No self-respecting lover of the macabre should be without a copy of the Edgar Allan Poe compilation “Tales of Mystery and Imagination.” Precise contents vary from edition to edition, but in most of them the stories included are some of Poe’s darkest and most famous, including “The Murders in the Rue Morgue,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Cask of Amontillado.”
With Halloween just around the corner, what better time to revisit these brilliantly eerie tales? Or, if you prefer to be read to, the local outfit Write Out Loud is presenting six nights of “Poe & More Poe” beginning Friday and running for three weekends through Nov. 1 at the appropriately atmospheric Villa Montezuma Museum in Sherman Heights.
Actors including Liliana Talwatte, Laurence Brown, Rhianna Basore, Walter Ritter, Paul Maley and Write Out Loud Artistic Director Veronica Murphy will offer performative readings of Poe works.
If you’re too nervous to leave the house this Halloween season, check out the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum’s virtual offerings. For groups there’s a guided virtual tour of the Poe House in Baltimore, via Zoom, with a live guide/docent. There’s also a free video tour of the Poe House on the website — it’s about seven minutes’ long.
To my knowledge Poe never wrote a story set on or around Halloween, but he might well have acknowledged its disturbing spirit. For tickets, visit writeoutloud.org.
Choral music
Sacra/Profana will perform “L.O.S.T.” by composer Jason Carl Rosenberg, pictured, in a concert Sunday in San Diego. (Sacra/Profana)
The choral ensemble Sacra/Profana will be pairing the old with the new on Saturday in a performance at San Dieguito United Methodist Church in Encinitas. The old is Thomas Tallis’ 500-year-old “Lamentations of Jeremiah.” The new: Jason Carl Rosenberg’s 16-part “L.O.S.T.”
Paired together these choral pieces reflect upon both grief and renewal. I don’t pretend to be conversant with these pieces, but I know from past experience how affecting musical presentations like this from Sacra/Profana can be. Tickets for the 7 p.m. performance are $15-$40 at sacraprofana.org.
Music festival
The rock band 311 will perform at Mission Bayfest this weekend. (311)
How many bands have named a holiday after itself — and then proceeded to annually celebrate it? The band 311 has. The longtime outfit from Omaha, Nebraska, that melds rock, reggae, rap and funk first declared March 11 (get it? 3/11?) to be “311 Day” back in 2000 and ever since has performed a concert on that day, usually in New Orleans or Las Vegas.
We’re long past 311 Day for 2025 but the band is among the lineup for the annual Mission Bayfest, which returns this weekend to Mariners Point Park in Mission Beach. Also on the bill for the three-day festival are bands including San Diego’s own Slightly Stoopid, the current iteration of Sublime, Steel Pulse and Hirie.
Single-day and three-day passes to the festival are available at bayfestsd.com.
Rock music
Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley performs on the Stardust stage during the Just Like Heaven music festival at Brookside at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on May 10, 2025. The band will perform Oct. 17 at Gallagher Square at Petco Park. (Associated Press)
Finally, a reunion tour I care about. Jenny Lewis-led Rilo Kiley is on the road for the first time in 17 years. Onetime indie-rock darlings, the L.A. group broke up to the surprise of their fans just a couple of years after the release of its fourth (and still most recent) album “Under the Blacklight.”
In true indie style, the band’s given its new tour a name that I can’t print in this column. Find out for yourself by visiting the Petco Park website where Rilo Kiley’s Friday concert at Gallagher Square is listed.
Reports and clips circulating on Instagram show the band playing tunes from all of its studio albums on this tour. The San Diego concert is sandwiched between two others — one before, one after — at L.A.’s Greek Theatre. For tickets, visit rilokiley.com.
Film
Ellen Jovin will screen and discuss her new documentary film about teaching Americans better grammar at Digital Gym Cinema in San Diego on Oct. 23. (Digital Gym)
I have a new hero — well, heroine — and her name is Ellen Jovin. A self-described grammar guru, she took a onetime idea — setting up a table on a New York street with the sign “Grammar Table” in front of it — and went on to do the same across all 50 states, engaging passers-by on all things grammar.
The result was a book and now a film titled “Rebel with a Clause,” a documentary directed by Jovin’s husband Brandt Johnson. It’s screening next Thursday at the Digital Gym Cinema in the East Village. Jovin and Johnson will be on hand for a Q&A with “A Way with Words” co-host Martha Barnette.
People, especially students, are always giving me grief because I’m a stickler for proper grammar. It’s vindicating to know that I’m not alone in considering it important. For tickets, visit digitalgym.org/movies/rebel-with-a-clause.
UCTV
University of California Television invites you to enjoy this special selection of programs from throughout the University of California. Descriptions courtesy of and text written by UCTV staff:
“Chasing Hope in a Time of Crisis with Nicholas Kristof”
How do we hold onto hope in a divided world? Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Nicholas Kristof draws on decades of reporting from global conflict zones and struggling American communities to offer a powerful, human perspective on today’s biggest challenges. From poverty and inequality to political polarization and misinformation, Kristof explores how truth, empathy and moral courage can guide us toward a more just and compassionate society. Presented by the Burke Lectureship on Religion and Society, this timely conversation is moderated by Marco Werman of The World and UC San Diego theater professor Allan Havis. It’s an inspiring call to face hard truths — and to act with heart, even when the world feels broken.
Eric Faden (Bucknell University) discusses the Japanese Paper Film Project, an effort to preserve a rare and fragile form of animation made in Japan during the 1930s —films printed on paper instead of celluloid. Due to their age and unusual format, these works required custom-built scanning tools and software to bring them back to life. Joining Faden are musicians Yoko Reikano Kimura (koto) and Hikaru Tamaki (cello), also known as Duo Yumeno, who provide live accompaniment to the digitized films. With moderator Alex Lilburn, the panel reflects on the challenges of preservation, the creative possibilities of pairing image with sound, and the emotional experience of reviving nearly forgotten cinematic treasures.
“Navigating Grief: Resilience and Loss”
Danielle K. Glorioso, LCSW, offers a compassionate and insightful look at grief — not as something to “get over,” but as a lifelong, evolving response to loss. She explains key differences between acute grief, integrated grief, and prolonged grief disorder, and how factors like personal history, attachment, and circumstances of the loss can shape each person’s experience. Glorioso discusses how prolonged grief can disrupt daily life and highlights effective treatments, including structured therapy designed to support adaptation. She also explores resilience as a skill that can be nurtured through emotional regulation, cognitive flexibility, social support and meaning-making. Blending clinical expertise with personal insight, she provides practical tools for coping, supporting others, and finding hope while honoring those we’ve lost.