Geek Girl Guide to Halloween in Ottawa

GEEK GIRL GUIDE TO HALLOWEEN IN OTTAWA

By Marie Victoria Robertson

If you’re like me, you think of Halloween as more of a lifestyle than a holiday. For one month out of the year, I subsist on candy corn, conversation about who’s dressing up as what, and feasting my eyes on amazing, geek-themed pumpkins (I once carved a Jack Skellington but it feels like I shamed my pumpkin in comparison to those. Sorry, pumpkin). If you want to party or keep it low-key with only one outing or two, here’s a list of fun Halloween things to keep you busy in Ottawa this month.

SPOOK YOUR KIDS

For those with little spawns this Halloween, you can enjoy a family-friendly scare at Saunders Farm with their pumpkin patch and wagon rides (and do check out their Fright Night selections for those minus kids), learn about the Day of Dead (and the story behind sugar skulls) with Dora and Diego at the Children’s Museum, or take them to see Pumpkinferno, the beautiful display of hand-carved pumpkins at Upper Canada Village.   

HEROES & VILLAINS: “MADNESS AT THE ASYLUM”

Halloween season for the geek community is nothing without a stop at the annual Heroes & Villains party. Don your best hero costume (or villain, they’re more fun) and head over to the Ottawa Curling Club on November 1^st at 8:30pm. Check the Facebook group to find out where you can buy you tickets. There will be prizes for most awesomest costume, so work extra hard!

EVENTS AT BILLINGS ESTATE

For those who might want a calmer spook experience, Billings Estate National Historic Site is hosting a few Halloween events such as offerings by the Ottawa StoryTellers on October 16, 17 and 18, and an Edwardian séance on October 26 and 27. Contact the Facebook group for more information and to reserve your spot. 

THE HAUNTED CARNIVAL

In the mood for a night of Halloween glitz and glamour on October 31st? To quote the Haunted Carnival’s Facebook event page: “The event blends the excitement and elegance of a Hollywood Halloween spectacle - with the mystique and decor of travelling carnivals from the 19th Century.” The admission is a bit steep at $50 for students and $70 regular, but it sounds like quite the show!

HAUNTED WALK OF OTTAWA: “INCIDENT AT THE BUNKER”

The always-reliable Haunted Walk of Ottawa has a few special Halloween-themed walks, but the icing on the cake is the “Incident at the Bunker” tour, which takes place at the Diefenbunker every weekend until November 1st. Did you know some wacky experiments took place there a couple of decades ago? Go back in time and find out what was so terrifying! (Hint—it’s zombies). I tried out the tour the first year it started and let me tell you, it’s bloody fun to run from zombies in the bunker cafeteria, or to shoot them before they can get too close to your group—yes, with Nerf guns, but does it really matter? Zombies! 

CATCH THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW AT THE MAYFAIR THEATRE

If parties and zombies aren’t your things, you can always sit back, relax, and do the Time Warp again at the Mayfair Theatre, which will be showing Rocky Horror Picture Show Fridays and Saturdays starting October 24^th. Bring your popcorn, party hats, newspapers and water guns, and enjoy a stellar shadow cast (a live cast acting out the movie all around you) that will make you shiver with antici…..pation

KEEP IT MELLOW

For those looking for a quiet night at home once the trick-or-treaters are gone, you can’t go wrong with a good scary movie. You can stick to a classic like The Exorcist (until you don’t mind the backwards crab-walk at all) or Hellraiser (if you ask me, Pinhead beats all other classic horror villains) or revisit a childhood classic like Beetlejuice or Hocus Pocus (I think Billy Butcherson the zombie was one of my first creepy childhood crushes). 

For an even mellower night, get yourself some Halloween-themed bath goodies from Lush and grab a good book. May I propose The Halloween Tree by Ray Bradbury, The Helllbound Heart and The Books of Blood by Clive Barker, an old creepy classic like The Horla by Guy de Maupassant or a modern horror like John Dies at the End by David Wong?

Just remember to sleep with the lights on. 

Marie Victoria Robertson is a published speculative fiction writer and playwright, as well as the board president of Jer’s Vision: Canada’s Youth Diversity Initiative (www.jersvision.org). When all the other girls wanted to marry Johnny Depp, she wanted to run away with Worf on the Enterprise. She enjoys giant robots, time-travel paradoxes, and forcing her son to watch Futurama.

Ottawa Geek Hangouts: The Loft Lounge Promises Big Fun

by Jordan Danger

OTTAWA GEEK HANGOUTS: THE LOFT LOUNGE

Last week I had the sincere pleasure of meeting Mike Hopkins, co-owner of the new gaming lounge, The Loft. When I walked into the Loft (nestled on the top floor of an old stone house on Waller, just behind that blue-and-white, lighthouse-looking youth centre on the corner), I was really impressed by what I saw. Growing up geek, I’m used to the usual dungeon-like game rooms provided by some comic book and geek shops, and I expected the same; but this beautiful space is nothing like the dark smelly basements I was used to.

THE LOOK AND FEEL

The space is warm and inviting, with the natural beauty of the old building shining through. Along one long wall runs a huge length of bookshelves, housing the 784+ boardgames available for you to play while you chat, drink, and eat. It’s a cozy space while still being plenty large, and it struck me that this place doesn’t feel like your typical ‘geeky’ space—I could see bringing a ‘virgin geek’ here for an evening and being confident they’d feel just as welcome as any of us hardcore people.

HOW IT WORKS

The Loft charges a flat $5.00 fee for all guests, which provides you access to the boardgames for as long as you like. Guests are dissuaded from bringing their own games; why bring in your own and risk getting ketchup on them? Their website has an extensive library of all the games, so feel free to check in advance that they have the one you’re looking for. I’ll tell you right now, it’s pretty impressive: I even found Hungry Hungry Hippos on there. Clique-y games like Magic: the Gathering aren’t found here; there are lots of places around town, says Mike, for these types of games. The Loft is meant as a more social space, with games that anyone can quickly pick up and learn.

GEEK GIRL FRIENDLY? YES.

Owner Mike Hopkins is a really interesting fellow, and a natural supporter of the geek girl movement. He began collecting boardgames about three years ago after a life-altering surgery made it painful to sit and play computer-based games, which was his original pastime. Mike decided to make his new hobby into a full-time enterprise and credits the Toronto-based Snakes & Lattes for the inspiration. Mike and his partner knew they wanted a fair representation of women on their staff team, and actually ended up with 80% of their staff being female. You can read their bios on the Loft’s blog to learn more.

I was also really impressed to hear that all staff sign off on a non-discrimination agreement: while other staffing issues may be dealt with using the typical ‘three strikes’ approach, staff agree that any act of discrimination by a staff member against someone else based on their colour, creed, or orientation will be cause for immediate dismissal. Recognizing that Mike and Alessandro are both male, they also opted to provide all staff with the phone numbers for workplace harassment support—just in case any of their staff ever felt harassed but didn’t feel comfortable approaching their male bosses.

OVERALL: FOOD, GAMES, AND VIBE

Ambiance, games, staff, and food combined, the Loft is a definite feather in Ottawa’s geek cap. With their specialty personal pizzas and bite-size grilled cheese (so you don’t have to worry about greasy fingers while you play), this promises to be a great place to relax and enjoy the evening. They even have some vegan and gluten-free offerings, for those of us with food sensitivities.

Head on down to the loft and enjoy the ambiance, the games, and the time spent with friends. And hey, if you don’t have anyone to bring, visit the Loft on a Wednesday evening for Open Gaming night. Whether you’re a novice Scrabble kid or a hardcore settler of Katan, the Loft is your new home away from home. 

The Loft Lounge

14 Waller Street, Ottawa

theloftlounge.ca

Jordan Danger is a veteran blogger, writer, and marketing consultant based in Ottawa, Ontario. She is also President and Editor in Chief of CapitalGeekGirls.com. Jordan blogs at GirlCrafted.com, a lifestyle blog about crafting life both literally and figuratively. She loves DIY projects, her dog, and Oxford commas.