MemphisFlyer 10/30/2025

Dark figures, unexplainable footprints, whispers, and giggles — this Memphis brewery has been haunted from the start.

COMES SANTA

SATURDAYS IN NOVEMBER & DECEMBER | 6PM – 10PM

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 29 | 10PM & SATURDAY, DECEMBER 27 | 10PM

SHARA CLARK

Editor-in-Chief

ABIGAIL MORICI

Managing Editor

JACKSON BAKER, BRUCE VANWYNGARDEN

Senior Editors

TOBY SELLS

Associate Editor

KAILYNN JOHNSON News Reporter

CHRIS MCCOY Film and TV Editor

ALEX GREENE Music Editor

MICHAEL DONAHUE, JON W. SPARKS Staff Writers

JESSE DAVIS, GENE GARD, WILLIAM GROSS, EMILY GUENTHER, COCO JUNE, PATRICIA LOCKHART, FRANK MURTAUGH, KATIE STEPHENSON Contributing Columnists

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THE MEMPHIS FLYER is published weekly by Contemporary Media, Inc., P.O. Box 1738, Memphis, TN 38101 Phone: (901) 521-9000 Fax: (901) 521-0129 memphisflyer.com

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From my U of M area back porch, October nights have been lled with the sounds of roaring sirens and helicopters circling overhead. Since the Memphis Safe Task Force brought “up to 1,500 federal law enforcement o cers” to our city, according to reports, it has been persistent. Last Friday night into Saturday morning, two Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopters rounded for hours, blades cutting the air and echoing for miles, overlapping the constant siren screams. If you closed your eyes and listened, you might have thought we were in a war zone. e National Guard is here. at’s what people are talking about. But it’s not the National Guard I’m seeing on the streets. I haven’t seen any camou aged troops. I suspect that many of the increasing number of blacked-out vehicles I’ve crossed are agents. And I have seen uniformed Revenue Protection o cers in unmarked vehicles approach a home on Prescott Avenue near the Lamar/I-240 exit. I’ve seen a city Construction Enforcement truck, equipped with a dash laptop, turning into a neighborhood o of Summer Avenue — that typically buzzing, immigrant-rich area now noticeably less-traveled. Browsing thri and bargain stores along that strip last week, I saw markedly fewer Hispanic shoppers than usual. When I asked if the federal presence had a ected one store, the Ross cashier told me, “Oh, yes. De nitely less people [shopping].” I hadn’t seen many feds yet, I told her. “Oh, they are here,” she said. “A lot of them. ey’re out there all day.”

Driving that stretch of Summer, various mercados looked sparsely inhabited. We stopped to eat lunch at La Guadalupana. A single diner was seated in the otherwise empty space. e parking lot of the nearby Superman Market was wide open — and no one in line at the popular taco truck there. is Monday, I saw a photo showing more than a dozen masked ICE agents in that same parking lot.

On my media feeds, I’ve seen photos and videos of dozens of o cers — FBI, state troopers, ICE, border patrol — unnecessarily gathering at single tra c stops here, pulling people over for minor infractions like missing taillights, or for no reason at all. In one instance, a 70-year-old Hispanic woman was stopped for expired tags and detained — a photo of her license plate showed it was valid until December 2025. Home security camera footage, man-on-the-street video, and live streams from scenes around the city have o ered a more realistic view of what this task force is here for — and this is not the war zone you think it is.

Please — take the murderers, rapists, sex tra ckers, drug tra ckers, as many violent o enders as you can o of our streets. Arrest every fentanyl dealer. Every pimp. Arrest every pedophile. Every crooked leader. But do not kidnap the grandmas. e construction workers. e tree trimmers. e cooks. Do not abduct the hardworking, law-abiding people who have made Memphis their home. Don’t take parents from their children or bang on doors in the night without warrants, demanding papers. is is not about crime.

NEWS & OPINION

THE FLY-BY - 4 POLITICS - 8 AT LARGE - 9 VIEWPOINT - 14

COVER STORY “THE SPIRITS OF SOUL & SPIRITS” BY TOBY SELLS - 10

ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

WE RECOMMEND - 15 MUSIC - 16 AFTER DARK - 17 CALENDAR - 18

NY TIMES CROSSWORD - 19

And while people here are being targeted for … not being white, the view beyond Memphis is just as horrid. e same disappearing of people is happening in other occupied U.S. cities. Millions could go hungry in the coming weeks. Millions could soon see annual insurance premium hikes in the thousands. Funding for education, arts, health and social services, and more has been decimated. All while President Trump happily demolishes a wing of the White House to make way for a $300 million ballroom. All while in ation seems to know no end. All while our civil — even constitutional — rights erode before our eyes.

WE SAW YOU - 20 FOOD - 22 THEATER - 24

METAPHYSICAL CONNECTION - 25 NEWS OF THE WEIRD - 26 ASTROLOGY - 27 FILM - 28 NOW PLAYING - 29 CLASSIFIEDS - 30 LAST WORD - 31

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Above all, thank you for being part of our community. We’re in this together.

For the sake of our sanity and yours, we landed on a lighter cover story this week. Toby hunts for ghosts and tells the tale. We hope it is a brief respite from the very real horror stories unfolding every day.

Shara Clark shara@memphis yer.com

THE fly-by

WEEK THAT WAS

By Flyer staff

ICE HUNTER

Hunter Demster is a leading voice on the opposition to the Memphis Safe Task Force here, especially ICE. He nds them, lms them, and debates them. Last week he added trolling them to that list. “I tried something new to get closer to the scene,” Demster said on Facebook. “Figured if I dressed like one, they may not realize I wasn’t a cop.”

EARLY EDITION

Memphis Redditors reported getting their news … from the future.

Sunday editions of e Commercial Appeal have been arriving at their homes on Saturday. ey guessed e CA’s use of USPS for delivery (and no mail on Sunday) was the culprit.

e OP remembered the TV show Early Edition, in which a man received e Chicago SunTimes one day early.

CRAIGSLIST

Somebody living close to Getwell and Raines wants to … Well, here’s what they posted in Missed Connections on the Memphis Craigslist last week: “It’s weird but I wanna do it,” they said. “No names. No talking. Come over. Walk in. Kick me in the nuts hard and leave. No names.”

H/t to Torri Havelka.

Questions, Answers + Attitude

Edited by Toby Sells

Task Force, SNAP, & a Recall

Bill

Lawsuit challenges Guard presence, food aid could stop, and a process to remove elected o cials.

GUARD CHALLENGED

e constitutionality of the National Guard’s deployment will be challenged in civil court next month.

Seven elected o cials have challenged Tennessee Governor Bill Lee’s decision to deploy troops to Memphis, Tennessee, Senate Democrats announced last week. Plainti s include Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, Memphis City Council member JB Smiley Jr., Shelby County commissioners Henri E. Brooks and Erika Sugarmon, state Representative G.A. Hardaway (D-Memphis), state Representative Gabby Salinas (D-Memphis), and state Senator Je Yarbro (D-Nashville).

ey said the Guard’s presence violates the Tennessee Constitution and state statutes. Plainti s are asking the court to block the deployment on behalf of “constitutional balance between civilian and military power.”

e state’s constitution says that the military should only be called in cases of “rebellion or invasion,” and that the General Assembly should decide if “public safety requires it.” e lawsuit claims that “no such conditions exist in Memphis today.”

SNAP COULD STOP FOR 150K HERE

Food bene ts for more than 150,000 people in Shelby County could stop next month if the shutdown of the federal government continues, according to state o cials.

e Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) said it received noti cation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that federally-funded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) bene ts for November will be unavailable if the shutdown persists.

Bene ts for October were issued as normal, TDHS said in a news alert on the state website. Tennesseans deemed eligible for SNAP bene ts in October will receive bene ts for the time period in October for which they qualify. However, if the federal government shutdown continues, bene ts for November may not be issued.

Shelby County would be hardest hit if SNAP bene ts do not arrive. In September, 152,265 people here relied on SNAP bene ts for food. ese bene ts totaled more than

$33 million each month in Shelby County. e missing funds could also mean a monthly $33 million hole in the local economy as those without food assistance might not be able to shop at area grocery stores.

REP. TORREY WANTS RECALL

Amid an argument over jettisoning Memphis school board members, state Representative Torrey Harris (D-Memphis) is sponsoring a measure that would allow voters to recall local elected leaders.

House Bill 1448, which Harris led last week, would create a process for the removal of o cials such as mayors, county commissioners, school board members, and other county o cials.

Some Tennessee local government charters already allow recall votes, or an ouster lawsuit can be led in chancery court for misconduct or neglect of duty. But Harris’ measure would be based largely on voter discontent with an o cial.

RIDERS WANT CHANGE AT MATA

As the Memphis Area Transit Authority (MATA) plans to make leadership changes, riders are still demanding “real change” from the agency.

“A change in the top leadership at MATA is one way to improve,” Sammie Hunter, co-chair of Memphis Bus Riders Union, said. “Real change comes from the top to the bottom. It is time for real change.”

Tennessee Lookout contributed to this report.

Visit the News Blog at memphis yer.com for fuller versions of these stories and more local news.

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Library Workers Union {

More than 200 library sta work without protections of other city employees.

Library workers are urging city leaders to give them civil service protections and restore their collective bargaining rights.

Memphis Public Libraries-Workers United (MPL-WU) is asking the Memphis City Council to pass an ordinance for a referendum to be placed on the 2026 ballot. Voters would be able to amend the City Charter to allow full civil service protections for library workers.

“ is change would nally recognize library workers as the essential city employees they are and allow them to advocate for themselves through a democratically chosen union, just like other municipal workers,” MPL-WU said in a statement.

Library workers are currently classied as appointed employees. According to Communications Workers of America Union (CWA), this leaves “more than 200 library sta ” without workplace protections that other city employees have.

MPL-WU called for a union election with CWA in September.

“By shi ing to civil service status,

workers would gain critical safeguards: transparency in hiring and ring, stronger grievance procedures, and the right to collectively bargain for fair wages and working conditions,” CWA said in a statement.

In order for library workers to procure collective bargaining rights, a 1984 executive order would need to be amended to include appointed employees — which they are asking Mayor Paul Young to do.

Alexandra Farmer, a member of MPL-WU, said library workers deserve the same rights as sanitation workers, re ghters, and other public servants who keep Memphis running.

Several library workers showed up to last week’s regular meeting of the Memphis City Council to ask council members to take action on the matter.

“Everybody in this room deserves a fair wage and fair compensation, but that is only a fraction of what we are asking for here today,” Emmaline Rogers, a library worker, said. “It is all well and good to say you support labor, but we are looking for action.”

Rogers asked council members to commit to placing the referendum on the ballot for next year and to put library workers on the agenda for the next council meeting.

Council member JB Smiley Jr. agreed to bring the issue to the council during its next meeting.

Citizens also took the time to speak out against anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion policies that have a ected library operations.

REPORTER

By Kailynn Johnson

“I am absolutely disheartened to learn that this city has been complying with and carrying out censorship by removing language referencing diverse groups from the library workers’ programs and book displays,” Kylie Throckmorton said. “This kind of censorship has historically been an early

step on the short path to authoritarianism.”

rockmorton voiced their support of library workers and asked the council to “oppose” the recent policies implemented.

CALENDAR

POLITICS By Jackson Baker

Trick Memory

Representative Pearson seems to have overstated his role in the Kings’ Crossing saga.

Last weekend was the occasion for an o cial celebration of the forthcoming new bridge due to span the Mississippi River as a replacement for the 75-year-old Memphis-Arkansas bridge.

e bridge will be called Kings’ Crossing in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., blues icon B.B. King, and Elvis Presley, the King of Rock-and-Roll. e ree Kings, get it? Construction on the project is slated to begin early in 2026.

O cials from both Tennessee and Arkansas were present for the ceremony, which took place at Beale Street Landing on Friday.

Among those in attendance at the a air were not kings but personages Congressman Steve Cohen and state Representative Justin J. Pearson, opponents for the 9th District congressional seat which is up again next year.

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like a handful of other Democrats who responded to a Flyer inquiry, turned o by a provision of the bill authorizing toll lanes on state thoroughfares. He could not be reached for clari cation.

But at last Friday’s TDOT ceremony, Pearson made sure he was front and center, seating himself onstage for the a air on a chair he borrowed from the audience. And he later presented as fact his having supported the measure, both in an online video and in a distributed text in which he proclaimed himself a “leading member” (as a freshman circa 2023, mind you) of the state House Transportation Committee.

And the fact of their mutual attendance may have provided fodder for campaign controversy.

As noted at the event by both Ted Townsend, president of the Greater Memphis Chamber, and Memphis Mayor Paul Young, Cohen, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, is generally credited with substantial responsibility for acquiring a federal grant of $400 million to fund the bridge-building project.

Subsequent state grants of $200 to $250 million each were voted for the project by the legislatures of Arkansas and Tennessee.

Representative Pearson may have gotten a tad ahead of his skis in his desire to associate himself with the state e ort on behalf of the new bridge — both at last Friday’s ceremony itself and in subsequent communications with his constituency.

e relevant state legislation was the Transportation Modernization Act of 2023, which passed the state House by a largely bipartisan vote of 78 ayes, 12 noes, and 3 “present and not voting.”

Pearson was one of the 12 no votes — perhaps because he may have been,

No doubt Pearson does favor the Kings’ Crossing bridge and quite sincerely at that, but there does not seem to be any extant record of his having voted for or carried state legislation authorizing it.

Of course, even the most well-meaning of candidates can sometimes overreach themselves in the heat of a campaign.

• On the spot and acknowledging it in his remarks, county commissioner and mayoral candidate Mickell Lowery, absent for the commission’s September 22nd vote calling for all school board seats to be scheduled for election next year, on Monday became the eighth and decisive vote to override Mayor Lee Harris’ veto of the measure.

A clearly nervous but resolute Lowery attributed his vote to collegial support for his fellow commissioners and said that controversy over the rescheduling matter would ensure greater public attention to school issues henceforth.

In addition to overriding the Harris veto, the commission also voted on Monday to allow a referendum amending the county charter to permit recall votes of members.

Oh, SNAP!

A scary November looms.

nless there’s a last-minute resolution to the ongoing federal government shutdown, more than 150,000 people in Shelby County will be getting a terrifying trick on the day after Halloween: Namely, the money that they use to buy groceries through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) won’t be available. That means a lot of your neighbors, including tens of thousands of children, elderly, and disabled, will literally go hungry.

In his announcement of the probable halt to SNAP funds for 700,000 Tennesseans, Governor Bill Lee predictably blamed Democrats for the federal shutdown, a claim that flies in the face of the fact that the GOP controls the House, the Senate, and the presidency, not to mention the Supreme Court. The truth is, House Speaker Mike Johnson already has the votes to restart the federal government at any time; he’s just waiting for his Orange Overlard to give the word. But yes, Governor Lee, it’s all the fault of those dang Democrats for insisting that people’s healthcare premiums shouldn’t double and that their coverage shouldn’t get cut. The heartless bastards.

Nationwide, the SNAP program, which is controlled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, provides food assistance to more than 40 million people. Eighty-six percent of SNAP benefits go to households that include a child, elderly person, or person with disabilities, and about 92 percent of SNAP benefits go to households with an income at or below the federal poverty line. The average SNAP household’s monthly gross income is $872 and it receives $258 a month in food benefits. According to a Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) analysis, SNAP benefits for most households are not enough to get them through an entire month without going hungry or sacrificing nutrition quality.

For what it’s worth, the largest demographic group receiving SNAP benefits is Caucasian, so if you think this is strictly an urban problem, you are about to learn something new. Meemaw and ’em out in the sticks are fixin’ to be just as hungry as poor city folks. And while we’re myth-busting … No, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for SNAP benefits.

But beyond this looming human tragedy lurks an equally dire economic crisis. In 2024, $99.8 billion was paid out to impoverished Americans across the country so that they could feed

themselves at a minimal level. Here’s the ironic kicker: Those poorest Americans goose the U.S. economy. Almost every cent of that roughly $100 billion dollars gets pumped back into circulation, providing jobs in agriculture, food processing, food transport, food production and packaging, and all other facets of the grocery supply chain.

SNAP benefits get spent. Period. Removing that amount of money from the U.S. economy for any sustained length of time is going to put a lot of people (and the businesses that employ them) out of work. To localize those numbers: SNAP delivers a massive $33-million bump to the Shelby County economy every month. If that money disappears, things are going to get tighter around Memphis in a hurry.

Meanwhile, (do try to keep up) because of this senseless shutdown, air traffic controllers aren’t getting paid and are calling in sick, causing flight delays all over the country. On the other hand, U.S. military jets are not being delayed from routinely bombing small boats in international waters, summarily executing alleged “drug runners” without offering any proof that the dead boaters are who the administration claims they are. And lest we forget, in several American cities, including Memphis, hundreds of masked, unidentified “agents” continue to cruise the streets looking for non-white people to pull over and toss into already critically overcrowded detention systems or to ship off to parts unknown. Oh, yeah, CIA agents were just sent into Venezuela, where we’re this close to bombing “cocaine producing” sites in a sovereign country, a true act of war. And I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that Trump — after promising not to “touch” the East Wing of the White House — casually demolished the whole thing last week, without going through any of the required review protocols or congressional approval.

I’m old enough to remember when the White House was considered federal government property that belonged to the American people instead of a grifting real estate developer. Of course, that was when we actually had a functioning federal government instead of this collection of Halloween clowns in fright masks kicking over all the furniture. Resist this shit, people. Loudly. You may not be hungry now, but if this roughshod demolition of our institutions and our democracy continues, everyone’s turn is coming.

By Toby Sells

The Spirits of Soul & Spirits

Dark figures, unexplainable footprints, whispers, and giggles — this Memphis brewery has been haunted from the start.

“Ryan.”

Ryan Allen brewed beer into the dark, small hours of the morning. But someone — or something — whispered his own name into his ear. Gooseflesh prickled his arms. His eyes widened. His head turned. No one was there.

“That’s happened twice that I can remember,” Allen said. “I think that freaks me out a little bit because it shows me … that it’s like an entity on the other side that is aware of me as well.”

A Flyer Halloween tradition?

Soul & Spirits Brewery is usually a ghost town on Tuesdays. The taproom is just not open. But a friendly crowd of around 100 sipped beers, joked with friends, petted their dogs, and wrangled their kids there last week.

The Uptown brewery landed a WREG spot, the camera guy needed some B-roll on a schedule, so Soul & Spirits launched a one-hour, $1 beer special to pack the house. And they did.

The camera guy buzzed around the happy guests. They hoisted toasts to each other with mugs of gold and amber. The din of it all echoed cheerfully from the rafters over the big, glowing hall done up for the season — equal parts Oktoberfest flags and Halloween ghouls.

I was there for the dead, though. Well, ghosts. It was a singular feeling amongst the happy-hour frivolity. My fascination with dreadful unknowns had brought me once again to scout portals to the beyond that serve Memphians in the here and now. Last year, it was Earnestine & Hazel’s. The paranormal investigation team with Historical Haunts Memphis guided me, Chris McCoy, the Flyer’s film and TV editor, and Abigail Morici, our managing editor, on a nighttime ghost hunt in one of the city’s most notoriously haunted places.

These experienced ghost hunters (or ghost fishers as we found out) have logged hours — days — in the pursuit of witnessing spirits of the Memphis dead. They

knew the right questions to ask. They had amazing gear. They had attuned spirits. They had patience. They had access.

These folks were and remain professionals. Before that night was through, we had one bit of spooky evidence that I could not explain. A motion sensor near me flashed wildly in the upstairs bar — Nate’s Bar — though I had not moved a muscle. It was, really, my first ever paranormal encounter in a lifetime of fascination with the paranormal.

I am privileged to work at the Memphis Flyer. My editors trust me. Our mission is broad. I can choose what I want to write about (within parameters, of course, and if my pitch lands just right).

So I was lucky enough to put the pen to that paranormal adventure at Earnestine & Hazel’s last year and share it with our many amazing readers. This nerdy news guy got to don the guise of a paranormal adventure-seeker, stay up late with friends at the coolest bar in town, and sit in with seasoned ghost hunters as they plied their trade in dark, hallowed corners. I wish I could’ve shown my 15-year-old self what I was doing.

The Halloween cover of the Flyer was open this year, our editor Shara Clark told us months ago. I was in. I had no plan. But I’d make one. Maybe explore The Pig Man legend close to Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park? Maybe the Orpheum Theatre would let me write about Mary? Their ghost is the most famous in Memphis.

Then I recalled the ghosts of Soul & Spirits. Once upon a long-ago beer, Ryan toured me through the brew house. Among the giant silver tanks and miles of hoses, he pointed to the floor. Tiny footprints there could have only been made by children. It was impossible, though. A dark figure was seen regularly. My Ghost-y Sense cranked to 11.

My newspaper instincts created a bright red folder for these stories on my mind’s desktop and would not allow me to move them to the trash. This was perfect for our Halloween cover, I thought this year, and I could finally tell the tales.

Before we go any further here — the name Soul & Spirits has nothing to do with ghosts. It’s from a very old brewing phrase in which “malt is the soul of the beer, hop the spice, yeast the spirit, and water the body.”

Back to the ghosts, though. I did not plan to meet them at Soul & Spirits. My time last year with Historical Haunts taught me not to expect encounters; they were rare and sacred things.

So I arrived at Soul & Spirits that random Tuesday afternoon as a scribe only, a voice recorder and curiosity my only tools. A phone call would have sufficed for COVER STORY & PHOTOGRAPHS

what I wanted to do. But I wanted to be there, to soak up the environment, wrap Ryan’s tales in the brewery’s dark spaces, its haunted, hissing sounds, the mysterious aromas of making beer. I did not know I’d leave with stories of my own.

Ryan Allen and the Haunted Brewery

e Soul & Spirits taproom seems e ortlessly cool: the gold throne, the neon, the record bins, the mammoth hall with acres of gathering spaces, the never-ending tap wall. Walk west through the doors, though, and it all changes. e so , gold-orange light yields to unforgiving white-blue of industrial uorescents. e shi from the hospitality side of the house to the production side is stark, the lights thrown on at the end of a raucous party. Play ends. Work begins.

But the massive, tidy, sanitary brewery is the haunted heart of Soul & Spirits. It is also Ryan’s domain, where he knows every tank by name (Elvis, Aretha, and Otis, among others). He knows beer by heart, too. As we talked in the brewery last Tuesday, he rattled o beer science and beer history like a TV doctor: from the endosperm in barley grain to the tenants of Reinheitsgebot, Germany’s beer purity law from 1516. Ryan’s musician ear also knows every sound of that brewery, too.

Ryan points to the remnants of a tiny footprint seemingly burned into the cement oors.

“Did you hear that?!” Ryan interrupted himself mid-sentence. His eyebrows rose, eyes cut to another brewer, Jonah Dieckhaus, standing with us. Together, they turned in the same direction, toward pallets stacked with grain bags. Something clunked and rustled there, a sound perceptible but hard to de ne. “What do you think that was? It was not … I can hear a mouse. ere’s a window in [the warehouse] that’s loose. It wasn’t that.”

ey were having me on, right? Or not? eir simultaneous body language gave me pause, though. Brewers aren’t actors in my experience. If this was acting, it was superb.

“It’s … it’s … just gonna happen, okay?” Ryan said to me, seemingly satis ed a

More footprints point to an otherworldly (and barefoot) presence, Ryan suggests.

spirit was among us. He seemed also to be reassuring me, and maybe himself. en, he addressed the room at large. “You’re cool. Hey, thank you. If you’re here, feel free to express yourself and show us that you’re here. We are talking about you, clearly. We’re standing in your spot, I guess.”

Ghost hands and feet

Turns out, those things that are “just gonna happen” at Soul & Spirits have happened to Ryan and Blair Perry, his wife, co-founder, and company CEO, since the beginning. When they got the keys to the building in 2018, they took pictures, of course. Orbs of light, believed by some in the paranormal world to be physical manifestations of spirits, appeared in shots from the boiler room. ey saged the entire building to be safe.

Right at the “your spot” Ryan mentioned above were two names etched in the oor: eodore and Willy. Close to that, the word “pussy” was etched, too. Before tanks ever moved in and as renovation work began, workers were nishing the oors near this spot on the oor. Ryan asked them to persevere “ eodore” and “Willy” but scrub out the other word. e oor spaces in between were scrubbed a pristine, clean, white concrete.

“About two days later, I was walking over here … I saw — clear as day — these footprints that looked like they’d been burned in the ground and we had just cleaned the oors,” Ryan said. “What’s particularly crazy about them is that they are — or, it is — barefoot.”

He knelt, pointing to the remnant of a tiny, black footprint, toes and all, about half the size of his own. He pointed to another. e remainder of the prints have been lost to countless forkli trips, but Ryan remembered them clear as day.

continued on page 12

concrete before? He said no. I said that it looks like it’s burned in.

“One day, the oor’s all cleaned and then one day you come in and there are these kid footprints that showed up? Right, right, le , le , right, right. And you start thinking, well, what does that … ? ey’re skipping. Right, right, le , le .

“So I can’t surmise that eodore and Willy were kids, but there’s a child here for sure. I don’t know who it is.”

Black, burned footprints are rare (if not unique) in the ghost-experience pantheon. But the phenomena would happen again at Soul & Spirits.

Working in the dish room one day, Blair saw a shadow cross along the bottom of the door that led to the brewery as if someone walked on the other side. She called out, thinking it was Ryan. It was not. It was not anyone. No one was back there.

“We immediately came back here to look and I went, ‘Oh, that’s new,’” Ryan said. “ ere were two hand prints right here [on the other side of the door] like someone was looking down underneath the door.” ose handprints had been burned into the white concrete oor, just like those tiny footprints had been.

The dark figure

About 20 yards from the footprints and eodore and Willy, Ryan routinely monitors a set of tanks, always facing the same way.

“I can see it out of the corner of my eye,” he said. “You’ll see someone move, and I look over, and I can just see the trail end of that — whatever it is — moving behind the tank down there. It’s just a big, dark gure.”

Ryan stared at the tanks to show me, motioned with a hand down roughly where “ eodore” and “Willy” were etched on the oor. He said the gure he sees is about as tall as a bracket on a far wall, about six feet tall, he said.

“And it just walks le to right behind that tank?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t say ‘walk,’” he said. “I don’t see feet.”

A similar gure, Ryan said, can be seen as a sort of mist just beyond the dark recess of an open warehouse door.

“Sometimes you have a feeling like something’s down there, something’s watching you, and that’s when you look,” he said. “I’m kind of getting that chill right now.”

“Me, too,” I said. “I think I’m freaking myself out.”

“I do feel like there’s something down there right now,” Ryan said, eyes locked on the space. “I feel like I’m being watched right now.”

Sounds, smells, and “Big Guy”

Liz Moak, a brewery employee, said she hears giggles while she’s working in the dish room and laughter in other places around Soul & Spirits. She’ll walk through air pockets that smell of cigarette smoke.

“One time I was here cleaning in the middle of the day and all the lights were o ,” she said. “Right there on that door … hand prints.”

She described them as adult-sized prints, too high for children. I asked what side of the door they were on, as if that mattered somehow.

“I was not going to nd out because it was literally just me here,” Liz said. “I was not going to nd out on my own.”

Blair said she has heard chittering conversations when she’s opened Soul & Spirits alone. She’s smelled the cigarettes and another fragrance she described as “old lady.” She’s seen the dark gures walking through the brew tanks. She’s heard whistling that sounded like an Otis Redding song.

“I know there are multiples here,” she said, meaning more than one spirit in Soul & Spirits. “ ere’s probably a lot of spirits or souls that have found a little safe haven here. I’m like, ‘Hey, I mean you no harm. If you’re here, that’s ne. Just don’t scare the crap out of me.’”

But one did. Halloween time at Soul & Spirits means it’s “Big Guy” season. He’s a nine-foot-tall, hooded-skeleton-ghost-ghoul mash-up, like what your neighbor gets for trick-or-treaters. Big Guy also shrieks when you trip a motion sensor.

Blair was, once again, opening by herself, she said, and worked nowhere near Big Guy. But he started to shriek anyway. Stunned then, she called Ryan to make sure Big Guy was not on a timer. He wasn’t. Looking back now, “ at is creepy as hell,” she said.

Suddenly, the skeleton fell to the ground … or was he pushed?

For Ryan, he said he can still hear that whisper in his ear, a man’s voice. Also, a late-night woman’s scream pushed him out the door one night. Another time, it was a late-night woman’s moan that did the trick.

One final spirit

Ryan pulled us fresh pints on my haunted tour of Soul & Spirits last week. at’s why I was in the bathroom when the night’s nal spirit arrived.

“WHOOOAAAAA! Oh my god! WHAAAT?! TOBY! Dude, get out here!” e four or ve last folks to leave raised a commotion in the taproom. When I arrived on the scene, they stood around a plastic skeleton holding a can of beer. He’d been sitting with a mate on a high ledge overlooking the entryway. “ at skeleton just got pushed o !” someone told me. “It’s been up there for weeks!”

Ryan stood over the plastic bones, looking from them to the ledge, searching for logic. None came.

“He has never fallen o before!” Ryan says. “He would have fallen o 400 times before.”

“Thin” Memphis

Ryan waved from his truck as I took some exterior nighttime shots of the brewery. As his taillights faded, I faced the building, breathed deeply, and thought about “thin places,” where our world and others may collide. Soul & Spirits must be one of these.

My head placed digital map pins on other “thin,” Memphis places: the Orpheum, Rhodes College, Earnestine & Hazel’s, e Arcade, and scores of others unknown to me.

I thought, then of the upcoming Samhain, or Halloween, when tradition tells us that the veil between the physical and spiritual worlds is at its thinnest. All of those thin places on my map would get even thinner on Halloween, the veil pulled almost all the way back.

I thought of that unexplainable sound we heard at the tanks. I thought of the skeleton falling to the oor. I thought of the scores of creepy stories Ryan told me that had not changed from the rst time he told me more than a year ago to that random Tuesday.

So I shuddered, smiled, and walked on. My fancy loosened as I approached my car and some of Jonah’s rationality took hold. It can all probably be explained, I thought. en, I walked into an air pocket that smelled of cigarette smoke. continued

Jonah, the brewer we met earlier, said he hears whistling in the building. He described the smoke smell “like an old smoker’s house.” You can walk in it, he said, walk out of it, reverse, smell it again, then it’s gone in 10 minutes. He said his practicality alarms him rst to concerns of an electrical re somewhere. He investigates, he said, but in the half-dozen times he’s experienced the smoke smell, nothing’s been wrong. When I asked him about ghosts, Jonah said he just doesn’t think about it.

Soul & Spirits was indeed a “thin” place and there it stood before me, answers to my life’s paranormal curiosities waiting within. It will be a lively place for souls and spirits this Halloween, I thought. But just then it was a real-world creepy ghost town under the street lamp glow. No one around at all.

BOOKER T. JONES

VIEWPOINT By

Brent E. Hall

No Guarantee

Mayor Young’s initiative to nullify union agreements is a mistake.

Founder of Booker T. & The M.G.’s, Memphis native Booker T. Jones is a legend! Grammy Award winner, & Rock and Roll Hall of Famer. Booker T. & the M.G. ’s were STAX Records house band. Songs like “Green Onions” brought national acclaim. This multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, & producer collaborated with — Questlove, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, & Otis Redding. For the first time in 7 years, Booker T. returns home, playing the songs — telling the stories from an incredible career. Only at BPACC !

901.385.5588 — Box O ce Hours — 10a.m. to 2p.m.

Michael Bollinger — Artistic Director

The city of Memphis has a rich history in the great struggle for working people’s rights. It started with a group of workers in 1968. ese men worked in deplorable conditions each day. rough intense heat, freezing days, and constant rain, they performed a duty that most would not do — collecting trash. When two workers attempting to get out of the rain on their route were crushed to death in the truck’s compactor, these workers said, “Enough is enough.” ese men had a motto, “I AM A MAN.”

When Mayor Henry Loeb refused to recognize their e orts to form a union, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King traveled to Memphis to show his support. Dr. King marched with these men in a peaceful protest to persuade the city of Memphis to concede to their wishes to form a union. e next day, a man gave his life for these workers.

Everyone in Memphis knows the rest of the story. Mayor Loeb reluctantly agreed to recognize the workers’ right to organize and bargain collectively a er that fatal day, April 4, 1968. is powerful action by those workers and the tragic death of Dr. King was the beginning of public employees being granted the right to form unions in Memphis.

In the following years, police, re ghters, other city workers, and employees of MLGW all formed unions. While the relationship between the city employees and their unions began because a man gave his life for workers, that sacri ce has brought tens of thousands of Memphians a middle-class life in the intervening half century.

Today, the city of Memphis and the unions have agreements that spell out the terms and working conditions for each party. ese agreements ensure the city holds up its obligations, and likewise the workers honor their commitments. Without these agreements, either side

Our mayor should honor the union supported by

can make their own rules — rules that do not guarantee a stable government or a stable workforce. In today’s environment, every employer is competing for a limited workforce. And having terms and conditions of employment that guarantee wages, bene ts, and working conditions is a competitive advantage when recruiting competent and dedicated workers.

Workers from all 13 city unions gathered last week at City Hall to press Mayor Paul Young and members of the council to drop misguided plans to nullify agreements that have been continuously protecting both sides for more than 50 years. ese workers deserve to be recognized for the work they do every day. ey deserve to be recognized by guaranteeing their rights and working conditions so they can continue to e ciently perform their jobs for the citizens of Memphis. It is past due for everyone involved to look back on history, to not ignore the pain and su ering this city went through to get here today, and to continue to work toward better labor-management relations for the future.

Let us never forget that a great man gave his life for workers in Memphis to have a voice — a voice in their futures. at legacy is at risk in today’s ght, and I encourage Mayor Young and others in city government to act to protect good jobs, honor their commitments, and embrace this city’s rich history of organized labor.

Brent E. Hall is a former MLGW lineman and the International Vice President for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Tenth District. e IBEW Tenth District represents over 25,000 workers in Tennessee, Arkansas, and the Carolinas, including IBEW members at MLGW and the City of Memphis.

steppin’ out

We Recommend: Culture, News + Reviews

Day of the Dead

By Abigail Morici

“It’s not Mexico’s Halloween,” Dorimar Ferrer, executive director of Cazateatro Bilingual eatre Group, told the Flyer in 2021. She was speaking of Día de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead.

“It’s a very di erent kind of holiday with a very di erent kind of meaning and purpose,” Kathy Dumlao, director of education at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, echoes today. “It’s about celebrating life, and it’s about remembering our loved ones and the people who have come before us.”

is Saturday, the two organizations — the Brooks and Cazateatro — will present their annual Día de los Muertos Festival and Parade. e parade, which kicks o at 11:30 a.m., will begin in Overton Square, before progressing with oats, dancers, and marchers to Overton Park and the museum’s plaza. Once there, the festival will have food trucks, face painting, art-making, performances, music, and more.

“ e mariachi is my favorite,” Dumlao says of the day’s activities. Mariachi Guadalajara will rove throughout the museum playing their music, before closing out the festival with classic mariachi songs. “I just love the music. And it’s always fun to see the Catrinas — Cazateatro always brings some of their actors and actresses dressed as the Catrinas and the Catríns.”

Also performing are DJ Moi, Danza Azteca Quetzalcoatl, University of Memphis Marimba Ensemble, and Marisol Pierre.

Plus, the festival will feature an exhibition of classic Day of the Dead altars made by students from University Middle School, Middle College High School, Kingsbury High School, She eld Elementary School, and Treadwell Elementary School. “University Middle School dedicated [its altar] to the University of Memphis tiger, who passed away, and then another one is to Tom Lee,” Dumlao says, adding that another school dedicated its altar to two sta members who passed.

Also on view will be artist-made altars from Rafael Figueroa, Carlos Valverde, and Ximena Algarin Dagradi. ese will be on display Wednesday, October 29th, through Sunday, November 2nd.

“It’s just a really important opportunity to celebrate this holiday,” Dumlao says. “ ere’s so much around this holiday that’s related to art, music, and dance, and so it feels like a perfect partnership between Cazateatro and the museum.”

Find the full schedule of events at tinyurl.com/mr2psxp8. ough the event is free to attend, registration is recommended.

DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS PARADE & FESTIVAL, MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART, 1934 POPLAR AVENUE, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 11:30 A.M.-3:30 P.M., FREE.

Broad Ave Art Walk

Broad Avenue Arts District, Saturday, November 1, 11 a.m.5 p.m.

The fun-filled and free fall festival features 80-plus local artists and makers, live music, and fun activities.

Artrageous!

Bartlett Performing Arts and Conference Center, 3663 Appling, Saturday, November 1, 2 p.m., $20/ adult, $15/youth

Combining music and dynamic choreography with painting, Artrageous creates masterpieces live on stage in this family-friendly performance with tons of audience participation. is high-energy, inspiring show will leave you on the edge of your seat as playful brush strokes turn into beautiful works of art.

Memphis Japan Festival

Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry Road, Sunday, November 2, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m., $12/adult, $10/ seniors (62+), $7/children (2-12), free/children (under 2)

e Memphis Japan Festival is a fun, family-friendly, interactive, and hands-on experience of Japanese culture. Presented by the JapanAmerica Society of Tennessee, the festival includes traditional and contemporary Japanese music and dance, martial arts demonstrations, cultural lectures, arts and cra s, merchandise, children’s activities, sumo-suit wrestling, a roving Japanese Candyman, tours of the Japanese garden, and a variety of Japanese cuisine featuring special menus from local restaurants and food trucks.

In the Dark: Ghost Stories & Haunts Live

A. Schwab, 163 Beale, Sunday, November 2, 5-7:30 p.m., $5.50-$11

Join the living and the dead to watch a live taping of the podcast You Can See Me in the Dark by Memphis’ own Nate Reisman and Melissa Sweazy.

It’s an event in two acts because guests will also hear lore and legends from local folklore artist Stacey Williams-Ng, the author and illustrator behind e Southern Gothic Oracle and e Haunts. WilliamsNg will be doing live demos of her magical cards.

Expect a full bar with Memphisthemed ghost cocktails and haunted tales of A. Schwab itself.

MUSIC By Alex Greene

Booker T. Jones: Lifelong Student

e acclaimed organist, producer, and founder of the MGs re ects on his love of learning.

“To be totally honest, I want to be the same kid that went into the studio and had an idea with ‘Green Onions,’ and recorded it. I want that to continue.” — Booker T. Jones, Billboard, 07/15/18

With that single observation, Booker T. Jones may have shared the secret behind his stellar track record as a musician, composer, and producer, still ongoing, and his perennial draw as a performer who keeps things fresh and funky even while playing music he composed over 60 years ago. Still channeling that same energy today, he’s also channeling his state of mind at the time: a seeker’s state of mind. e beauty of Jones’ art and his continued ability to perform it — as the spry 80-year-old will on Saturday, November 8th, at the Bartlett Performing Arts Center — is that every song, every note, re ects his practice as a perpetual student.

“Just get those scales done,” is how he puts it when we chat over the phone. “You know, I still do the Hanon scales that I was doing when I was 7, 8 years old.”

Playing in Bartlett, he says, will evoke memories of his college days, a time when he regularly drove north out of Memphis to the Indiana University Bloomington, pursuing a degree in composition and music theory even as he was recording at Stax Records on weekends. It was in the spirit of learning from his predecessors that he’d chosen that particular college. “I went to Indiana University because of Hoagy Carmichael, who had gone there,” Jones says. At the time, he thought, “‘If one of their students could write this beautiful song, that’s where I want to study music.’ So Hoagy was a large in uence on me. ‘Stardust,’ you know, in bands like Tu Green’s or Ben Branch’s, we played a song like that nightly, at parties and the clubs.”

Indeed, he’d approached those gigs around Memphis as a kind of schooling, and he took that attitude with him to his rst recording session at Stax. “Carla [ omas] was my rst connection to Stax Records because I had always wanted to get in to try to play at Satellite, as we called it then, but I didn’t have an opportunity until she was recording there with her dad, Rufus, and they sent David Porter over to Booker T. Washington [High School] to get me to play baritone sax for that song, ‘’Cause

I Love You.’ at was my rst entrance into Stax, actually.”

Even on his rst day there, Stax was a place for learning. “For me, coming from Booker T. Washington High School in the 10th grade, over to Satellite Records, as we called it, my main musical in uence was Carla’s brother, Marvell omas. He was the piano player, and he was the one who had played around the clubs in Memphis, and he was pretty much the standard bearer, musically. Marvell was educated at that time in musical keys. He knew musical terms, he knew structure, and he was sort of the leader. Although I was playing saxophone, he was playing keys. He was the staple of Rufus and Carla’s band, and a very intellectual, knowledgeable, likable person. We really can’t have this discussion without putting him in the correct place. People like me and Isaac Hayes had Marvell as our rst example.”

Part of what those players were learning at the time were the standards of the day, the backbone of both the pop and the jazz worlds. If Booker T. & the M.G.’s and the Stax artists they backed became known for a strippeddown, minimalist version of soul, they were nevertheless apprentices to a much older tradition of jazz standards. Sometimes those would pop up in the Stax catalog, as with Otis Redding’s reworking of the 1933 Bing Crosby hit “Try A Little Tenderness,” or album tracks by the M.G.’s, including contemporary hits in the style of standards like “Stranger on the Shore” and “More.”

“Just get those scales done. I still do the Hanon scales I was doing when I was 7, 8 years old.”

Of course, Jones’ love of standards would really shine a er he le Stax to forge his own career as a session player and producer in Los Angeles. Right out of the gate, he produced iconic hits by Bill Withers, building a reputation that eventually caught the eye of outlaw country superstar Willie Nelson. His Jonesproduced 1978 album Stardust is, of course, nothing but standards, including two by Hoagy Carmichael. at collaboration began while Jones was living in Malibu, where, as he recalls for the podcast One by Willie, “Standing on my deck one day, I saw a guy running down the beach. People always ran down the beach in Malibu, and it looked just like Willie Nelson.” When Nelson stopped to chat, “I had a little

electric piano,” Jones recalls, “right by the deck, and he brought his guitar up. And we started doing what we both did as kids, playing the songs that we loved the most. … And that’s when ‘Stardust’ came up, and we tried it. And we started trying other songs, and we went through quite a few songs, and he said, ‘Well, why are we sitting out here on the deck doing this? Why don’t we go in the studio and record these songs?’”

As Nelson told Rolling Stone at the time of the album’s release, “I had had the idea for some time to make a record like this, but until I met Booker, I wasn’t really sure how I could do these songs ’cause they’re really complicated, and they have a lot of chords in them, and I needed someone like Booker to write and arrange it ’cause I couldn’t write this stu down for my guys.”

Jones’ wide-ranging curiosity led to him being the rst Black producer of a country hit and sealed his position as one of the most learned, eclectic players

of his or any generation. And that holds true today, as he continues to compose the stripped-down soul instrumentals with which he made his name, all the while delving into other styles as he pleases. With his series of singles featuring variations on his 1962 hit “Green Onions,” he wears his eclecticism on his sleeve, with rocked-up versions (echoing his solo album Potato Hole, cut with Neil Young and the Drive-By Truckers) and even a Latin take, “Cebollas Verdes.”

As Jones says today, that eclecticism was always fundamental to his very being. “I never restricted myself, genre-wise. My grandmother was a classical piano teacher, my mother played classical, and there was classical music at Mount Olive [church]. And my training came from the streets of Memphis with Willie Mitchell and Ben Branch and band leaders like that, who were basically blues and jazz bands. So yeah,” he re ects, “I didn’t put any boundaries on myself.”

AFTER DARK: Live Music Schedule October 30 - November 5

Brandy & Monica “The Boy Is Mine Tour”

Presented by Grammy Awardwinning artists Brandy and Monica. ursday, Oct. 30, 8-11 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

First Sunday Jazz Jam

Pop-Up

e Culture House Band & Ensemble will honor W.C. Handy’s birthday. $25/advance, $30/at the door. Sunday, Nov. 2, 2-5 p.m.

CENTER FOR SOUTHERN FOLKLORE

Go-Go Dance Party with the Heartbreak Hill

Orchestra

Spotlighting the music of Link Wray. Saturday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.

WISEACRE BREWERY

Legends of Soul:

Reimagined

Channeling the heart and passion of soul, R&B, and Motown.

Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

THE HALLORAN CENTRE

Live Music on the Porch ft. Steve Lockwood & Old Dogs

Saturday, Nov. 1, noon-2 p.m.

SOUTH POINT GROCERY

Toast (Tribute to Bread)

ursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.

CANNON CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS

Elmo & the Shades

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Fall Concert: Memphis

Youth Symphony

Program

$15/adults, $5/students and seniors. Sunday, Nov. 2, 2:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 7 p.m.

SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Sax on Sunday Jazz Reunion

Sal Crocker leads a jam session featuring a mix of musicians, vocalists, and esteemed poet El Hakim. Sunday, Nov. 2, 6 p.m.

NEIL’S MUSIC ROOM

Zazerak Soul Jazz Trio

Saturday, Nov. 1, 8:30 p.m. BOG & BARLEY

Bvrnbvbybvrn / EYE / Sibyl

Sunday, Nov. 2, 8 p.m. HI TONE

Dax

All ages. Saturday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Echoes in the Room –Episode 5 – Ladies Nite

Featuring the best women performers’ live recordings and

unreleased studio tracks. Free.

ursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.

MEMPHIS LISTENING LAB

F!rst / Stay Fashionable Saturday, Nov. 1, 11 p.m.

HI TONE

He Is Legend

ursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Level Three

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 10 p.m.

LOUIS CONNELLY’S BAR

Louder Than Bombs Halloween Show

Friday, Oct. 31, 9 p.m.

B-SIDE

Lullabies for the Collection: A Walking Music Tour

Before the museum’s permanent collection goes to sleep in preparation for its return in its future home, experience it one last time — through music.

$75. Sunday, Nov. 2, 6-8 p.m.

THE MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

Mark Allen

Acoustic guitar by an accomplished amenco player.

Tuesday, Nov. 4, 4 p.m.

CROSSTOWN BREWING CO.

Memphis Local Presents With Magic Hours, FWSA, the Stupid Reasons, Pyrrhic Vic, Dinosauria, Burning Brigids. 21+.

ursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.

HI TONE

Memphis Rap OGz Gangsta Pat, La Chat, DJ Zirk,

PHOTO: MIZ STEFANI Snörkler

DJ Spanish Fly, Crunchy Black, and Tommy Wright III will be taking you back to that “Memphis Memphis Memphis” energy. Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Memphis Symphony

Chorus: 60th Anniversary Encore Concert

Memphis Symphony Chorus continues its 60th anniversary season with an encore celebration of the music that has de ned six decades of choral excellence in Memphis. $10/ general admission, $5/student. ursday, Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m.

FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH MEMPHIS

She’Chinah

An homage to She’China’s evolution. $20/advance, $25/ at the door. Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m.

THE GREEN ROOM AT CROSSTOWN ARTS

Skizzy Mars All ages. Saturday, Nov. 1, 9 p.m.

MINGLEWOOD HALL

Snörkler EP Release and Halloween Show

With Godmilk, Musclegoose. $10. Friday, Oct. 31, 9 p.m.

LAMPLIGHTER LOUNGE

The Breakfast Club

Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.

LAFAYETTE’S MUSIC ROOM

Two Piece / Chain Gang / Phony

Friday, Oct. 31, 8:30 p.m.

HI TONE

Cramps Tribute & Halloween Anniversary Party

With Victor Trevino Jr., Jimmy

Dale Richardson, Celine Lee.

Friday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Luna Nova Music: Day of the Dead Concert

Latin American music by great composers. Sunday, Nov. 2, 2-3:15 p.m.

ELMWOOD CEMETERY

Ricky Chilton With Houston Kelly. Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Concerts in The Grove: Magnolias

Marcella Simien joins forces with Chicago-based ddle player and singer-songwriter

Anne Harris. Kids under 8 are free. $9. ursday, Oct. 30, 6:30-8 p.m.

THE GROVE AT GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

Gabriel Faure’s Requiem Featuring St. George’s Coventry Choir with members of Memphis Symphony Orchestra, directed by Dr. Stephen Karr. Free. Sunday, Nov. 2, 3 p.m.

ST. GEORGE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH

Vitamin String Quartet e music of Taylor Swi , Bridgerton, and more. $21. Saturday, Nov. 1, 8-9:30 p.m.

GERMANTOWN PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

CALENDAR of EVENTS: Oct. 30 - Nov. 5

ART AND SPECIAL EXHIBITS

Brantley Ellzey:

“Reflection + Ritual + Refuge”

e spiral is Ellzey’s recurring form, turning through the exhibition like a silent logic. rough Jan. 25.

CROSSTOWN ARTS AT THE CONCOURSE

David Onri Anderson:

“Altar of Earth”

Paintings rooted in communing with angels, spirits, and the environment. rough Nov. 8.

SHEET CAKE

“DLG@30”

An exhibition marking three decades of exhibitions, artists, and community. rough November 15.

DAVID LUSK GALLERY

“Drawn of the Dead”:

A Mid-South Cartoonists Association Art Exhibition

A show complementing GCT’s performances of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein. rough Nov. 10.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY

THEATRE

“From Paris to the Prairie”: The George H. Booth II Collection

Works by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Peter Ilsted, omas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and Rockwell Kent. Free. rough Jan. 11.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Judy Nocifora and the Hue Gurus Art Exhibit e Hue Gurus are painters who work regularly with instructor Judy Nocifora. Saturday, Nov. 1-Nov. 30.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

“Last Whistle: Steamboat Stories of Memphis”

Featuring detailed model boats and original steamboat artifacts. rough June 26.

PINK PALACE MUSEUM & MANSION

“L’Estampe Originale: A Graphic Treasure”

An extremely rare portfolio of 95 works of graphic art by 74 artists. Free. rough Jan. 11.

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

“Manor in Mourning”

Over 100 artifacts relating to mourning and grieving in the 1800s. rough Oct. 31.

DAVIES MANOR HISTORIC SITE

Mary K. VanGieson:

“Chasing the Ephemeral”

VanGieson creates prints, sculptures, and installations using alternative materials such as co ee lters and foraged plants as ways to investigate themes including loss, erosion, and the transitory. rough Dec. 31

THE DIXON GALLERY & GARDENS

Master Metalsmith

James Viste: “Let Me Tell You a Story” e whimsy, humor, memories, and anecdotes found in smithing techniques of the past. rough Feb. 1.

METAL MUSEUM

“Navigating Knowledge”

Exploring vessels and navigation as metaphors for the transmission of knowledge. rough Oct. 31.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

New Works by Rebecca Chappell

New encaustic and cold wax paintings. Free. Tuesday, Nov. 4-Nov. 26.

WKNO

Send the date, time, place, cost, info, phone number, a brief description, and photos — two weeks in advance — to calendar@memphisflyer.com.

DUE TO SPACE LIMITATIONS, ONGOING WEEKLY EVENTS WILL APPEAR IN THE FLYER’S ONLINE CALENDAR ONLY. FOR COMPREHENSIVE EVENT LISTINGS, SCAN THE QR CODE OR VISIT EVENTS.MEMPHISFLYER.COM/CAL.

FOOD AND DRINK

Autumn Affair with Waymar Gin House Handcra ed Waymar Gin cocktails and delicious small plates. $80. Wednesday, Nov. 5, 6-8 p.m.

BOG & BARLEY

Downtown Beer Run at South Point Grocery

A free group run. Tuesday, Nov. 4, 6:30-8 p.m.

SOUTH POINT GROCERY

Halloween Patio Cookout

Start (or end) Halloween with barbecue and good vibes. $35. Friday, Oct. 31, 5 p.m.

JEM

“Redemption of a Delta Bluesman”: Robert Johnson Paintings reimagining the bluesman’s mythical crossroads encounter. rough June 30.

GALLERY ALBERTINE

Sarah Elizabeth Cornejo: “The Scarcity of Sand” Works contending with our own mortality. rough Nov. 1.

CLOUGH-HANSON GALLERY

ART HAPPENINGS

All Hallows Eve: A Darkwave Descent e museum becomes a moonlit sanctuary of sound and shadow. $20. ursday, Oct. 30, 6-10 p.m.

THE MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

Artist Talk: David Onri Anderson Anderson, a Tennessee-born French-Algerian Jewish artist, musician, and curator, will discuss his ongoing exhibit, “Altar of Earth.” Saturday, Nov. 1, 1-2:30 p.m.

SHEET CAKE

Broad Ave Art Walk

Shop from over 80 of the best Memphis artists. Free. Saturday, Nov. 1, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

BROAD AVENUE ARTS DISTRICT

Temple of Madness

- Free Hands-on

Community Art Project

Drop in for this free, handson, community art project and add your creative touch to a tabletop Haunted House art piece. Friday, Oct. 31, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

THE MAD GROCER

CLASS / WORKSHOP

Beginner Casting: Letter

Wax Seals

No experience needed. $240. Saturday, Nov. 1, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

METAL MUSEUM

Rhythm & Roots

A free community program o ering high-energy music and dance lessons for youth ages 6–17. Wednesday, Nov. 5, 6 p.m.

MEMPHIS YOUTH ARTS INITIATIVE CENTER

Run Women Run 2025

A nonpartisan training and networking event, encouraging women to run for political o ce. $25. Saturday, Nov. 1, 8:30 a.m.-noon.

BUCKMAN (BLOUNT AUDITORIUM)

Teen Art Lab: Foundations Painting CAM Teen Art Lab presents lessons in painting techniques. Saturday, Nov. 1, 10 a.m. CONTEMPORARY ARTS MEMPHIS

COMMUNITY

Celebrate What’s Right: Activating a Vibrant

Downtown Interviews with leaders who are shaping the cultural identity of the city. $20/individual, $160/table of eight. Wednesday, Nov. 5, noon-1:30 p.m. THE KENT

Homeschool Days Fall 2025

Step outside for an adventure. $80. Monday, Nov. 3, 10 a.m.noon.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

The Candy Extraction:

Halloween Candy BuyBack Event

Drop o extra Halloween candy at these dental o ces and receive $1 per pound (up to $5). Monday, Nov. 3-Nov. 6, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

MIDTOWN PARK FAMILY DENTISTRY

EXPO/SALES

29th Annual Quilt and Fiber Arts Show

View over 100 locally made quilts, with vendors, historic house tours, demonstrations, and more. Friday, Oct. 31, 10 a.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 10

a.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 10 a.m.

DAVIES MANOR HISTORIC SITE

Vintage Market

Featuring a variety of amazing vendors. Saturday, Nov. 1, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

BLUE SUEDE VINTAGE

Exotic Pet Expo

With parrots, tarantulas, geckos, pythons, boas, hedgehogs, and more. Saturday, Nov. 1-Nov. 2.

LANDERS CENTER

Memphis Oddity & Curiosities Market

Shop from interesting vendors, eat the nest bar food, and grab a beer. Free. Saturday, Nov. 1, 8 p.m. HI TONE

FESTIVAL

Día de Los Muertos

Parade & Festival

Honor your ancestors and celebrate the cycle of life and death. Free. Saturday, Nov. 1, 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m.

MEMPHIS BROOKS MUSEUM OF ART

India Fest 2025 e sights, sounds, and avors of India. $10. Saturday, Nov. 1, 10 a.m.-8 p.m.

AGRICENTER MEMPHIS

Memphis Japan Festival

A fun, family-friendly experience. $12/adult, $10/seniors, $7/students and children 2-12 years old. Sunday, Nov. 2, 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

FILM

Crosstown Arts Presents: Nosferatu

F.W. Murnau’s shadow-soaked masterpiece with a live score by General Labor, who will perform an immersive accompaniment blending eerie minimalism, pulsing percussion, and textural electronics. $10. ursday, Oct. 30, 7-9 p.m.

CROSSTOWN THEATER

Potlucks with Purpose with an Army of Normal Folks & Lisa Steven Dine across di erences and hear from some of our most heroic Americans. Free. Saturday, Nov. 1, 5-7 p.m.

OVERTON PARK

Sip TN Memphis Wine Fest

Sample 50-plus varieties of wine, mead, and hard cider from 10 wineries. $39.99/ general admission, $9.99/designated driver. Saturday, Nov. 1, noon-5 p.m.

RED BARN AGRICENTER

Tatomer Wine Dinner

Graham Tatomer presents an exclusive wine dinner. $115. Wednesday, Nov. 5, 6 p.m. JEM

HOLIDAY EVENTS

Cookies, Cars, & GhoulAid!

Pop into Evergreen Pres. church to decorate a cookie, have some refreshing “ghoulaid,” and grab more goodies at a trunk-or-treat. Friday, Oct. 31, 5:30-7 p.m.

EVERGREEN PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH

Emoween Memphis

With a costume contest, a haunted photo booth, Halloween makeovers, and plushies for Best Dressed. Free. Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m. HI TONE

Freaky Friday - The Halloween Rave

A booming sound system with moody lighting, lasers, and custom visuals. Costumes strongly encouraged. 21+. $10-$20. Friday, Oct. 31, 8 p.m.

FLYWAY BREWING COMPANY

Halloween at The HiTone

With a wide range of local artists, a ra e, and costume contest included with admission, prizes going to three winners for scariest, most creative, and best group costume. $10. ursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m. HI TONE

Halloween Costume Party

With art, live music, food and drinks, and a costume contest. Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.

UREVBU CONTEMPORARY

Holiday Wonders at the Garden

Step into a world of twinkling lights, cozy moments, and holiday magic. Thursday, Oct. 30, 5-8:30 p.m.

MEMPHIS BOTANIC GARDEN

Memphis Halloween Bar Crawl

Visit multiple Halloween parties on the same street with free entry and drink discounts at each stop. $15/general admission. Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m.-2 a.m.

TIN ROOF

Memphis Zombie Crawl

Join the Zombie Crawl to visit multiple Halloween parties on the same street. $15/general admission. Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m.-2 a.m.

TIN ROOF

Nightmare on Main Street

A Halloween block party. Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.

FAT TUESDAY MEMPHIS

Scared Shrekless Halloween Night

A Shrek-themed rave. Friday, Oct. 31, 9 p.m.

1884 LOUNGE AT MINGLEWOOD HALL

Sugar Ghost Halloween Birthday Glow Party

A spooky-sweet celebration packed with treats, music, and surprises. Friday, Oct. 31, noon11:30 p.m.

SUGAR GHOST ICE CREAM & BUBBLE TEA

The Official Halloween Bar Crawl

Each stop on the crawl will bring a new vibe, from bone-rattling beats to ghoulishly good drinks. Friday, Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

BEALE STREET

The Witching Hour: Halloween Costume Contest

Registration for the costume contest is $10 and includes a free pint of your favorite Crosstown brew. The winner will receive a $30 gift card, with the runner-up receiving a $20 gift card. $10. Friday, Oct. 31, 6 p.m.

CROSSTOWN BREWING CO.

Trolley Night: Spooky Edition

Trick-or-treat for kids from 5 to 7 p.m. at participating businesses, live music, food and drink specials, and street vendors at this final Trolley Night of the year. Friday, Oct. 31, 5 p.m. MAIN STREET

Vegas Playboy Party: Spooktacular

Six-year Celebration

Steaks, handcrafted martinis, and Rat Pack 1960s chic — dress to impress in your best midcentury retro glam. Thursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m.

HERNANDO’S HIDE-A-WAY

Zoo Boo

A safe and family-friendly fall festival. $15/ members, $19/nonmembers. Thursday, Oct. 30Nov. 1, 6-9:30 p.m. MEMPHIS ZOO

LECTURE

A Life of Music, Healing, and Hope Arn Chorn-Pond, founder of Cambodian Living Arts, will share his story and explain how music saved his life. Thursday, Oct. 30, 6 p.m.

MCNEILL CONCERT HALL AT RHODES COLLEGE

Facing History’s Southeast Benefit

Dr. Jelani Cobb, journalist and dean of the Columbia Journalism School, delivers the keynote. $100/young professional, $300/ticket. Thursday, Oct. 30, 6-8:30 p.m.

SCHEIDT FAMILY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

PERFORMING ARTS

Artrageous!

An unforgettable experience combining music and choreography with painting, Artrageous creates masterpieces live on stage in this familyfriendly performance. $20/adult, $15/youth. Saturday, Nov. 1, 2 p.m.

BARTLETT PERFORMING ARTS CENTER

CALENDAR: OCTOBER 30 - NOVEMBER 5

Attack of the Booty Shakers!

Halloween burlesque show. $15/general admission, $20/VIP - guaranteed seat. Saturday, Nov. 1, 7-11 p.m.

GROWLERS

In the Dark: Ghost Stories & Haunts

LIVE

Join us at the legendary A. Schwab’s to watch a live taping of the podcast You Can See Me in the Dark and hear stories from The Haunts Oracle. $11/general admission, $5.50/buy one get one 50 percent off. Sunday, Nov. 2, 5-7:30 p.m.

A. SCHWAB

SPECIAL EVENTS

’70s Themed Murder Mystery Dinner

Costumes are encouraged so don your bell bottoms and platform shoes and get down and solve this mystery. $102/all-inclusive show and dinner, $52/disco after party. Thursday, Oct. 30, 6:30 p.m.

THE KENT

SPORTS

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Detroit Pistons

Monday, Nov. 3, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Houston Rockets

Wednesday, Nov. 5, 7 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

ACROSS

1 Nutrition label unit

5 Air of confidence, in slang

9 Aftermath

13 Distinctive quality

14 Con, across the Pyrenees

15 Take a taxi, informally

16 Alternative to a taxi

17 “Etta ___” (old comic strip)

18 Pizzeria fixtures

19 One for the money 22 Casual greetings

23 Diarist Nin

24 Two for the show

Memphis Grizzlies vs. Los Angeles Lakers

An epic matchup! Friday, Oct. 31, 8:30 p.m.

FEDEXFORUM

THEATER

Classical Comedies & Cocktails: The Three Sisters

A cocktail-enhanced experience with Tennessee Shakespeare Company actors reading from three comedies by Chekhov, Moliere, and Coward. Sunday, Nov. 2, 3 p.m.

TENNESSEE SHAKESPEARE COMPANY

Crazy For You

New Day Children’s Theatre proudly presents this zany rich-boy-meets-hometown-girl romantic comedy. Thursday, Oct. 30, 7 p.m. | Friday, Oct. 31, 7 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 7 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 p.m.

HARRELL THEATRE

Hattiloo Presents: Madagascar: A

Musical Adventure Jr.

Get ready to travel from New York City to the wilds of Madagascar with Alex the lion and his friends. $20/general tickets, $18/student/senior/ military. Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30-9 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 2-3:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30-9 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2-3:30 p.m.

HATTILOO THEATRE

Crossword

31 Crew member’s item

Spots

Popular Japanese brew

Be decisive

One way to sway

Hardly welcoming

Nabokov title character 39 Religion with an apostrophe in its name 41 60 minuti

Sticky stuff

Three to get ready

___ fuzz

Rare outcome of a Scrabble game 50 Four to go 55 Island NW of Oahu

57 Redhead on kids’ TV

58 Pioneering computer operating system

59 Pakistan’s longest river

60 Reformer Jacob who wrote “How the Other Half Lives” 61 Jazz singer Simone

62 Hyatt hiree 63 Stuff 64 Part of a musical note

1 Ancient land conquered by Caesar 2 Naïve sort 3 Domain 4 First first lady 5 Launches an offensive

Completed

Passages to planes 8 One-eighth of a circle 9 Surfboard/ kayak hybrid 10 Act as a lookout for, say 11 Next of ___ 12 “The X-Files” extras,

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein Childlike in his innocence but grotesque in form, Frankenstein’s bewildered creature is cast out into a hostile universe by his horror-struck maker. Thursday, Oct. 30, 7:30 p.m. | Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2:30 p.m.

GERMANTOWN COMMUNITY THEATRE

The Drowning Girls

Three ghostly brides surface from bathtubs full of water, to gather evidence of their murders by reliving the shocking events leading up to their deaths. $25/adult tickets, $20/senior student tickets. Friday, Oct. 31, 8-10 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 8-10 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2-4 p.m.

THEATERWORKS

The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940 Poking fun at the corny thrillers of Hollywood’s heyday, the play is a nonstop barrage of laughter. Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 2 p.m.

LOHREY THEATRE

The Notebook

Allie and Noah, both from different worlds, share a lifetime of love despite the forces that threaten to pull them apart. $42.70-$163.25. Thursday, Oct. 30, 7:30-10 p.m. | Friday, Oct. 31, 7:30-10 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 2-4:30 p.m. | Saturday, Nov. 1, 7:30-10 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 1-3:30 p.m. | Sunday, Nov. 2, 6:30-9 p.m. ORPHEUM THEATRE

We Saw You.

with MICHAEL DONAHUE

Burke’s Book Store celebrated its 150th birthday with champagne, two sheet cakes, and a crowd of people that over owed outside on the sidewalk and Cooper Street.

Store owners Corey and Cheryl Mesler, who bought Burke’s in 2000, welcomed guests, which included a throng of Burke family members, including Father Bill Burke, son of third-generation owner of the book store, William “Bill” Burke.

Cheryl says about 150 people, including 46 members of the extended Burke family “from all over the country,” celebrated.

Also attending were Stephen Crump, son of one of the store’s former owners, Diana Crump, and his wife, Beth. Another guest was Meg Beeson Wallace, daughter of another former owner, Harriette Beeson, who sold the store to the Meslers.

Fans jammed into the bookstore at 936 South Cooper Street — the fourth location over the years — to listen to speeches about Burke’s and to buy books.

e next day, Corey thanked everyone for the kind words and for the photos in a Facebook post. He ended it with, “We have been reenergized for the next 150.”

above: Michael Finger and Mark Fleischer circle: Father Bill Burke

right row: (top and below) Kole Oakes, Michala Little, Chloe Mesler, and Gino Pambianchi; May Eggleston, Betsy Kelly, and Elizabeth Eggleston below: (le to right) Matt Armstrong; Meg Beeson Wallace and Mary Kenner; Pat, Oscar, Fitzpatrick, and Molly Brown; Corey and Cheryl Mesler bottom le : Marcelo Andino and Brittany Carpenter

FOOD By Michael Donahue

Fired Up

J

ohn-Paul Gagliano did what most people consider impossible. He opened a new Downtown restaurant — Tonica — in six weeks.

Gagliano, 33, heard his new restaurant at 265 South Front Street was mentioned at a recent Downtown Memphis Commission board meeting. “Apparently, it was brought up in the meeting about how the hell did I get a spot open in six weeks,” Gagliano says. at’s while another upcoming Downtown restaurant “with all the money behind it, a er six months, is still trying to get their spot open.”

Some restaurants have taken longer. “I don’t have a ton of money behind me. I have purpose behind me. I think that drives me more than having funds.”

Gagliano worked fast. “Signing was on August 21st, and opening day was October 15th.”

He did “everything except put in oors” at the 4,500-square-foot Tonica, which seats 135 people and includes dining and bar areas and lounges. He picked out and put in all the new light xtures, painted, did the dry wall and wall papering, put together the furniture, repaired the bathrooms, coordinated the artwork, and even did the owers.

“I planned it, designed it, coordinated it with city and code.”

And he came up with most of the menu items, including the popular burrito bruschetta, chicken sliders, and steak and shrimp skewers.

at six week-time limit was a goal. He wanted the restaurant to be open for the October birthdays of his family members: his mother, restaurateur Sabine Bachmann, and his brother, chef Mario Gagliano. “I’m a goal-driven person. I want to make that goal. And not only do I want to hit that goal, I want to exceed that goal. Go past it. Do more than expected.”

His mother, who, along with JohnPaul, co-owns Ecco, Libro in Novel bookstore, and the Tonicas, travels back and forth from her new home in Italy to Memphis.

Gagliano showed her the space a er he bought it. “ is was early July. We went to look at the building. My mom was in town. I just wanted her feedback, to see if she wanted to be a part of it.”

Nothing had been done to the building at that point. “She was a little indi erent about it. She didn’t want to be Downtown. She thought the space was too big. She wasn’t for any of it.”

But Gagliano was going through with his plans “regardless.”

Many people just know Gagliano as the man in front of the restaurants, greeting

people, showing them to their table. ey have no idea he can do everything from roll out pasta to make ravioli.

Gagliano knew the Downtown space was a perfect location for another Tonica, like the one at 1545 Overton Park Avenue, but larger and with more menu o erings. With its small plates and cocktails, the Downtown Tonica is “more of a social gathering and a dining experience in my eyes.”

With its dim light and large windows, the new Tonica location is a great place to relax and hang out. But it’s also an ideal spot to get a quick bite and a drink and then head to nearby Orpheum, FedExForum, and AutoZone park. ey include some of the same menu items as the Midtown Tonica, but Gagliano added more items, which are more elaborate and “more lling and hearty.”

Gagliano began working at his mother’s restaurants when he was 10 years old. “For me, working in the restaurant used to be about going there and getting the job done.”

But his focus changed last summer. “I found church July 23rd. I never was a church-goer. I always had my faith and beliefs and basic principles as far as being a good person.

“People believe what they believe. But it all goes back to one thing. Being a good person and having character and good goals.”

Now a member of Life Church, Gagliano says one of those good goals was to build the Tonica brand so he can help his employees. Leadership is “not about learn-

ing. It’s about empowering other people to lead.”

He strives to help his employees pursue their dreams and achieve “more of a stable career.” If they work 35 hours a week, they can “easily take home $80,000 a year.” He also provides health insurance for his sta . Born in Memphis, Gagliano says his mother worked to support him and his brothers as a single mom. She went into the restaurant business when Gagliano was in the fourth grade. “She opened up Fratelli’s Downtown on Front Street where Blue Monkey is now. She put an ad in the paper looking for investors.”

She found an investor and opened the restaurant, a “deli grocery store” with sandwiches and salads, in 2001.

But Gagliano says, “ e investor put in the money, but he also spent the money.” And, he says, “We ended up losing the business. We moved into our next door neighbor’s house.”

His mother was about to go to work for Johnson & Johnson when Memphis Botanic Garden o ered her a spot to reopen Fratelli’s, he says.

Gagliano ran the cash register and his brother made sandwiches. It took a while for the restaurant to take o , but it did. A er 10 years, his mom sold it. She opened Ecco in 2014, Libro in 2017, and Tonica in 2021.

Although people associated him with the front of the house, Gagliano says, “ ere have been plenty of times I’ve had to hop on the line. Go in and do salads. Plenty of time washing dishes.”

He also was a server, worked on the

cold and hot sides in the kitchen, bartended, and did the bookkeeping. “I can do it all.”

Armando and Mario ended up becoming executive chefs at the restaurants and Gagliano did the books. “I told myself, ‘I’m going to show you at the end of the day what I’m able to do.’”

He made sure his mother was at Tonica’s opening on October 15th. “To show her what I can do and what I’m capable of doing.” He adds, “To see how hard I work.”

He achieved that goal. “She was like, ‘Wow. Absolutely incredible.’”

e Downtown Tonica o ers dinner seven days a week with Saturday and Sunday brunch. And it will o er lunch. e Midtown Tonica remains open with dinner only and Sunday brunch.

Gagliano also pushes himself physically. He got into bodybuilding last January. He’s now pursuing an International Fitness and Bodybuilding Federation pro card with two shows coming up.

He does an hour of cardio every morning at the gym before taking his kids to school.

ey’ve been serving 180 covers a night since the Downtown Tonica opened, Gagliano says.

“I’m tired. I’m wearing myself down very fast. Someone called me a ‘workaholic.’ But at least it’s progress.”

And, Gagliano says, “Right now I have joy in everything I do.”

He adds, “I’m young and full of re. I’m having fun. I don’t mind pushing the limits. Now. While I can.”

THEATER By Abigail Morici

When It Rains on Stage

As e Notebook takes over the Orpheum’s stage, songwriter Ingrid Michaelson speaks on its emotionality.

ISAT NOV 8

10a-4p CROSSTOWN CONCOURSE

It’s the holiday shopping event with serious personality! Meet some of the Mid-South’s most creative makers, crafters, and artists - just in time to find the perfect, not-so-basic gifts.

While you shop, enjoy seasonal brews and good vibes in our Crafts & Drafts Beer Garden, plus all the festive fun Crosstown has to offer.

Shop local. Sip seasonal. Celebrate creativity. Crosstown has to offer.

ngrid Michaelson says she can be a cynic. She’s been hurt and disappointed. She waits for the other shoe to drop, rolls her eyes at things she nds cheesy. Yet she is the mastermind behind the music and lyrics of Broadway’s e Notebook, based on one of the most iconic romantic lms and books of this century.

“Cynicism is just a protective mechanism,” Michaelson says. And so, the singer-songwriter, known for her Billboard-charting “ e Way I Am” and “Girls Chase Boys,” turns to her music. It’s where she can be a romantic and dive into her innermost feelings.

“My songwriting is kind of like my inner cheerleader. at’s where my positivity comes from,” she says. “And thank God. … I just think love is the reason why we’re all here — romantic love and familial love and friendship love. at’s what humans are meant to do. I think that’s when we shine our brightest, when we’re emanating some form of love.

“And [ e Notebook] is just pure heart.”

When Michaelson rst heard of the project, she began writing music for it without even being asked, she was so inspired by the story.

She’d been itching to get back into musical theater somehow. at’s what she’d gone to school for, but as she thrived as a singer-songwriter, her musical theater side fell to the wayside. Yet this familiar story of Allie and Noah nding love despite their challenges sparked something in Michaelson.

is actually called ‘Sadness and Joy,’ and that really encompasses what life is. We sort of toggle back and forth between these two very deep emotions in our lives. One is sort of always jockeying for position, and I think e Notebook story does such a beautiful job of lacing through those two emotions.”

“Everybody who can see it has an in,” Michaelson adds. As in the lm, the musical sees the lead characters through three time periods: in their teens, their late 20s, and when they’re elderly. In the musical, though, three sets of actors play the characters in their respective ages. “Which is really beautiful and magical for theater,” Michaelson says, “because you get to see three di erent generations on stage at the same time. One’s watching a memory of themselves, and it lends itself to really amazing harmony options for me, but I got so excited about it because with three di erent ages represented, there is this entry point for wherever you are in your life — either you have experienced something, or you’re going through something, or there’s an expectation of love or of loss.”

“Even though these characters are going through di erent things — the speci cs are di erent — in terms of the range of human emotions, we’re all experiencing the same thing, at the end of the day,” she says. “Even though I’m writing for characters and writing for story, I’m also writing about the human condition, which is something I’ve always done, so it was a natural progression [from writing personal music to writing for a show].”

For Michaelson, that also meant channeling her own grief from losing both her parents. “You don’t feel these memories — and beautiful memories — with my family [in the show], and so it really is like a secret love letter to my mother and my father.”

Instead, Michaelson says, the emotions of those memories linger in a di erent story, a di erent set of memories. “I like to say that [the musical] has all the emotions. One song in the show

Altogether, Michaelson says, “Our show is sort of an exercise in, ‘Let’s feel some things.’ It’s really beautiful to be in a room of 2,500 people, and everyone’s just having this very visceral, similar human experience. It’s like a religious experience when you walk out and you really feel like you’ve been moved.

“And it rains on stage, which is really one of my favorite parts, when there’s rain, because how cool is that?”

Performances of e Notebook at the Orpheum eatre are ursday, October 30th, through Saturday, November 1st, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, November, 1st, 2 p.m.; Sunday, November 2nd, 1 p.m.; and Sunday, November 2nd, 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $42.70 to $163.25 and can be purchased at orpheum-memphis.com.

Autumn Stones

ese crystals can serve as gentle companions this season.

As the golden hush of October settles in, nature reminds us that transformation is not only inevitable — it is necessary and sacred. Trees release their leaves without resistance, showing us how to let go of things that no longer serve us. e air grows cooler, inviting us inward. And somewhere between the scent of woodsmoke and the early twilight, we feel the tug to slow down, re ect, and recalibrate.

Autumn is a season of transition. It carries the weight of endings and the promise of renewal. For many, this time of year stirs grief — grief for what’s been lost, for what’s changing, or for what never came to be. But it also o ers a quiet strength, a chance to root deeper and grow wiser. In this liminal space, crystals can serve as gentle companions, energetic allies that support our emotional landscape without requiring any speci c belief system.

Smoky quartz is like a weighted blanket for the soul. Its deep, earthy tones mirror the soil and fallen leaves, reminding us that grounding is not stagnation — it’s stability. is crystal is known for its ability to absorb and transmute heavy energy, making it a powerful ally for those navigating emotional overwhelm or seasonal melancholy. Place a piece of smoky quartz near your bedside or hold it during moments of re ection. Let it remind you that it’s okay to slow down. It’s okay to feel heavy. e earth itself is preparing to rest, and so can you.

world cools. Use carnelian when you feel stuck or uninspired. Wear it as jewelry or place it on your desk while working on a project. It’s especially supportive for those seeking to reawaken joy a er a period of emotional heaviness.

You don’t need to “believe in crystals” to bene t from their presence. ink of them as energetic companions — like a favorite mug, a comforting scent, or a wellworn book. eir textures, colors, and symbolic meanings can o er emotional cues that help us feel more grounded, more seen, more supported. Crystals can also be visual reminders of the work that we are supposed to do.

ere are many ways to incorporate crystals into your autumn routine. You can nd smaller gemstone pieces at most stores like e Broom Closet and carry those in your pocket or bag. is helps you keep their energy close and can also act as a tactile reminder of your intention. You can also place them on a seasonal altar or windowsill with leaves, candles, or photos. Hold a crystal during journaling or quiet time. Let its qualities guide your thoughts.

Obsidian, formed from volcanic glass, is a stone of deep introspection. It doesn’t shy away from shadow but invites it in. For those doing inner work this season, obsidian o ers clarity and protection. It helps us see what’s beneath the surface, not to judge it but to understand it. is crystal is especially helpful for grief work. Whether you’re mourning a person, a phase of life, or a version of yourself, obsidian can hold space for that process. Keep it nearby during journaling or meditation. Let it be a mirror — not to your aws but to your truth.

While autumn o en feels like a winding down, carnelian reminds us that growth is still possible — even in the quiet. With its warm, ember-like glow, carnelian stirs creativity, courage, and motivation. It’s the stone of the inner re, the one that keeps burning even as the

Autumn doesn’t ask us to be perfect. It asks us to be present. To honor the cycles of life, the beauty of decay, and the quiet courage it takes to keep growing. Crystals like smoky quartz, obsidian, and carnelian won’t x everything, but they can o er a kind of companionship that’s both grounding and gentle.

As the leaves fall and the nights lengthen, consider inviting these stones into your space. Not as magic, but as metaphor. Not as doctrine, but as dialogue. Let them remind you: You are allowed to grieve, to rest, and to rise again.

Emily Guenther is a co-owner of e Broom Closet metaphysical shop. She is a Memphis native, professional tarot reader, ordained Pagan clergy, and dog mom.

Mended Therapy

Combining mental health with a love of fashion, creativity, and sustainability, Mended Therapy was born. Ashley wants to show that although things may seem like they cannot get better, there is hope. Just like a mended piece of clothing is brought new life, the same can be said of us. She is here to walk with you through this journey with laughter, creativity, and challenging your beliefs about yourself. She is MENDED (and constantly mending). She hopes you will let her join you as you MEND.

Ashley specializes in working with LGBTQ+ populations and mood disorders.

For more information or to book an appointment, visit mendedtherapypllc.com.

She currently accepts Aetna, BCBS, Cigna, Quest Behavioral Health, All Savers (UHC), Health Plans Inc, Optum, Oscar, Oxford, Surest (Formerly Bind), UHC Student Resources, UMR, UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealthcare Shared Services (UHSS), UnitedHealthcare Global, and UnitedHealthcare Exchange Plans (ONEX) insurance plans. She does provide a superbill for out-ofnetwork clients if they want to submit to their insurance. Self-pay is $125 for individual sessions.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

By the editors at Andrews McMeel Syndication

Compelling Explanations

Around 11 a.m. on Sept. 30, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst near Trenton, New Jersey, went into lockdown, the Associated Press reported. The warning stemmed from a text about a shooter on the base sent by Malika Brittingham, a civilian who works for the Naval Air Warfare Center. She told the person she texted that she had heard five or six shots and was sheltering in a closet with co-workers. The text recipient called 911, prompting the lockdown. But as it turned out, there was no shooter. Prosecutors say Brittingham confessed to committing the hoax because she had been “ostracized by her co-workers and hoped their shared experience in response to an active shooter would allow them to ‘trauma bond.’” She faces charges of knowingly conveying false information about an active shooter who didn’t exist.

Sign of the Times

Ohio state Rep. Thaddeus Claggett, of Licking County, introduced a bill in the state house in late September that would declare AI systems “nonsentient entities” and ban them from gaining legal personhood. WCMHTV reported that the bill seeks to prohibit people (or other AI systems) from marrying AI. Claggett said the legislation would prevent AI from holding power of attorney or making decisions on another’s behalf. He said Ohio is “attempting to put some guardrails in place so that we always have a human in charge of the technology, not the other way around.”

Least Competent Criminal Dude, don’t confess your crimes to ChatGPT. In Springfield, Missouri, 19-year-old Ryan Schaefer went on a crime spree on Sept. 28 in a Missouri State University parking lot, The Smoking Gun reported. The college sophomore allegedly shattered car windows, ripped off side mirrors, dented hoods, and broke windshield wipers. When Springfield police officers visited him at his apartment the next day, Schaefer admitted that the person on surveillance video did bear a “resemblance” to him and turned his phone over as evidence. Investigators found a conversation between Schaefer and ChatGPT, which included

questions such as “what if I smashed the … outta multiple cars” and “is there any way they could know it was me.” Schaefer went on to make vague threatening statements to the AI tool; he was charged with felony property damage.

Hair Today, Gone

If you haven’t made it to Leila’s Hair Museum in Independence, Missouri, time is running out. Huff Post reported on Oct. 9 that the 30-year-old museum is rehoming its displays after the death of founder Leila Cohoon last December at 92. Museums including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the National Museum of Funeral History are collecting items from Ozzy Osbourne, Marilyn Monroe, and, reportedly, Jesus. Cohoon’s granddaughter, Lindsay Evans, said the process of finding new homes for the collection is helping her grieve: “Every time I come here, I feel her here.” Cohoon concentrated on finding items from the 19th and 20th centuries, when people kept hair of the dead in jewelry or coiled it into wreaths. She worked with antique dealers all across the country to locate the pieces. “If it had hair, she got it,” said Evans. “When this is empty, it’ll break my heart a little bit.”

News You Can Use

The El Cortez Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas has a sure bet for you: Casino.org is offering $5,000 to one person to spend a full weekend in the hotel, trying to scare up ghosts. The New York Post reported that the 84-yearold hotel, located on the “old strip,” reportedly has in the basement the cremated remains of former employees who died without family, among other creepy features. The lucky winner will be furnished with “ghost-hunting gear” including EMF meters, EVP recorders, and thermal sensors, and the ghost hunter will be expected to take photos and videos for evidence.

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

NEWS OF THE WEIRD

© 2025 Andrews McMeel Syndication. Reprinted with permission. All rights reserved.

WILL ASTROLOGY By

ARIES (March 21-April 19): On the outskirts of a village in Ghana, a healer gathers plants only when the moon says yes. She speaks the names of each leaf aloud, as if to ask permission, and never picks more than needed. She trusts that each herb has its own wisdom that she can learn from. I invite you to emulate her approach, Aries. Now is a good time to search for resources you need to heal and thrive. The best approach is to be receptive to what life brings you, and approach with reverence and gratitude. Halloween costume suggestion: herbalist, traditional healer, sacred botanist.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): A well-cut ship’s sail is not a flat sheet. It has a gentle curve that the sailmaker crafts stitch by stitch so the wind will catch and convert invisible pressure into forward motion. Too taut, and the cloth flaps, wasting energy; too loose, and power dissipates. The miracle lies in geometry tuned to an unseen current. I invite you to be inspired by this approach, Taurus. Build curvature into your plans so that optimism isn’t an afterthought but a structural feature. Calibrate your approaches to natural processes so movement arises from alignment rather than brute effort. Make sure your progress is fueled by what you love and trust. Halloween costume suggestion: Wear a sail.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): All of us can benefit from regular phases of purification: periods when we dedicate ourselves to cleansing, shedding, and simplifying. During these intense times of self-healing, we might check our integrity levels to see if they remain high. We can atone for mistakes, scrub away messy karma, and dismantle wasteful habits. Here’s another essential practice: disconnecting ourselves from influences that lower our energy and demean our soul. The coming weeks will be a perfect time to engage in these therapeutic pleasures, Gemini. Halloween costume suggestion: purifier, rejuvenator, cleanser, refiner.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Deep in the Pacific Ocean, male humpback whales sing the longest, slowest, most intricate love songs ever. Their bass tones are loud and strong, sometimes traveling for miles before reaching their intended recipients. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to compose and unleash your own ultimate love songs, Cancerian. Your emotional intelligence is peaking, and your passionate intensity is extra refined and attractive. Meditate on the specific nature of the gifts you want to offer and receive in return. Halloween costume suggestion: singer of love songs.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Between 1680 and 1725, Italy’s Antonio Stradivari and his family made legendary violins that are

Rob Brezsny

highly valued today. They selected alpine spruce trees and Balkan maple, seasoned the wood for years, and laid varnish in painstaking layers that produced sublime resonance. Their genius craftsmanship can be summed up as the cumulative magic of meticulousness over time. I recommend their approach to you, Leo. Be in service to the long game. Commune with people, tools, and commitments that age well. Act on the theory that beautiful tone is perfected in layers. Halloween costume suggestion: a fine craftsperson.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Trained women dancers in Rajasthan, India, perform the ancient art of bhavai. As folk music plays, they balance on the dull edge of a sword and hold up to 20 clay pots on their head. They sway with elegance and artistry, demonstrating an ultimate embodiment of “grace under pressure.” I don’t foresee challenges as demanding as that for you, Virgo. But I suspect you will have the poise and focus to accomplish the metaphorical equivalents of such a feat. Halloween costume suggestion: regal acrobat or nimble dancer.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): In 1968, researchers at Stanford conducted the “marshmallow test.” Children were offered a single sweet treat immediately. But if they didn’t quickly gobble down the marshmallow, thus postponing their gratification, they were awarded with two candies later. The kids who held out for the double reward didn’t do so by sheer willpower alone. Rather, they found clever ways to distract themselves to make the wait more bearable: making up games, focusing their attention elsewhere, and adjusting their surroundings. I advise you to learn from their approach, Libra. Cultivate forbearance and poise without dimming your passion. Harness small triumphs of willpower into generating big, long-term gains. Diligent, focused effort invested now will almost certainly lead to satisfying outcomes. So please prioritize incremental, systematic grunt work over stunts and adrenaline. Halloween costume trick: carry two marshmallows.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Don’t be too shocked by my unusual list of raw materials that might soon turn out to be valuable: grime, muck, scuzz, scum, slop, bilge, slime, and glop. Amazingly, this stuff may conceal treasures or could be converted into unexpected building materials. So I dare you to dive in and explore the disguised bounty. Proceed on the assumption that you will find things you can use when you distrust first impressions and probe beneath surfaces. Halloween costume suggestions: sacred janitor, recycling wizard, garbage genius.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): In the late 18th century, Balloonomania came to Paris. Large crowds gathered to watch inventors and impresarios send hot air balloons into the sky. Spectators were astonished, fearful, and filled with wonder. Some wept, and some fainted. I suspect you’re due for your own exhilarating lift-off, Scorpio — a surge of inspiration that may bewilder a few witnesses but will delight those with open minds. Halloween costume prop: wings.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In the tide pools of America’s Pacific Northwest lives the ochre starfish, a keystone species that keeps mussel populations in check. Remove the starfish, and the ecosystem collapses into imbalance. Let’s make this creature your power symbol, Capricorn. The visible effect of your presence may not be flashy or vivid, but you will hold a stabilizing role in a group, project, or relationship. Your quiet influence can keep things harmonious. Your gift is not to dominate the scene, but to keep the whole system alive and diverse. Halloween costume suggestion: ochre starfish (More info: tinyurl.com/OchreStarfish).

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): For hundreds of years, the Blackfoot people of North America built buffalo jumps. These were steep cliffs where herds of bison could be guided and driven over the edge during a hunt. It required elaborate cooperation. Scouts tracked the herd, decoys lured them toward the drop, and prep teams waited below to process the meat, hides, and bones for the whole community’s sustenance. I hope you will engage in smaller versions of this project. Now is an excellent time to initiate, inspire, and foster shared efforts. Make it a high priority to work with allies you trust. Halloween costume suggestions: shepherd, sheep dog, cowboy, vaquero.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the ancient Greek world, oracles spoke in riddles. This was not because they were coy, but because they understood that truth must often arrive obliquely. Directness is overrated when the soul is in motion. Mythic modes of perception don’t obey the laws of logic. In this spirit, Pisces, I invite you to make riddles and ambiguities be your allies. A dream, an overheard conversation, or a misheard lyric may contain an enigmatic but pithy code. You should be alert for messages that arrive sideways and upside down. Tilt your head. Read between the flames. You will understand when your heart recognizes what your mind can’t name. Halloween costume suggestion: oracle or fortune-teller.

FILM By Chris McCoy

Hot for Creature

A

s the rst work of what we now call sciencection, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein has never stopped being relevant since it was rst published anonymously in 1818. e last two centuries have seen the fastest technological advancement in human history, and nothing captures the unease brought about by the constant state of change like the story of the mad doctor who let his experiment get away from him. As Je Goldblum said in one of Frankenstein’s many spiritual successors, Jurassic Park, “Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could, they didn’t stop to think if they should.”

Lately, feminist readings of Frankenstein have emphasized the writer’s biography. Shelley was 18 years old when she wrote Frankenstein, and by that time, she had already given premature birth to a child who only lived two weeks. e wrenching emotional core of the story — the tormented monster who never asked to be created — is an expression of misplaced paternal guilt. e story has long been irresistible to lmmakers, but no one has done it better than James Whale, whose Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein form twin pillars of modern horror. We’re currently in a boom time for Shelleyinspired media, with the animated Stitch Head currently in theaters and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s punk-rock take e Bride! coming up next year. But the one I’ve been most excited for is Guillermo del Toro’s version.

It’s hard to conceive of a better combination of director and subject than del Toro and Shelley. He’s a bold yet meticulous lmmaker devoted to the dark and fantastical. She is the mother of all goths, who lost her virginity on her mother’s grave and kept her dead lover’s heart on her desk. e director has been trying to make this lm for at least 20 years until he nally got Net ix to back him to the tune of $120 million. More about that later, but for now, I’ll simply say the streamer should consider it money well spent.

Del Toro’s take is closer to Shelley’s novel than Whale’s honed-down version, which most people are familiar with. Yet it also has some additions, some of which reference Frankenstein’s long cinematic history, and some of which are just kind of ba ing. It begins, as the novel does, with an Arctic expedition. Captain Anderson (Lars Mikkelsen) is stuck in the ice with his crew, but he’s determined to make it to

the North Pole. Unexpectedly, in the distance, they see an explosion. When they investigate, they nd Victor Frankenstein (Oscar Isaac), gravely wounded and nearly frozen to death. No sooner do they get him onboard their ship when they are boarded by a giant spectre in a dark, blasted cloak. e Creature (Jacob Elordi) kills six men before being driven away by blunderbuss. e captain, having watched the Creature sink into the ice, is con dent they are safe. But Frankenstein assures them they are not. e Creature will return because the Creature cannot die.

He then tells his tale. He was the son of a baron from Naples (Charles Dance) who was among the greatest physicians of his time. e young Victor (Christian Convery) is very close to his mother, but his distant father is very stern with them both. When she dies a er the birth of Victor’s younger brother William (Felix Kammerer), he is le with only his father’s burning ambition to make his son a great doctor. e grief-stricken Victor vows to conquer death itself.

Years later, we see the consequences of that vow when Victor, now a young physician, is called in front of an inquest board for his allegedly unethical experiments. Rather than downplay or put a friendly face on his experiments, Victor leans into the horror. Before an enraptured audience, he reanimates a torso with a head and arm, and has it do some parlor tricks. Isaac conveys Victor’s unquestioned brilliance and

explosive hubris in one of the best scenes of his career.

e normie physicians who can’t get past their hang-ups about “creating abominations” and “playing God” kick Victor out of the medical profession, but one person who was at the demonstration gets it. Henrich Harlander (Christoph Waltz) is an arms merchant fat with cash from the ongoing Crimean War. He o ers to bankroll Victor’s research for reasons he will not reveal. Harlander also happens to be the uncle of Lady Elizabeth Harlander (Mia Goth) who is the ancee of William Frankenstein. From the rst moment he sees her, Victor is smitten, and there are some early signs she might feel the same. Del Toro’s 2015 Gothic romance Crimson Peak now feels like a proof of concept for the Frankenstein family soap opera.

Fortunately, Victor’s busy schedule of building a laboratory to mock God himself leaves little time for love. When the Creature is nally born from lightning and steampunk gadgetry, he’s in the 6’7” body of Jacob Elordi. Shelley described the Creature as a wretched amalgamation of hideously reanimated dead bodies, but del Toro dares to ask, “What if he was kind of hot, too?”

Elordi’s performance stands out in a lm lled with good turns. He is in tune with Boris Karlo ’s timeless wounded innocent who lashes out at the world, but where Karlo ’s Creature never progresses mentally, Elordi’s Creature reads “Ozymandias” and

Paradise Lost. While Lady Elizabeth never returns Victor’s a ections and is indi erent at best towards William, her heart melts for the tortured Creature. Frankenstein is del Toro at the height of his lmmaking powers. e artistic direction, which is done almost exclusively with real sets and practical e ects, is exquisite. He brings out genuine emotion from a story that has been told many times. e only problem with this Frankenstein is that there’s slightly too much of it. I could have used a little less of Victor’s cold but lavish childhood, so we could get to the creation of the Creature faster. But the images on the screen are so beautiful, I was never bored.

Frankenstein is a stunning big screen experience, and Net ix has done a real disservice to audiences by limiting the theatrical release so tightly — it is playing on only two screens in Memphis, before it debuts on the streamer in early November. I know Net ix has its own economic calculations, but I can’t help but wonder if the decision to forego a wide release during October horror movie season means the streamer is leaving a cool $300 million on the table. Perhaps those executives were so obsessed with what they could do, they never stopped to ask what they should do.

Frankenstein Now playing

Malco Ridgeway and Collierville Cinemas

Our critic picks the best films in theaters.

Bugonia

Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone repeat their Academy Award-winning Poor Things pairing for this remake of the Korean comedy Save the Green Planet! Stone plays Michelle Fuller, a no-nonsense, pharmaceutical CEO who is kidnapped by Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons), a beekeeper who has become convinced she is an alien trying to conquer Earth. Hilarity ensues.

Stitch Head

The other Frankenstein-inspired movie in theaters is this animated feature from director Steve Hudson. It follows a friendly monster (voiced by Asa Butterfield) created by a mad scientist to defend his other creations from suspicious townspeople.

Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere

The creation of his seminal folk album Nebraska forms the backbone of this musical biopic. Jeremy Allen White portrays The Boss at the cusp of the 1980s, when his growing fame created the pressure for a new hit album while also exacerbating the singer’s depression. Marc Maron, Gaby Hoffmann, and Odessa Young co-star.

Sinners

The horror hit of the summer returns for a Halloween IMAX engagement. Ryan Coogler directs Michael B. Jordan as twins who steal from Al Capone’s mob to open a juke joint in Greenwood, Mississippi. But opening night goes sour when their star bluesman (Miles Caton) attracts a coven of vampires with his supernatural singing.

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Robert C. Koehler

First They Came for the Immigrants

ICE activity in Chicago mirrors that in Memphis.

“ en they came for me …”

I can only begin here, at the emotional knifepoint of the ongoing ICE news. ICE in Chicago!

“More than 1,000 immigrants have been arrested since an immigration crackdown started last month in the Chicago area. e Trump administration has also vowed to deploy National Guard troops in its agenda to boost deportations. … But U.S. citizens, immigrants with legal status, and children have been among the detained in increasingly brazen and aggressive encounters which pop up daily across neighborhoods in the city of 2.7 million and its many suburbs.”

I read this AP news fragment with particular shock and outrage because I lived in Chicago for 50 years. Today I live 200 miles to the north, in Appleton, Wisconsin, but the city is still me, in a psychological and no doubt spiritual sense. So when I read, for instance:

Abductions by ICE degrade our common humanity.

“Agents used unmarked trucks and a helicopter to surround the ve-story apartment building, according to bystander videos and NewsNation, which was invited to observe the operation. e outlet reported agents ‘rappelled from Black Hawk helicopters.’ Agents then went door to door, woke up residents, and used zip ties to restrain them, including parents and children. …”

ere’s no way I can pull myself back from these words and turn what they’re saying into an abstraction. As Illinois Governor JB Pritzker put it, this is an invasion, not by some foreign enemy but by the U.S. government and Donald Trump himself. And while, yes, there’s far worse hell happening right now across the planet, my personal connection to Chicago brings the “invasion” to life. And it brings Martin Niemöller in as well.

“First they came for the socialists and I did not speak out — because I am not a socialist. … en they came for the Jews and I did not speak out — because I am not a Jew. en they came for me — and there was no one le to speak for me.” is is another way of saying: We are all one. is should be humanity’s moral starting point. It should be our political starting point. e need to speak out for this is never-ending. Why — why? — are we so obsessed with borders? And by “obsessed,” I mean spiritually brain-dead about them.

Yes, life is full of “borders,” beginning with me. I’m not you and you are not me. We need a sense of self. We need de nition and clarity in our lives. “ is” is not “that.” English is not Spanish. e United States is not Mexico, and on and on and on. But that’s not the entirety of the matter. Division and separation are only part of what and who we are.

Dig into the soil. Our roots are connected. ey are one. We are all Planet Earth — a living and evolving entity. We need each other, which is simply another way of saying, “We need to understand and learn from each other.” at should be our collective e ort, rather than fortifying and violently defending our ignorance of one another.

I say this knowing that this can be a deeply complex and di cult process but, oh God, what if this rather than militarism were our political focal point? Indeed, it is the focal point of many institutions and millions, maybe billions, of people. But power — can you believe it? — corrupts, and those in power far too o en focus primarily on keeping what they have, which includes their uninterrupted ignorance of everything beyond themselves.

All of which leads me back to one ickering moment from ICE’s ongoing invasion of Chicago. Jessie Fuentes, an alderperson representing the city’s 26th Ward, confronted ICE at a local hospital. Someone, presumably a constituent, had broken his leg while being chased by ICE agents. He was taken to the emergency room but remained under ICE arrest. Fuentes demanded to see a warrant for his arrest. ey ignored her. But she persisted.

And then, suddenly, one of the ICE guys had enough of her questioning and grabbed her, pulling her around and slapping handcu s on her. As if to say, “Take that, bitch!” e moment was caught on video.

Fuentes was arrested for “impeding” ICE — that is, demanding an answer to a legitimate, constitutionally crucial question. She was released a short while later, but nonetheless, that video remains stuck in my head. e look on the agent’s face showed total irritation and loss of patience. He thought he had the authority — the power — to do what he was doing and nothing else mattered. Any questions?

Robert Koehler (koehlercw@gmail.com), syndicated by PeaceVoice, is a Chicago award-winning journalist and editor. He is the author of Courage Grows Strong at the Wound, and his album of recorded poetry and artwork, Soul Fragments THE LAST WORD By

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