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Barnaby Castle Hosts a Halloween Party Though everyone may flock to visit Lovecraft’s grave or the ghosts of the East Side this Halloween season, there’s a hidden gem on Broadway with its own scary stories to tell. Barnaby Castle has graced the West Side since its construction in 1875. It was built in a Victorian style that was eccentric even for its time, with a tower, wondrous stained glass windows and a carriage house in the rear. It was commissioned by Jerthomul Barnaby, the proprietor of a very successful department store in downtown Providence. A Democratic party bigwig, he died in 1889. His wife, however, lived for another two years before being murdered by poisoned whiskey sent via US Mail. Since the late 1800s, this gem of Broadway has become rundown. But there’s been movement toward renovating it back to its former glory. On October 28, the Castle will host Halloween at the Castle, its first such party in more than a century. “This isn’t your standard fundraiser,” says organizer Kaitlyn Frolich. “We want people to get their tickets, have a good time and enjoy the castle.” She’s hoping to raise enough money to replace and repair the 118 windows on the property. Many of them were custom-made for the building in the 19th century and aren’t the kind you can pick up at your local hardware store. The plan is to engage local artisans for the job. The basic ticket for this one-of-a-kind party gets you in on the ground floor. It includes an open bar and local food from Julians and Laughing Gorilla Catering. Music will be provided by local singer Miss Wensday with a DJ following. A VIP ticket gets you into all three floors, plus the turret, and even more food from Xo Cafe, Nami Sushi and a lot more. Cocktail attire is expected, but costumes are strongly encouraged, as the night will have a costume contest. “We don’t want to see it knocked down and replaced with condos,” says Kaitlyn. “The money is going to a local landmark, and will funnel money into local jobs and give the community something it can use and enjoy.” She has a background in interior design, and more than seven years in event planning. The renovation for the castle is expected to take some time. Restoring the windows, for example, is estimated to cost more than $100,000, and the Halloween party should go a long way toward reaching that goal. Once the renovations are complete, the castle is intended to be used as an event space, providing Providence with an elegant reminder of the past. While Kaitlyn typically schedules private tours for the castle, on rare occasions it does open to the public. This past September during the Doors Open RI Festival, the castle saw more than 1550 members of the public visit. With some luck and some work, the Castle can continue to be an historical treasure for decades to come. If you’re interested in buying tickets for Halloween at the Castle, follow the link: artful.ly/store/events/13537. Follow them on Facebook for information about future events or tours. Top 5 Fun Things To Do: October 25 – October 31 FRI 27 – SUN 29 3rd Annual RI Cannabis Convention: I was gonna go to this last year, but then I got high. Filled with vendors of grow supplies, glass and professional services. 11am. RI Convention Center, 1 Sabin St, PVD. riconventioncenter.com SAT 28 Tight Crew’s Annual Halloween Massive: Over 20 DJs and producers, including DJ Venom, Kutski, J Paul Getto, Slow, How Hard, Soappy, Glowworm and more, get together for this Goosebumps-themed event. Three stages on three floors with multiple full bars, complete with costume contest, confetti cannons, laser lights, epic Halloween décor by Tight Crew and thousands of smiling faces! Other highlights include a “vendor village” area for party guests to peruse and purchase cool locally made clothing, art and accessories. Expect awesome sounds, lighting and decorations at this banger. It’s gonna be lit. Costumes not mandatory, but highly encouraged! All ages can enter, 21+ to drink. 6pm – 1am. The Met, 1005 Main St, Pawtucket. tightcrew.net or themetri.com The Grateful Undead – 10th Anniversary Screening: This low-budget local indi film about hippie zombies just beat the Walking Dead-enhanced, everybody-make-a-zombie-movie craze. Relive that trip, or see how it’s held up. Columbus Theatre, 270 Broadway, PVD columbustheatre.com Chifferobe’s Rhode Island of Misfit Toys: Performances by The TropiGals Ameena, Jessie Jewels, Dave Alves, Lulu Locks, Kat De Lac (Pittsburgh), Apathy Angel (NYC), Ekat (NYC) and bubbly, all inspired by the likes of Annabelle, Return to OZ, and Pewee’s Playhouse. Fete Music Hall, 103 Dike St, PVD. fetemusic.com TUE 31 Rocky Horror Picture Show: Do we seriously have to describe the original cult classic? 8pm. Zeiterion Theatre, 684 Purchase St, New Bedford. zeiterion.org Curtis Armstrong, King of the Nerds, Comes to Comic Con Friday, November 10 marks the start of the “Biggest show in the smallest state!” as fans gather at the Rhode Island Convention Center & Dunkin Donuts Center for a weekend of indulgence. In plain language, a bunch of NERDS are taking over Providence. This year, it’s more true than ever because Rhode Island Comic Con will host the largest reunion for the cast of the 1984 American film Revenge of the Nerds. I was granted the opportunity to speak to Revenge of the Nerds‘ Curtis Armstrong, the actor and self- proclaimed “Nerd Founding Father,” about his book Revenge of the Nerd, Rhode Island Comic Con and Providence. Jax Adele: How did this book came about? Curtis Armstrong: The book came about just because for years I’ve been thinking about the different things I have done in my professional career, which goes back 40 years now or more. When actors get together just as a group, we’re always telling stories. And everyone’s got good stories about various points in their career. I had memories that were still pretty fresh, and in addition to that, I just don’t throw away things. So I had journals, diaries, letters and documents, and all sorts of things in a big trunk that got carried around with me for decades. And I was just going through the trunk and I just thought, “Gosh, there’s so much stuff here and it’s so specific.” I figured as a nerd, which I always consider myself to be, even before that word was actually used to define us, the idea of writing the nerd narrative, the nerd’s progress, born a nerd, raised a nerd, that has always been a part of who I am … I just thought it would be handy. Then there’s that connection with Rhode Island Comic Con … In 1984 with Revenge of the Nerds, it was really when nerd culture as a thing was coming into full bloom. It had existed before that, but for various reasons it was really becoming a force to be reckoned with in the mid-80s, and that was where all the parts fit into place. I just started writing and it seemed like it was something that people liked. I handed it around to a few people and then an agent read it and liked it and from that time on, it just ran its course. JA: So you have this book. And it’s taking parts of your life, and you’ve stated you have journals and diaries and just entries of stuff you’ve been amassing you whole life. So it’s like you’re your own Metatron or scribe. [Curtis laughed. Metatron is his character from the “Supernatural” TV series.] You’re like a scribe of a nerd, but it’s a specific nerd because it’s Curtis Armstrong the nerd. CA: It was a funny coincidence, actually, because I was working on the book at the same time I got the role of Metatron on “Supernatural.” So I would be up there in Vancouver playing the scribe of god, then going home at night and working on the book. The penultimate episode of Metatron’s was called “Don’t Call Me Shurley” (S11E20). Metatron faces off against god and winds up pleading with god to not destroy his creations and god is writing his autobiography and wanting Metatron to punch it up. It was bizarre because at that very time I had gone into the editing process and so I would go to work during the day, playing Metatron editing god’s book and then at the end of the night I would go home and still be in the process of editing my book. JA: You’re a lover of books, you’ve been reading books your whole life, you’ve been writing stuff down and now you have this book. And in this book you tell stories in a way, which I hear isn’t gossipy, and I applaud you for that. It’s just telling it because what if the people who experience these stories don’t tell them? How will we find them? CA: Well it’s true. When I was first in the process of developing what the book was going to be, I had interest from a number of different publishing houses. And I had a meeting with one of them. The publisher or the editor that I was talking to said, “I think it would be better if you just made this a time frame tell-all.

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