The A.V. Club guide to October
You like zombies? We’ve got zombies.
Moggs Oceanlane
As a wise man once said, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” That’s the last thing we here at The A.V. Club want, so we’ve compiled a handy reference of notable events of the coming month to make sure you don’t miss out on any of the key holidays, remembrances, and events the next 31 days will offer.
Holidays (Day Off From Work category)
Would you believe none? If you work for the government, or maybe in a bank, you can probably look forward to getting Columbus Day off, we guess. Everyone else, you’re going to want to plan ahead and use up a sick day to make sure there’s at least one break in the all-consuming monotony of your working life. Also, it’d be a weekday where you won’t have to wear pants.
Holidays (No Day Off From Work category)
Oct. 2: International Day Of Non-Violence
It’s a day set aside for people to remember the example set by Gandhi (it’s his birthday, see), so plan on going out there and kicking some ass for peace.
Oct. 10: Columbus Day
Yes, this is still technically a holiday (except maybe in Arizona, where holidays for foreigners are never welcome, even if those foreigners allegedly discovered America), even though most of us will be still be working that day. If you want to mix things up this year, you could always celebrate Leif Erikson Day (Oct. 9), since he, you know, also “discovered” America. (Well, as much as anyone could have “discovered” a continent that was already filled with people, anyway.)
Oct. 31: Halloween
Now we’re talking! Halloween has a lot going for it in the competition for “favorite holiday.” What other holiday encourages women to dress in lingerie and call it a costume? Plus, free candy!
All Damn Month
You have a few choice observances this month, from National Cyber Security Awareness Month to Dwarfism Awareness Month. You could even combine the two, and get a little person to come install antivirus software and a firewall for you! That way, your computer will be safe from malware when you go surfing dwarf porn sites. Win!
Notable Birthdays
Musical love machine and Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee was born on Oct. 3, 1962, just 9 years and one day after another musical sex-ninja, Sting (Oct. 2 1951). Author of scary childrens’ books R.L. Stine wisely chose to be born in the Halloween season (Oct. 8, 1943), as did old-time scary-movie star Bela Lugosi (Oct. 20, 1882). Other people who have helped shape the face of society who were born in October are Eleanor Roosevelt (Oct. 11, 1884), Friedrich Nietzsche (Oct. 15, 1844), Bill Gates (Oct. 28, 1955) and, perhaps most importantly, Snoop Dogg (Oct. 20, 1971).
Notable Upcoming Events
Oct. 7-9: Mile High Horror Film Festival
It wouldn’t be October without a shitload of horror movies, and what better way to get your fix than at a horror movie film festival? You could just sit home and wet your pants in mortal terror, alone, but it’s much more fun to do it in public, with a group of similarly minded aficionados while watching a batch of possible future horror classics.
Oct. 21-22: Best. Zombie Weekend. Ever!
Someone undead loves you, because this weekend offers Denver’s annual zombie crawl on Saturday, Oct. 22, plus a double bill of two of the greatest zombie stories ever told. The Denver Film Society’s Watching Hour offers up a showing of Return Of The Living Dead Friday and Saturday night, while the Esquire will be showing the 1979 Lucio Fulci classic, Zombie (a.k.a. Zombi 2, Zombie Flesh Eaters, et al) both nights. Not convinced yet? Here are some incentives: ROTLD is the film that introduced the idea of zombies eating brains, and in Fulci’s masterpiece, a zombie fights a shark. Let us repeat that: A fucking zombie fights a goddamn shark. Plan on catching one each night and joining the zombie crawl Saturday for the best damn zombie weekend ever.
Oct. 26: Paul Simon
When you need a break from all the spooky stuff this month, how about Paul Simon? His friendly folk rock classics are the furthest thing from the bumps in the night that characterize this month. You Vampire Weekend fans in particular should check this out—it’s good to know your roots.
