Cheap Tricks

Lose the mask, save some cash

by Amanda McKenna

If blowing half a paycheck on a ridiculous dominatrix/sugar plum fairy costume isn't your idea of a wonderfully wicked All Hallow's Day, try filling up your pumpkin pail with these frighteningly frugal alternatives instead.

Featuring paintings and drawings by Molly Crabapple, Dave Glass (pictured), Jesse Pepper, Fred Harper and Trinity co-owner Genevive Zacconi, this collection's got plenty of skeletons, ghouls and Jack-O-Lanterns to go around. But the exhibit doesn't trade entirely in predictable Halloween fare: Images of tentacled children, blood-spattered punk grrrls stray from the norm in a terrifyingly delightful way.

What better way to get the blood pumping on Halloween than with some grody wax organs and a flick about a gold-diggin' trapeze artist? The Mutter Museum is screening the 1932 cult classic Freaks at 7:30 p.m., but we recommend arriving early and taking a stroll through the museum's harrowing collection of medical oddities. (The conjoined twins and section on skin diseases are too nightmarish to miss.)

This vaudeville-style variety show features musical numbers, ample audience participation and a "disgusting experiment" involving sharp, pointy knives. Magician Fred Siegel, the psychic Rosen Sisters and character actor Eric Van Wie fill the bill. Summoning spirits? Got it. Straight jacket escapes? Of course. A special tribute to Dr. Shock, Philadelphia's beloved horror night host? You betcha.

As for the knives—maybe bring safety goggles?

Sure, it's fun to dress up like Riff Raff and blast Meatloaf, but why not try something new? The Little Fish Theatre Collaborative's Rocky Horror Puppet Show is a pint-sized twist on the original that will have even the most dedicated purists doing the Time Warp. The cast comprises two humans (Janet and Brad) and a slew of Japanese-style bunraku puppets. Producing artistic director Chris Totora says that during the show's first run at the Fringe Festival, audiences screamed back at the puppets just like they would at a screening.

The Philadelphia premiere of Doug Wright's collection features four plays: Unwrap Your Candy, Lot 13: The Bone Violin, Wildwood Park and Baby Talk. Wright was inspired by Roald Dahl, Alfred Hitchcock and a book about mental disorders, so it's no surprise that the mood shifts suddenly from funny to terrifying. Speaking of scary, don't bring the kids: the evening might tug at the Twilight Zone lover in all of us, but this here's campfire storytelling for the adult crowd.