15 minute read
Celebrate Halloween in Tulsa
From spooky to wholesome, here are different ways Tulsa rocks Halloweekend.
Myranda New Student Writer
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Halloween was just around the corner, and as we sort our trick-or-treating spoils and put our costumes back in the closet, let’s reflect on some of the amazing events that were hosted around Tulsa this year. Living in a city as large as Tulsa, there’s bound to be scheduling conflicts with the number of events being offered for a variety of age groups and entertainment. Haunted houses, trick or treating, live music and movies, our city has it all.
We can begin with the venues that are entertaining to all ages year round: the Oklahoma Aquarium and the Tulsa Zoo. The aquarium hosted HallowMarine, a weeklong trick-or-treating event for kids to dress up in costume, collect candy around the aquarium and interact with the sea creatures.
Similarly, the zoo hosted HallowZOOeen, an event going for two weekends that sold out prior to its opening. Featuring a haunted train ride, merry-go-round, gem dig, trickor-treating and a haunted house, this is fun for the whole family. Though the highlight of the night are the four themed meet-andgreet locations: the arcade, the royal castle, the pirate island and the pumpkin patch playroom. If you attend during normal operating hours, the animal habitats will be open for viewing, or you can attend after hours for the rare opportunity of seeing the zoo at night.
Local Tulsa museums put on a show as well to get into the spooky mood. The Philbrook Museum hosted Singalong Saturday: Halloween Edition for kids to dress up in costume and listen to silly songs in the gardens. The ahha inspired artistic talent in visitors through their numerous arts and crafts sessions throughout the month. Inktober, Drawlloween, constructing the Halloween village, pumpkin painting and jar decorating while watching spooky films were all hosted by the 3rd Floor Studio. Even the Gilcrease Museum hosted Gilcrease After Hours for a Halloween spectacular. They’ll be hosting an event for Dia de los Muertos later this week on Nov. 5.
To get some fresh air and explore the more natural side of Tulsa, there were numerous events hosted at farms, mountains and gardens. Pleasant Valley Farms is a pumpkin patch in Sand Springs, which I frequented my freshman year, and I must say it’s a great place to go to get in the autumn mood. With a pumpkin patch, corn maze, hayrides, cutouts for photo opportunities, mini golf, games, a petting zoo, a gift shop and even vendors during the fall festival, this is the optimal place to go for your pumpkin picking.
Turkey Mountain also celebrated Halloween by hosting their haunted trail, an experience to roam the mountain at night with their 30-minute guided tour that is bound to spook. With special effects, actors and plenty of props, it’s like a haunted house experience in the middle of the woods.
Tulsa Botanic Garden hosted BOO-tanical Bands & Blooms throughout the month of October, with trick-or-treating, costume contests, live music and food trucks. For the kids, there was also a tattoo station, games and pumpkin decorating. You were also free to roam the gardens, taking in the beautiful flowers and last of the butterflies before the chill of winter sets in.
The Gathering Place turned their playgrounds into a festival of spooks for Halloween by hosting the Sweets & Treats on Spooky Street event. Costumes encouraged for trick-or-treating and a dance party with live musical entertainment, this free, two day event is one that is sure to bring guests from all over the city.
And right by our campus, Kendall-Whittier square loves to get into the Halloween festivities with spooky showings at Circle Cinema all month long and Hallo-Whittier. A costume contest, businesses in the square giving out candy to trick-or-treaters and ending the night with live music, this would be an easy event to wander over to for a nice evening over the weekend.
The Tulsa area is also home to some pretty fantastic haunted houses, one of those being Insanity Farms. A corn maze, pallet maze and zombie paintball, Insanity Farms is a part of Pumpkin Town, Tulsa, a great pumpkin patch to interact with a petting zoo, games and fun attractions. At night, however, the farm can easily turn into an eerie experience.
Hex House is one of the most well-known haunted houses in the area, one of the most terrifying attractions (according to their website) where the actors are allowed to touch you while you are in the house. As the website continues, this haunted house “suspend[s] reality for a moment in time allowing you to experience what real terror is.” I haven’t been to this haunted house yet, but it is certainly on my list.
The one I have been to, though, was The Castle in Muskogee, a haunted house that I absolutely loved. An entire halloween festival, just being in the parking lot immerses you into a whole other world with an entire town built up on the grounds to foster the Halloween spirit. Everyone in costume, actors walking around, food and merchandise offered at various stands, it’s easy to want to stay here forever. There are also multiple haunted houses based on scare level.
An ultimate maze, haunted hayride, castle train and horror chamber are great ways to be immersed without needing a haunted house. But if you want the true spooks, try Casa Morte (a haunted house utilizing props to terrify), Domus Horrificus (relying on actors to send chills down your spine), a zombie hunt featuring zombie paintball with actors or even the trail of blood, where you are driven out into the woods and tasked with finding your way to safety. The Castle is a definite must for Halloween.
For Halloween being my favorite holiday, I have clearly moved to the right place as Tulsa is filled to the brim with eerie entertainment for kids, families, teenagers and adults, whether it be trick-or-treating, running through a haunted house or listening to some live music. Many of these events are annual, so I hope you start planning your 2022 Halloween in the city of spooks.
HallowZOOween occurs for two weekends in October. courtesy Flickr courtesy The Castle The Halloween Village at The Castle of Muskogee is open every Friday and Saturday during October.
In “Science Friday,” host Ira Flatow engages with intriguing scientific topics and their sociopolitical implications.
Hana Saad
Student Writer
It’s that time of year! The time when I reveal the part of myself that still enjoys learning about science. Although I’m now firmly committed to getting a major in the liberal arts, there was a time when I wanted to be a biologist of some sort. That’s why I love podcasts about science— a way for me to get a chance to learn about things I’m not studying.
No one does it better than “Science Friday.” This podcast, which is produced by WNYC Studios, features news about science and technology. Hosted by Ira Flatow, the episodes vary from information about recent scientific advancements and history to interviews with experts across different disciplines.
The episodes, which are about 45 minutes long, usually feature two to three topics that Flatow covers. They’re not always connected but the different segments come together to keep the episode informative and engaging. For example, in their most recent episode on Oct. 29, they covered maggots and medicine, European wolves and stories from people experiencing sea levels rising in their communities. Quite the mix!
The show has had a long history, as they started in 1991 with a radio show. Since then, they’ve expanded to be more than just a podcast. On their website, they publish videos and interesting articles covering different facets of science. They also host weekly book clubs, making “Science Friday” a fun community to be a part of for science lovers everywhere.
One of the things I really appreciate about “Science Friday” is how they bring in social and political issues into their discussions about science. Often, there is this desire among the scientific community to rely purely on scientific research and data when talking about problems. But this show does a really good job of showing how science is impacted by culture and politics, as well as issues of inequity.
For example, in the episode for Oct. 22, the podcast explores how Filipino-Americans are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. They look at how “32 percent of U.S. registered nurses who died of COVID-19 by Sept. 2020 were of Filipino descent, even though they only make up four percent of nurses in the U.S.” This is just one example that shows how social-political issues must be taken into account when talking about science.
Since the show has recently been more committed to exploring these political topics, there are quite a few people who left reviews in the Apple Podcast app about how they were upset that “Science Friday’’ explores socio-political aspects as they relate to science. But science and culture have always been intertwined and I’m happy that this show is attempting to explore that connection with the different episodes that air.
Despite the complaints of some of the show’s critics, I think “Science Friday” has a nice balance of episodes, with a mix of content spanning across different scientific disciplines. There are episodes about hightech air purifiers, episodes about dinosaurs and episodes about mating spiders! Basically, there’s something for everyone. There are quite a few episodes talking about recent developments with the pandemic, especially when it concerns vaccines, but I think that is relevant information to be talking about on a science podcast.
If you are looking to learn new things about the world and expand your knowledge of random facts, then this podcast is definitely for you.
This podcast is available on all streaming platforms.
“Science Friday” broadcasts each Friday on public radio stations. courtesy Science Friday Initiative
Director Edgar Wright delivers impressive cinematography and 60s nostalgia.
Samuel Modde Student Writer
Flashing lights. Blaring music. Dancing, drinking, smoking and sex. If this sounds familiar, you may be experiencing dissociative dreams about living in London during the golden era of 1960s culture. At least, that’s what Edgar Wright thought of when penning “Last Night in Soho.” The director of “Shaun of the Dead,” “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” and “Baby Driver” spares no expense, using lavish color palettes and highly dynamic lighting to create a rich visual buffet of impressive scenes. With impressively smooth camerawork and a killer soundtrack to boot, the giallo-like thriller film is extremely immersive to say the least.
The plot centers around Eloise (Thomasin McKenzie), a bright but timid girl with hallucinatory tendencies from rural England who moves to London to pursue her dream of fashion design. However, her highly unusual upbringing impedes her attempts to befriend her roommate Jocasta (Synnove Karlsen), and she quickly moves into a spare room in Soho rented by an elderly Ms. Collins (Diana Rigg). Here, she discovers that when she sleeps she is transported back to the mid 1960s as Sandi (Anya Taylor-Joy), a beautiful wannabe singer who previously occupied Eloise’s room. Eloise falls in love with Sandi and her new boyfriend/manager Jack (Matt Smith) as they run around London nightlife. However, things quickly turn sour as Sandi discovers the dark truth about show business, which slowly devolves into prostitution and seemingly culminates in her own murder. Distraught, Eloise’s mental state slowly starts to unravel and the line between her visions and reality increasingly blurs as she frantically attempts to discover the truth behind Sandi’s murderer before she loses her own sanity.
The film is filled with smooth, seamless work as Wright flexes his incredible prowess in the dream sequences. The camera moves fluidly with the action as we see both Sandi and Eloise as two sides of the same card in beautiful sets, which often include multiple mirrors and character swaps. Wright’s use of lighting heavily influences how he designs scenes, using it to foreshadow, distort and transition. Horror elements often build from suspense and are mostly psychological rather than graphic in nature, which generally work.
However, Eloise is later tormented by hallucinations of featureless, hollow-faced men, which are frightening from a distance but look more like clay models from “The Haunted Mansion” as they approach, stunting the effect. The film falters a bit plotwise, as the rules of Eloise’s interactions between the two worlds are never clearly defined. Part of this lends itself to the insinuation that Eloise may be schizophrenic, but it also causes partial disconnect by disorienting the audience. The climactic scene also spirals, dangerously hovering over mixed messaging on the implications of forced prostitution and sexual assault, but lingers only for a moment before quickly backtracking its brief message of victim blaming.
All in all, “Last Night in Soho” is a wild, chaotic and slightly overwhelming ride through 1960s London, balancing both light and dark while presenting an unflinching view of what it means to take control of your own life in a world filled with excitement and danger. I wouldn’t call this film a “needto-see,” but is definitely a “want-to-see” for anyone even slightly curious about it.
“Last Night in Soho” was released Oct. 29, 2021. courtesy Film4 Productions
“Last Night in Soho” is a British pyschological horror film. courtesy Film4 Productions
“The Owl House” scores high with representation
In the animated kids show “The Owl House,” characters of all kinds adventure between the human and demon worlds.
Myranda New Student Writer
If you’re in need of a spooky television show to watch this season, I would love to wholeheartedly recommend “The Owl House” to you, which can be streamed on Disney+. Enemies-to-lovers gay witches, a loveable demon sidekick and a wild mother figure to a bunch of teenagers, there’s nothing more you could possibly need.
From the fantastic minds that brought you “Gravity Falls” comes the latest animated kids show centered on the weirdness that arises when human and demon worlds cross. Luz Noceda is a human who has always been the weird one at school, talking about witches and fantastical things. Her mother thinks it would be good to send her to summer camp for a reality check, but when she’s about to leave, Luz stumbles through a portal into the Boiling Isles, a demon realm too close to our own. There, she meets Eda the Owl Lady, one of the most powerful witches on the isles who is battling a growing curse, and her sidekick King, who is a demon eager to learn more about where he came from. Acting as the apprentice to Eda and attending a school for witches, Luz makes new friends and goes on crazy adventures that are wrapped up in more than they may seem.
I could go on for hours about the fun, wild and heartwarming plot this show has, but in the act of avoiding spoilers, I would much rather tell you about what makes this show so special: representation. In children’s books, I’ve seen a surge of representation over the years, certainly more than I had when I was growing up. I only wish this show would have existed when I was in elementary school.
To begin with, the main character, Luz, is a neurodivergent bisexual Latina, and she is absolutely incredible! Witty, kindhearted and brave, she is an inspiration to even adults watching the show. In every tough
scenario, it is her resilience and kindness that always allows her to win.
Luz’s love interest is a mean lesbian girl who goes through tremendous growth throughout the show. Actually, none of the “mean and popular” kids at the school stay mean throughout the show, but instead go through growth and develop as characters to give the viewers a new perspective. The “bad and lazy” kids at school are seen as incredibly gifted in other ways outside of academics, especially when it comes to collaborating with different kinds of magic.
Eda lives with a curse, which in the show is a metaphor for chronic illness. Even though her mother tried everything to cure Eda’s curse, even going as far as getting into the anti-vax equivalent of the witch world, Eda grows to accept her curse and embrace it.
Eda’s love interest is nonbinary, Luz’s best friend Willow is biracial and has two POC fathers and her other friend Gus is Black and was raised by a single father. And this is just the main characters! Side characters are seen in same-sex relationships, characters of all different appearances live together on the isles and the best part is that there is no need to come out. There is no conversation between Luz and Eda about wanting to date her girlfriend. Instead, Luz constantly discusses her motivation to be the best girlfriend she can be throughout episodes. Every aspect of the characters’ identities is accepted.
The whole concept of the show is based in found family. When Luz enters the demon realm, she has no one, until she has Eda. When King is lost from his family, Eda finds him too. The friend group Luz creates is their own little family, and when Luz has an encounter with the covenless witches at school, she realizes they have their own little family. Family does not have to be by blood to be just as strong.
A large takeaway is that no one is truly good nor bad. While it is difficult to sympathize with some of the antagonists, it’s not like they are painted as only an absolutely abysmal villain. Their humanity is shown as well, taking off the villain mask, to allow the viewer to be their own judge of character.
I can only imagine how our generation would be with such diverse television shows playing when we were younger, but what matters is how happy I am that this newest generation will be able to grow up on such content. I hope television continues to work in this direction, showing all the different ways that families and friends can be. This is how we continue to have open minded generations, generations that are loving and accepting of everyone. If two enemies-tolovers gay witches can do it, we can do it too.
courtesy Disney Channel “The Owl House” first premiered on Jan. 20, 2020 and is currently in its second season.
