOHN GUNTHER 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

COFFINS WITH VERMIN WOMB, POISON TRIBE AND MOURNFUL

RUIN 7 p.m. Hi-Dive, 7 S. Broadway, Denver. $20 BW PICK OF THE WEEK

JESSE MCCARTNEY 8 p.m. Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St. $35

MAJID JORDAN WITH ALEX LUSTIG

8 p.m. Gothic Theatre, 3263 S. Broadway, Denver. $50

TUESDAY, NOV. 5

DAVID HONIG 5:30 p.m. Boulder Depot, 2366 Junction Place, Boulder. Free

CHARLES GALLANT WITH CHRISTOPHER MORSE, DREAM OF TIME AND MICHAEL CAPONE 7 p.m. Roots Music Project, 4747 Pearl St., Suite V3A, Boulder. $18

WEDNESDAY, NOV. 6

THE DECHEN HAWK TRIO 6 p.m. St Julien Hotel & Spa, 900 Walnut St., Boulder. Free

OH SNAP! 7 p.m. Muse Performance Space, 200 E. South Boulder Road, Lafayette. $20

BRASS & BOOZE FEATURING BOULDER PHILHARMONIC 7 p.m. Planet Bluegrass, 500 W. Main St., Lyons. $10

FLAT CREEK WITH COYOTE ROSE AND HUNTER ARCHER. 8 p.m. Fox Theatre, 1135 13th St., Boulder. $20

STILLHOUSE JUNKIES WITH TONEWOOD STRING BAND 8 p.m. Velvet Elk Lounge, 2037 13th St., Boulder. $18

ASTROLOGY

BY ROB BREZSNY

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19): Many people believe in the existence of ghosts. If you’re not yet one of them, you may be soon. The spirit world is more open than usual to your curiosity and explorations. Keep in mind, though: The contacts you make might not be with ghosts in the usual sense of that term. They might be deceased ancestors coming to deliver clues and blessings. They could be angels, guardian spirits or shapeshifting messengers. Don’t be afraid. Some may be weird, but they’re not dangerous. Learn what you can from them, but don’t assume they’re omniscient and infallible. Halloween costume suggestion: one of your ancestors.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20): When you attended kindergarten, did you ever share your delicious peanut butter and jelly sandwich with friends who didn’t like the broccoli and carrots in their lunch boxes? If so, you may be well-primed to capitalize on the opportunities now in your vicinity. Your generous actions will be potent catalysts for good luck. Your eagerness to bestow blessings and share your resources will bring you rewards. Your skill at enhancing other people’s fortunes may attract unexpected favors. Halloween costume suggestion: philanthropist, charity worker or an angel who gives away peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20): For you, dear Gemini, the coming weeks could be the least superstitious time ever. There will be no such thing as bad luck, good luck or weird luck. Fears rooted in old misunderstandings will be irrelevant. Irrational worries about unlikely outcomes will be disproven. You will discover reasons to shed paranoid thoughts and nervous fantasies. Speaking on behalf of your higher self, I authorize you to put your supple trust in logical thinking, objective research and rational analysis. Halloween costume suggestion: a famous scientist you respect.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22): Which sign of the zodiac is sexiest? Smoldering Scorpios, who are so inherently seductive they don’t even have to try to be? Radiant Leos, whose charisma and commanding presence may feel irresistible? Electrifying Aries, who grab our attention with their power to excite and inspire us? In accordance with current astrological omens, I name you Cancerians as the sexiest sign for the next three weeks. Your emotional potency and nurturing intelligence will tempt us to dive into the depths with you and explore the lyrical mysteries of intimate linkage. Halloween costume suggestion: sex god, sex goddess or the nonbinary Hindu deity Ardhanarishvara.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22): In ancient Egypt, onions were precious because they symbolized the many-layered nature of life. Just as some modern people swear oaths while placing a hand on a Bible, an Egyptian might have pledged a crucial vow while holding an onion. Would you consider adopting your own personal version of their practice in the coming weeks, Leo? It is the oath-taking season for you — a time when you will be wise to consider deep commitments and sacred resolutions. Halloween costume suggestion: a spiritual initiate or devotee.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22): Two of the world’s most famous paintings are the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. Both were made by Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), one of the world’s most famous painters. Yet the brilliant artist left us with only 24 paintings in total, many of which were unfinished. Why? Here are two of several reasons: He worked slowly and procrastinated constantly. In the coming months, Virgo, I feel you will have resemblances to the version of da Vinci who created The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. Some of your best, most enduring work will bloom. You will be at the peak of your unique powers. Halloween costume suggestion: Leonardo da Vinci or some great maestro.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22): “When you are faced with a choice between two paths, it’s always better to take the most difficult one.” What!? No! That’s not true! A shamanic psychotherapist gave me that bad advice when I was young, and I am glad I did not heed it. My life has been so much better because I learn from joy and pleasure as much as from hardship. Yes, sometimes it’s right to choose the most challenging option, but on many occasions, we are wise to opt for what brings fun adventures and free-flowing opportunities for creative expression. That’s what I wish for you right now. Halloween costume suggestion: a hedonist, a liberator, a bliss specialist.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21): Scorpio painter Pablo Picasso has been described as a “masterfully erratic pioneer.” He influenced every art movement of the 20th century. His painting Guernica is a renowned anti-war statement. Though he was a Communist, he amassed great wealth and owned five homes. Today, his collected work is valued at over $800 million. He was the most prolific artist who ever lived, producing almost 150,000 pieces. I nominate him to be your role model in the coming weeks. You are due for a Season of Successful Excess. Halloween costume suggestion: an eccentric, charismatic genius.

SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21): Sagittarian Keith Richards, guitar player for the Rolling Stones since 1962, is a gritty, rugged man notorious for his rowdy carousing. Lots of observers predicted he would die at a young age because of his boisterous lifestyle, yet today he is 81 years old and still partying. But here’s his confession: “I never sleep alone. If there is no one to sleep next to, I’ll sleep next to a stuffed animal. It makes me feel secure and safe. It’s a little embarrassing to admit it. It’s important to me, though.” I bring this up, Sagittarius, because I feel that no matter how wild and free you are, you will be wise to ensure that you feel extra secure and supported for a while. Halloween costume suggestion: a stuffed animal or a lover of stuffed animals.

CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19): Halloween offers us a valuable psychological opportunity. We can pretend to perform our shadowy, wounded and unripe qualities without suffering the consequences of literally acting them out. We can acknowledge them as part of our makeup, helping to ensure they won’t develop the explosive, unpredictable power that repressed qualities can acquire. We may even gently mock our immature qualities with sly humor, diminishing the possibility they will sabotage us. All that’s a preamble for my Halloween costume suggestion for you: a dictator or tyrant. If you have fun playing with your control-freak fantasies, you will be less likely to over-express them in real life.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18): Paganism and astrology have key affinities. For instance, they both understand that our personal rhythms are connected with the Earth’s cycles. I bring this to your attention because we are in the season that pagans call Samhain, halfway between the equinox and solstice. For Aquarians, this festival marks a time when you are wise to honor and nurture your highest ambitions. You can generate fun and good fortune by focusing on lofty goals that express your finest talents and offer your most unique gifts. How might you boost your passion and capacity to make your mark on the world? Halloween costume suggestion: your dream career.

PISCES (FEB. 19-MARCH 20): I like how you are opening, widening and heightening! Keep up the good work, Pisces! I am cheering you on as you amplify, stretch, augment and burgeon. Here’s a small alert, though: You may be expanding so fast and so far that it’s a challenge for less expansive people to keep up — even your allies. To allay their worries, be generous in sharing the fruits of your thriving spaciousness. Let them know you don’t require them to match your rate of growth. You could also show them this horoscope. Halloween costume suggestion: a broader, brighter, bolder version of yourself.

SAVAGE LOVE

BY DAN SAVAGE

I am a bisexual cis woman in my 40s My boyfriend is a straight cis man in his 30s. I am open about fantasies and often think about sex even when we’re not “in the moment.” He says he doesn’t have any fantasies and doesn’t think about sex outside of the experience. I think it would keep things interesting if we could both explore fantasy and talk more about it. Our NRE won’t last forever.

— The Big Reveal

Either your BF is an outlier, or he’s not being entirely honest with you about how often he thinks about sex and/or what he thinks about when he’s thinking about sex. He could worry his sexual fantasies might repulse you, TBR, and not because they’re repulsive — although they might be (some are!) — but because he may have shared his sexual fantasies with a previous partner who reacted badly.

That said, it’s possible your boyfriend is one of those rare guys who is completely vanilla, TBR, and all of his sexual needs are being met in your relationship. Why not err on the side of taking him at his word? You’re setting a good example for him by sharing your fantasies, TBR, and you can and should remind him once in a while — every couple of months or so — that you’re ready, willing and able to return the favor if he has a sexual fantasy you can reasonably indulge.

I’m a 40-year-old cishet male, or at least I have been so far. I was in a very long-term relationship for most of my adult life, which ended just recently, and I find myself wanting different things out of sex nowadays. Specifically, I would like to try a more

submissive role, and increasingly I don’t really care what gender the other person is. I’m learning that I’m quite attracted to twinks, femboys and trans men, as well as women. I’m interested in exploring this attraction, but I have NO idea how to get back into the cishet dating/casual sex scene, much less the LBGTQ+ dating scene. Any advice? — Branching Out Now

For better or worse, BON, most people — cishet or queer — meet their new sex partners and/or life partners online. So, take some accurate pics, download some apps and put yourself out there. And if you’re interested in experimenting with twinks, femboys and trans men, you’re free to get onto hookup apps and dating websites that serve the LGBTQIA+ community.

Remember: the “Q” in LGBTQ+ doesn’t just stand for “queer,” BON, it also stands for “questioning,” which is what it sounds like you’ve been doing lately. So long as you’re respectful and honest about who you are and what you’re looking for, BON, you aren’t violating anyone by getting on the apps. And trust me: There are twinks and femboys and trans men out there who are up for being a “straight” guy’s first queer experience.

When it comes to sex and dating, no one knows what they’re doing until they do it a few times. Like everyone else who’s ever gotten a dating or hookup app, BON, you’ll learn. But there’s no learning without doing.

Email your question for the column to mailbox@savage.love or record your question for the Savage Lovecast at savage.love/askdan. Podcasts, columns and more at Savage.Love

THE MARINARA HAUNTING

The tale of a Boulder cook’s one night stand with a ghost named Mirabelle

BY JOHN LEHNDORFF

Isee dead restaurants. They are everywhere I go in Downtown Boulder.

I see the 14th Street Grill where Oak at Fourteenth is now. I spy the Good Taste Crepe Shop and Rocky Mountain Joe’s Cafe atop Into the Wind. So many restaurants have filled these spaces over the past half century and tens of thousands of prep cooks and dishwashers and waitresses have worked there.

In all my decades of working in (and writing about) Boulder eateries, I’ve only seen one dead person … I think It was the late 1970s, and writing jobs were nonexistent in hip-but recessionpounded Boulder. I put my McGill University degree aside and went to work as a cook in a string of restaurants.

I hated working at night, but those were the shifts available at Caffe Circolo, an Italian-American eatery located at 1447 Pearl St. It opened shortly after the debut of the downtown walking mall.

I was in the sweltering kitchen doing the grunt work of cleaning, taking the trash to the alley and prepping ingredients for the next day. Wearing a tomato-

stained white apron, I was weeping over a cutting board of chopped white onions. I suddenly became acutely aware that I was being observed — odd, because I was alone.

As I turned to look, I caught something quivering on the edge of my peripheral vision, like the shimmering ephemeral auras that surround some people. I sensed there was a presence. Even though I couldn’t see them, I had the unmistakable warm feeling that this apparition was female with seemingly long flowing hair. A name came to me out of the blue: Mirabelle. I thought: “What a beautiful name.” I did not look to see if she cast a shadow.

In my kitchen career, I’d witnessed plenty of weirdness, including knives thrown, grease fires, blood spurting, screaming, weeping and groping in the pantry. I’d never seen anything like this before.

Back in 1970s Boulder, I also enjoyed many psychedelic adventures. I knew what hallucinations looked and felt like.

Mirabelle didn’t look like anything induced by acid, mescaline, mushrooms (or hits of

nitrous oxide from whipped cream cans).

I pondered other explanations for this spectral presence. Was it aliens communicating with me, vivid déjà vu, astral projection, a waking dream or a multiverse convergence?

Some men might have been scared or been prompted to do the sign of the cross, but since I believed in neither

ghosts nor gods, no cold horror shudder went up the spine. In fact, a warmth slowly spread through my various loins. I smiled. The feeling was more than friendly, more like longing. It felt a lot like testosterone-fueled lust. It would have seemed ridiculous except for my history of hungering after unavailable and imaginary lovers.

I thought about saying “hi.” If she was post-dead, I hoped nothing bad had happened to her or that she hadn’t done something horrible to end up as a spirit.

Real-life close encounters are nothing like in the movies. I had to finish my prep work, put the marinara in the walk-in and close up the kitchen for the night.

If I had hooked up with a waitress instead of a phantom, we would have headed to my place. Instead, I locked the kitchen door and walked home alone. That said, I’d gone on much worse dates than this one.

Credit: Tom Hussey (originally published in the Colorado Daily)

Illegal Pete’s was once home to a restaurant called Caffe Circolo — and potentially a horny ghost named Mirabelle. Credit: John Lehndorff

NIBBLES

After that night, I intentionally asked for more late-night shifts. I had a sense that Mirabelle was still there with me as I cooked, but the presence was sadly fading.

Right around that time, a costly disaster struck Caffe Circolo. The morning crew came in one day to find that a huge saucepan of marinara sauce had gone bad overnight in the walk-in. It was chalked up to a storage problem. Then it happened the next morning, too. The sauce — the lifeblood of the lasagna, baked ziti and spaghetti — went sour again.

When it kept happening, the restaurant owners made a very mid-’70s Boulder business decision. They hired a shaman to clear the space, and he left a dreamcatcher in an east-facing window. The pots of pureed plum tomatoes, olive oil, salt, garlic and basil never went bad again.

I soon left Caffe Circolo for another eatery without ever telling anyone about Mirabelle. I didn’t think they would understand.

Several years later, I was back in that kitchen when the space became the Heartland Cafe. I learned after I started cooking that the new owners had preemptively asked a Tibetan monk to clear the spirits from the place before the eatery opened. I never felt Mirabelle again.

Since then, I’ve eaten at successive dining spots on that corner, from Golden Mountain Chinese Restaurant to Illegal Pete’s. I’ve wondered if any of the hundreds of people who worked there over the decades had encountered Mirabelle.

The other night I parked near Pearl and 15th streets to take a few photos of Illegal Pete’s. A beer sign was hung in the window that once held a dreamcatcher.

I remembered a familiar tingle and wondered whether Mirabelle would recognize the elder, white bearded version of me if we met today. Would her glimmer have greyed, too?

I gently chanted “Mirabelle, Mirabelle, Mirabelle” as I hobbled off into the Boulder shadows.

John Lehndorff cooked in Boulder at Yocom’s, Good Taste Crepe Shop, Pearl’s, Tom Horn’s, Potters, French Peasant, Greenbriar Inn and The Sink (but only for one shift). A version of this story was originally published in the Colorado Daily in the late 1970s.

Have you met a ghost in a Boulder kitchen? nibbles@boulderweekly.com

A menu from the since-closed Heartland Cafe.

NO, YOUR KID’S CANDY ISN’T DRUGGED

The origins and evolution of a Halloween myth that just won’t die

BY W. SCOTT POOLE AND JOEL BEST THE CONVERSATION

The unquiet spirits, vampires and the omnipresent zombies that take over American streets every Oct. 31 may think Halloween is all about spooky fun. But what Halloween masqueraders may not realize is that in the early 1970s and well into the next decade, real fear took over.

The media, police departments and politicians began to tell a new kind of Halloween horror story about poisoned or drug-laced candy — myths that persist today.

No actual events explain this fear: A comprehensive 1985 study of the 30 years of alleged poisoning did not find even a single confirmed incident of a child’s death, or even serious injury.

Additional studies dating back to 1958 did not find a single incident related to drugs or poisons in Halloween candy.

POISON CANDY FEAR

The Halloween candy scare began in 1970. An op-ed on Oct. 28, 1970, in The

New York Times suggested the possibility of strangers using Halloween’s trickor-treat tradition to poison children.

Two days later, a 5-year-old child died on Halloween in Detroit after consuming heroin. Newspaper reportage showed that the child had in fact found the heroin at his uncle’s home — not in his bag of Halloween candy, as investigators had at first been told.

But on Oct. 31, 1974, another child died in Houston. This time, the death was a result of eating poisoned candy: The child’s father had murdered his own son by placing cyanide in a pixie stick.

Worries of parents and community leaders drove the fear. In a popular nationally syndicated newspaper advice column, Ann Landers warned in 1983 of “twisted strangers” who had been “putting razor blades and poison in taffy

apples and other Halloween candy.”

By the 1980s, some communities banned trick-or-treating while hospitals in some metropolitan areas offered to X-ray Halloween candy. Parent-teacher associations encouraged fall festivals to replace Halloween, and on Long Island a community group gave prizes to children who stayed home altogether for Halloween 1982. That same year, the governor of New Jersey signed a bill requiring a jail term for those tampering with candy.

SOCIAL TENSIONS AND FEAR

In his book The Vanishing Hitchhiker, folklorist Jan Harold Brunvand argues that while urban legends may be grounded in actual incidents, they often come to stand in for real-world fears.

In the case of poisoned or drugged

candy, research into American politics and horror tales suggests that those fears might have been driven in part by the multitude of problems facing the United States at the time. All the social change in the 1970s fed the creation of urban legends, argues sociologist Jefferey S. Victor.

The false cases of poisoned or drugged candy legend is another way that American fears manifested: as an easily understood threat to innocence.

That could explain the resurgence of the myth in 2001, when terrorists’ alleged post-9/11 plans included poisoning Halloween candy en masse, and 2022 when elected officials and talking heads warned of rainbow fentanyl being distributed to trick-or-treaters. There were similar fears about THC-laced candy in 2014, the first year Colorado allowed recreational cannabis sales.

THE IRRATIONALITY OF IT ALL

One obvious hole in these concerns is that drugs tend to cost more than candy — marijuana edibles, for example, run somewhere in the neighborhood of a dollar or two per dose or more.

Fentanyl is considerably more expensive. It is not unreasonable to wonder just what a fentanyl dealer’s overarching goal might be in passing the drug off as candy. The suggestion that a schoolage kid would go from accidental user of fentanyl to a paying addict is farfetched.

W. Scott Poole is a professor of history at the College of Charleston. Joel Best is a professor of sociology and criminal justice at the University of Delaware.