![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/IT_Cosm_PrestonBarta.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPennywise always wanted a bigger audience. Well, at Cosm Dallas, he finally got the whole damn dome.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tPennywise always wanted a bigger audience. Well, at Cosm Dallas, he finally got the whole damn dome.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Preston Barta for Dallas Observer<\/p>\n
Every October, Dallas theaters dust off the classics.<\/a> Comfort food, really. Think of them as the fun-sized candy bars of the spooky season. But some of us want the full-size bar. Some of us want the house at the end of the block that hands out something weird, something memorable, maybe something that makes your parents check the wrapper twice.<\/p>\n This year, North Texas has plenty of screenings with a little more trick than treat. And spoiler alert, in the grand tradition of \u201cthe call is coming from inside the house,\u201d most of them are happening at the Texas Theatre.<\/p>\n Here are our top 10 picks:<\/p>\n 1. Joe Bob\u2019s Halloween Spooktacular 2: Monster Boogaloo at the Texas Theatre (Oct. 31)<\/p>\n Sign up for the Arts & Culture newsletter to get the latest stories delivered to your inbox<\/p>\n THANK YOU!<\/p>\n You’re all set.<\/p>\n CLOSE\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n This is the mother lode of the season. Former Observer contributor Joe Bob Briggs<\/a> and Darcy the Mail Girl, the hosts of Shudder\u2019s \u201cThe Last Drive-In,\u201d are spending Halloween in Oak Cliff. They\u2019re bringing a true dusk-\u2019til-dawn marathon that runs from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m., packed with feature films, spooky shorts and the drive-in tangents and trivia fans have come to love.<\/p>\n Now the bad news: The main auditorium, where the hosts appear in the flesh, is already sold out. The good news is that tickets for the upstairs auditorium are still available, and everything gets screened up there, too. Signs also point to this becoming an annual tradition. Two horror legends choosing Dallas for Halloween? Grab a ticket while you still can. Upstairs tickets are $39.83.<\/a><\/p>\n 2. \u201cA Nightmare on Elm Street\u201d + May May\u2019s Nightmares Drag Show at the Texas Theatre (Oct. 28)<\/p>\n One, two, May May\u2019s coming for you. Wes Craven\u2019s 1984 slasher gave us Freddy Krueger, a bladed glove, a striped sweater and a solid reason to drink coffee past midnight. This season, it gets a spectacular drag treatment. Freddy has always been a showman with killer one-liners, so it only makes sense to pair him with performers who can match his flair for drama. Tickets start at $20.<\/a><\/p>\n 3. \u201cIt: Chapter One\u201d in Shared Reality at The Colony\u2019s Cosm Dallas (all October)<\/p>\n We\u2019ve sung the praises of Cosm\u2019s Shared Reality format before with \u201cHarry Potter<\/a>\u201d and \u201cWilly Wonka<\/a>.\u201d The film plays dead center on the dome, and custom graphics stretch beyond the frame, wrapping the world of the movie around you.<\/p>\n But now, this is Cosm\u2019s first horror outing in Shared Reality, and it arrives close to the film\u2019s 10th anniversary. It\u2019s a smart choice for breaking the ice, and the result feels like watching the movie from inside a haunted house built from the film itself. This is a mood-and-dread film, and the dome serves the creep factor without going overboard. It simply makes a familiar film feel new again (get ready for the bloody bathroom scene), and the strongest case yet for Cosm to bring more horror to the dome. Tickets start at $35.<\/a><\/p>\n 4. Dismember the Alamo 2026 at Alamo Drafthouse Richardson (Oct. 24)<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get it out of the way: this one is sold out except for a few accessible seats. Consider this your homework so you don\u2019t miss it next year.<\/p>\n Dismember the Alamo is a secret all-day horror marathon. You won\u2019t know the lineup until the lights go down. Past editions have mixed cult favorites with deep cuts that even seasoned fans have never heard of. It also comes with a generous amount of \u201970s and \u201980s sleaze that makes you wonder how it ever got printed on film. Bring stamina and an open mind. Read more about the sold-out event here.<\/a><\/p>\n 5. Frizzi2Fulci with Fabio Frizzi at the Texas Theatre (Oct. 29)<\/p>\n Dig past the surface of genre cinema, and you\u2019ll run into Italian director Lucio Fulci and his longtime composer Fabio Frizzi. The best example is 1979\u2019s \u201cZombi 2.\u201d A zombie wrestles a real tiger shark underwater while Frizzi\u2019s hypnotic, thumping score pulses. It\u2019s one of the most bizarre scenes ever filmed.<\/p>\n Frizzi and his band will perform highlights from his Fulci scores, from \u201cZombi 2\u201d to \u201cThe Beyond,\u201d with the gory imagery to match. Opening are special guests Visceral Cuts, a Denton duo that pairs shredding, eccentric live music with custom horror video collages. Expect a night of killer sounds and scary images. Tickets start at $39.75.<\/a><\/p>\n 6. \u201cTrick \u2018r Treat\u201d + live Q&A with director Michael Dougherty at the Texas Theatre (Oct. 9)<\/p>\n This is the rare horror movie that\u2019s really about Halloween itself: its rules, its rituals and what happens when you blow out a jack-o\u2019-lantern too early. Michael Dougherty\u2019s anthology film weaves together tales of a principal with a secret, a werewolf-heavy party night and a school bus legend. Holding it all together is Sam, the burlap-masked trick-or-treater who enforces tradition with a lollipop and a bad attitude.<\/p>\n Its studio shelved it for years and quietly released it on home video. Since then, it\u2019s grown into a cult favorite that many fans call the definitive Halloween movie. Seeing it on the big screen with Dougherty there to answer questions is a rare treat. Tickets are $19.50.<\/a><\/p>\n 7. \u201cSinners\u201d at Rooftop Cinema Club Fort Worth (Oct. 15, 23 and 27)<\/p>\n Sure, 70mm IMAX may be the ultimate way to see Ryan Coogler\u2019s Jim Crow-era vampire blues epic<\/a>. But watching it under the stars, framed by the Fort Worth skyline? Not bad at all. Michael B. Jordan doubles up as twin brothers, and the juke joint sequence remains the most spine-tingling musical moment, and the vampires are the kind you won\u2019t want to invite in. So, settle into a lounge chair and let the night air do the rest. Tickets start at $19.<\/a><\/p>\n 8. \u201cDaughters of Darkness\u201d at Alamo Drafthouse Cedars and Richardson (Oct. 26)<\/p>\n Part of the Drafthouse\u2019s Queer Film Theory 101 series, Harry K\u00fcmel\u2019s 1971 Belgian gem is the most elegant movie on this list. Delphine Seyrig plays Countess B\u00e1thory, the legendary blood countess, who glides through an off-season seaside hotel like a silver-screen goddess. She has her sights set on a pair of newlyweds with more than a few cracks in their marriage. The film is sensual, stylish and unsettling, more seduction than slaughter, and it remains one of the high points of the lesbian vampire genre. Wear your best red lipstick. Tickets are $16.97.<\/a><\/p>\n 9. \u201cBride of Frankenstein\u201d + Bishop Street Ballet Preshow at the Texas Theatre (Oct. 25)<\/p>\n James Whale\u2019s 1935 sequel is the kind of rare follow-up that tops the original. It\u2019s funnier, stranger and more heartbreaking, and it still feels surprisingly modern. Elsa Lanchester\u2019s lightning-bolt hairdo and bird-like hiss earned her a spot in horror history with just a few minutes of screen time. Before the film, the Bishop Street Ballet presents a dance preshow. Movement and monster movies make a fine match. After all, the Bride\u2019s whole debut is basically choreography. Tickets start at $22.<\/a><\/p>\n 10. $5 Spooks at Cin\u00e9polis Luxury Cinemas Victory Park (all October)<\/p>\n All month long, Cin\u00e9polis is screening horror classics for just $5. The lineup includes \u201cHalloween,\u201d \u201cCarrie,\u201d \u201cThe Thing,\u201d \u201cCoraline\u201d and \u201cParaNorman.\u201d It\u2019s a great, cheap way to see the classics on the big screen. It\u2019s even better if you bring along a horror newbie and watch them meet John Carpenter\u2019s shape-shifter for the first time. The drinks and food are solid too, so that $5 ticket<\/a> goes a long way. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pennywise always wanted a bigger audience. Well, at Cosm Dallas, he finally got the whole damn dome. Preston…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":458404,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,64,987,3291],"class_list":["post-458403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-events","tag-halloween","tag-lists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=458403"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/458403\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/458404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=458403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=458403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=458403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Halloween_Spooktacular_2025_BarakEpstein_856fa6.jpg\")
Joe Bob and Darcy prove Halloween in Dallas still plays best to a packed house.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Halloween_Screenings_TexasTheatre.jpg\")
Even the skeletons know how to make an entrance at the Texas Theatre.<\/p>\n