[October 29th, 2008]

In this corner, from Islamabad, it’s a cannibal in a burqa! In the other corner: a ghost who beats his wife! And who’s that familiar guy with the ax, lurching toward the ring? Heeerrre’s Johnny!

It’s a Halloween tradition as time-honored as hiding razor blades in candied apples: the seasonal horror movie. But while Regal audiences suffer through another Saw installment, two Oregon venues—and one iconic hotel—are thinking outside Pandora’s box.

ZIBAHKHANA

The first Pakistani slasher flick in more than 30 years (the title is Urdu for “slaughterhouse”), Omar Ali Khan’s movie features five teens less concerned with the Great Satan than with escaping zombies—and that burqa-clad stalker. Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison St., 281-3918. 7:30 pm Friday, Oct. 31. $5.

100 FEET

Famke Janssen is under house arrest, confined to her NYC brownstone by an ankle bracelet. The electronic monitor doesn’t notice that her dead husband is trying to kill her. An authentically disturbing B picture from Eric Red, the writer of notorious 1986 freakout The Hitcher. Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 236-9234. 8 pm Thursday, Oct. 30. $5.

THE SHINING AT TIMBERLINE

Inside the Mount Hood lodge that Stanley Kubrick used for outdoor shots of the haunted Overlook Hotel, Nike is hosting a 1920s ball, with in-room screenings of the movie, dancing and cocktails. Just don’t order the red rum. Timberline Lodge, Timberline Highway, Clackamas County. Friday, Oct. 31. Buses leave for Mount Hood at 5 pm. $25-$200. info@shiningparty.com.

^Headout Picks

WEDNESDAY OCT. 29

[HAUNTED BURG] FRIGHTTOWN
A whole city block of horror, insane asylums, mad docs and cyborg-zombies included. Memorial Coliseum, 1401 N Wheeler Ave., frighttown.com. 7-10 pm Wednesday-Thursday; 7-11 pm Friday-Saturday. Through Nov. 1. $20. All ages.

[WORDS] LOGGERNAUT: SCARY
Loggernaut’s back, with hair-curling tales from Rodney Koeneke, Tom Spanbauer, and Lidia Yuknavitch. Urban Grind, 2214 NE Oregon, 546-0649. 7:30 pm $3.

THURSDAY OCT. 30

[WALK] LAST THURSDAY DAY OF THE DEAD PROCESSION
The Alberta ‘hood celebrates el Dia de los Muertos early with a walkabout complete with altars, candles and skeleton masks. And how is this different from any other Last Thursday? Meet at Northeast 14th Place and Alberta Street. 7 pm. Free. All ages.

FRIDAY OCT. 31

[MUSIC] HALLOWEEN CARNIVAL
Halloween gets sexy with samba marching/dancing band Lions of Batacuda and punk-samba crew Bat Makumba. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave., 708-0851. 9:30 pm. $12 at the door. $10 advance. 21+.

[MUSIC] EIGHTH ANNUAL PORTLAND EROTIC BALL
Break out the body paint and foam penises, March Fourth Marching Band soundtracks a huge costume blowout celebrating, ahem, “fantasy, fetish and flesh.” Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside St., 225-0047. 8 pm. $30 advance, $35 day of show. All ages.

[MUSIC] DEAD SEXY HALLOWEEN BALL
Portland nerd-rock trio Smoochknob has its own built-in harem in the Smoochgirls, a legion of heavily tatted, scantily clad ladies who take the stage like a cross between Suicide Girls, Motown-era dancers and demonic cheerleaders. The band’s like a candied apple embedded with razors and E. And lots of jiggling. Dante’s, 1 SW 3rd Ave., 226-6630. 9:30 pm. $10 advance, $12 day of show. 21+.

[MUSIC] KELLY’S OLYMPIAN COSTUME PARTY
Minmae’s singer Sean Brooks has the cool, collected and convincing voice of a librarian. Being Halloween, there’s a costume contest at midnight. Dress up as German efficiency and you’ll fit right in. Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington St., 228-3669. 9 pm. $5. 21+.

[WORDS] DAVID SEDARIS
He’s not scary. But everything scares him. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, 248-4335. 7:30 pm. $30-$60. All ages. Tickets at Ticketmaster and PCPA Box Office.

[HAUNTED HOUSE] VIRAL DAMNATION
An R-rated, postapocalyptic haunted house overrun with mutants, beasts and cannibals. Gresham Little Theater, 30639 SE Bluff Road. 267-2750 6 pm-midnight Friday, Oct. 31. $8.

[CANDY] THE FAMOUS MYSTERIOUS ACTOR HALLOWEEN SHOW
Famous interviews Dark Horse artists, plus karaoke from Kaolin the Klingon. Berbati’s Pan, 231 SW Ankeny St. 248-4579. 8 pm Friday, Oct. 31. $8-$10.

[DRINK] BITE OR BE BITTEN
Saucebox shakes up a “tasty Vampires’ Ball,” with blood-sucking DJs and a vamp costume contest to boot. Saucebox, 214 SW Broadway, 241-3393. 9 pm. Free. 21+.

SATURDAY NOV. 1

[MUSIC] DAY OF THE DEAD COSTUME DANCE PARTY: ATOLE
Don’t wear anything too heavy at this dancetastic Dia de los Muertos celebration: Atole’s synth-heavy barnburners will make you sweat through that Palin costume faster than you can say “maverick.” Backspace, 115 NW 5th Ave., 248-2900 8 pm. $5.

[MUSIC] DAY OF THE DEAD CELEBRATION
Accordionist Jason Webley and PDX cabaret troupe Vagabond Opera join forces with fire hula-hoopers and the Skeleton Stilt Circus to create spooky awesomeness. Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell St., 284-8686. 9 pm. $13. All ages.