PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Most recently known as The Elephant Arms Hotel, Fortitude Valley’s The Prince Consort Hotel’s new owners Tilley & Wills Hotels have reclaimed the hotel’s original 1888 moniker and the recently refurbished pub will be hosting Halloween events today and tomorrow.

The hotel will transform into a three-level haunted mansion to host Brisbane’s biggest Halloween spectacular, with trick or treating for grown-ups, scream masks for early arrivals and Mr Black Espresso Martin.

The Garden Bar will be hosting Halloween-themed events running from 6pm to 3am tonight and tomorrow, and tomorrow night, Greaser will have spooky eats, scary drinks, and a haunted stage featuring the music of June, The Buzzing Towers, The Double Ds and Timothy Learjet;

Vanguard Burlesque will make its long-awaited return with its “Boo-lesque Halloween Show” upstairs in La La Land, an eclectic bar with booth seating, VIP private rooms and a crystal chandelier-covered dance floor.

The event will feature some of Australia’s finest burlesque and variety performers, including Rita Fontaine, MC CeCe Shabam, Rielle La’Vish, Madeline Glasseater, Lilith Revere, Ruby Corvette, and The Bombshells. For more information or tickets  to the Boo-lesque Halloween Show, visit the Prince Consort website.

SCREAMS ON THE BIG SCREEN

Five Star Cinemas’ Yatala Drive-In is bringing big screams to the big screen this weekend, with some classic Halloween-themed films showing tonight and tomorrow.

Tonight’s screenings include a double feature of cult classics Friday the 13^th and A Nightmare on Elm Street, which feature the debuts of iconic horror-movie villains Jason Vorhees and Freddy Kruger, respectively.

Tonight, you can also catch 1993 Disney’s 1993 dark comedy-fantasy Hocus Pocus – starring Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy – and new film The Craft: Legacy, Blumhouse’s continuation of the cult hit The Craft.

Tomorrow night features encore screenings of Hocus Pocus and The Craft: Legacy, as well as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Saint Maud, as well as a double bill of The Conjuring and The Conjuring 2.

For tickets and details, visit Five Star Cinemas’ website

BRISBANE IN THE FRAME

Keith Burt’s Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Prize-winning portrait Urban Artists, which depicts Matthew and Daniel Tobin of Urban Art Projects.

This weekend is your last chance to see the works produced by this year’s Brisbane Portrait Prize finalists, with 2020 exhibition wrapping up at Brisbane Powerhouse on Sunday.

A total of 766 entries were received this year – a 15 per cent increase on 2019, the first year the prize was held – and the Brisbane Powerhouse exhibition showcases works from 75 artists, including 71 entrants from the main competition and four from the Under 18s category that has been introduced this year.

The exhibition is free to attend, with timed tickets available from the Brisbane Portrait Prize website.

BRUNCH WITH BITE

Spice up your Saturday morning at boutique Surfers Paradise hotel The Island, with Br8nch with Bite from 11am to 2pm tomorrow.

The event includes a grazing brunch, drag shows and themed games, with tickets, which are selling from $70, including a two-hour drinks package with options such as jugs of spritz, mimosa, bloody mary, premium beer, sangria, soft drinks, juice and mocktails

From the same team behind the Brisbane series at Cloudland, the event promises to be deliciously naughty and at the same time, delightfully nice.

Visit the Island’s website for more details or to purchase tickets.

ROCKHAMPTON OKTOBERFST

The organisers may have missed an obvious opportunity by failing to call the event “Rocktoberfest”, but Rockhampton’s Oktoberfest, which is presented by Capricon Food and Wine Festival, is being held today and tomorrow at the Riverside precinct.

So ust off your lederhosen & dirndls and get ready to raise your glasses to good times, good mates & good beer from 4pm until 11.30pm today, and from 3pm until 11.30pm tomorrow.  For tickets and information, visit the website.