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NORTHERN MICHIGAN’S WEEKLY • october 26 - november 01, 2026 • Vol. 36 No.43 Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 1

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2 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

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letters CONTENTS

My Traverse City Cheery banners can’t gloss over the losses from the affront on West Front Street in Traverse City. To paraphrase singer Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders: “I went back to Ohio, but my city was gone.” On my last visit to my bank, which is closing their downtown location even if the clocktower above has its American flag waving, bank employees are wheeling their desktop remnants out the door, and I ask my favorite teller Lauren if her white board featuring a daily trivia question will also go to the consolidated suburban location. Nope, some memories are just that: realtime trivia. Walking afterwards past the closed Record-Eagle building where I used stuff their outdoor slot with letter submissions and then where my favorite diner has been torn down, I realize things change, but my Traverse City is gone. George Golubovskis | Traverse City

features

Halloween Events For All Ages..........................9 Finding The Beauty In Horror Novels................10 A Twilight Tour Of Grand Traverse Commons....12 Haunted Leelanau............................................16 Inside Manistee’s Ghost Ship...........................19 Letting the Cat Out of the Bag.........................20

TOY HARBOR CREATIVE & QUALITY TOYS IN DOWNTOWN TRAVERSE CITY

SINCE 1984 • 231-946-1131 •

columns & stuff Top Ten.........................................................4 Spectator/Stephen Tuttle..................................6 Guest Opinion/Smith........................................7 Weird..............................................................8 Guest Opinion/Fidler.......................................11 Film..............................................................18 Dates..........................................................20 Astrology.......................................................26 Crossword.....................................................27 Nitelife...........................................................28 Classifieds....................................................29

Northern Express Weekly is published by Eyes Only Media, LLC. Publisher: Luke Haase PO Box 4020 Traverse City, Michigan 49685 Phone: (231) 947-8787 Fax: 947-2425 email: info@northernexpress.com www.northernexpress.com

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

Editor: Jillian Manning Creative Director: Kyra Cross Poehlman Finance Manager: Libby Shutler Sales: Lisa Gillespie, Kim Murray, Kaitlyn Nance, Abby Walton Porter, Michele Young For ad sales in Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Boyne & Charlevoix, call (231) 838-6948 Contributors: Joseph Beyer, Ross Boissoneau, Matt Dursum, Anna Faller, Ellen Miller, Beth Milligan, Stephen Tuttle, Todd VanSickle Distribution: Marc Morris, Gerald Morris, Dave Anderson, Joe Evancho, Jason Ritter, Sherri Ritter, Roger Racine, Sarah Racine, Brandy Grames, Rachel Cara, Jackson Price, Lisa Price, Peggy Bell Listings Editor: Jamie Kauffold Copyright 2026, all rights reserved. Distribution: 36,000 copies at 600+ locations weekly. Northern Express Weekly is free of charge, but no person may take more than one copy of each weekly issue without written permission of Northern Express Weekly. Reproduction of all content without permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 3

this week’s

top ten A Comedy of Terrors

You’ve never seen Dracula like this! Old Town Playhouse brings a gender-bent reimagining of Bram Stoker’s classic with Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors, describing the show as “a combination of what would happen if the legendary vampire tale Photo courtesy of Old Town Playhouse was put into a blender with Mel Brooks, Monty Python, and The 39 Steps!” Expect an alluring Count Dracula, a female Van Helsing, and plenty of blood-sucking mayhem (and clever wordplay) to ensue. There are five more showings—Oct. 24, 29, 30, and 31 at 7:30pm and Oct. 25 at 2pm—and tickets range from $25-$35. (Note: OTP lists this as a show for “informed audiences,” as it includes “mild sexual humor” and “vampire themes including biting human necks and dripping blood from the mouth.” oldtownplayhouse.com

Halloween on the Farm Don your Halloween costume and take advantage of Wilderness Valley Farms’ final Saturday of the season, Oct. 31, from 10am-5pm. Enjoy games, candy, pumpkins, apples, and hay wagon rides, plus a view of the farm’s reindeer, yaks, and longhorns. (With the farm closing at 5pm, you still have time to make evening trick-or-treating in town!) Tickets are $10-15. Get in the spooky spirit at 6500 Nicklaus Dr., Gaylord. wildernessvalleyfarm.com

Hey, watch It! Carrie

No, we’re not talking about Stephen King’s debut novel, its three film adaptations, or the musical. Instead, we’re talking about the new miniseries on Amazon Prime, which premiered earlier this month. More than 50 years after the story’s publication, you know the tale: Carrie, a sheltered teen with a difficult and reclusive mother, heads to high school, where bullies await… and so do telekinetic powers and a bad night at the prom. The show doesn’t deviate from that storyline, but it does add modern-day motivations and backstories to the characters, which at times feels fresh and creative, and at others feels forced. The best part about the eight-episode series is lead Summer H. Howell, who brings her own take to the role of Carrie, which has been so well trod by actresses like Sissy Spacek and Chloë Grace Moretz. Stream the show this Halloween, and see how it holds up against its previous iterations!

2 tastemaker

Baker’s Burrow’s Snickerdoodle Cookies

As we enter hibernation season, we’ll be stocking up on homemade treats from The Baker’s Burrow in Honor. Filled with small-batch bakes that rotate by season, this self-serve cupboard is a haven for all things quick breads, muffins, blondies, and beyond—but we can be found stuffing our cheeks with the signature Snickerdoodle Cookies. Picture this: the season’s cookie classic (crispy edges, chewy center) laden with flavors of vanilla and browned butter, rolled in cinnamon sugar, and balanced by a touch of tangy cream of tartar. They’re a little sweet, a little spiced, and 100 percent worth braving the elements for! Get a doodle at The Baker’s Burrow in Honor, located at the corner of Deadstream and Peck roads, and stay tuned for the stand’s upcoming winter transformation, complete with seasonal bakes and festive decorations! thebakersburrow.com

4 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

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Stuff We Love: Michigan Mysteries

6 Halloween Triple Header in Petoskey Grown-ups, Halloween is still for us! Here are three ways to celebrate in Petoskey on Saturday. First, dig your running shoes out of their grave and lace up for the Morally Grey 5K, presented by the Storykeepers Ball, which encourages you to dress up as your favorite fictional villain for a run along the Little Traverse Wheel Way starting at 9am. Registration is $45 (proceeds benefit the Great Start Collaborative) at runsignup.com/Race/MI/Petoskey/ MorallyGrey5K. That evening, wet your whistle at Gypsy Spirits Tasting Room where a DJ will be spinning and guests will be dressed to kill from 8pm-12am (free admission). Before the night is over, creep, crawl, or lurch to City Park Grill one block over for their annual Halloween Bash, with more scary records spinning and a costume contest from 1011:55pm. Open to ages 21+ (no cover).

We’ve been diving into all kinds of spooky stories this week, and that got us thinking about our 2027 Histories & Mysteries issue! Each year, we put out a call to readers to help us find the old, forgotten people and places—and the creepy, keep-you-up-at-night tales—that deserve their moment in the sun. (Or, at least, in the pages of Northern Express.) Tell us about your favorite historical figure, landmark, or legend by sending an email to info@northernexpress.com with the subject line “Histories & Mysteries.” In addition to covering real-life folks and events, we also welcome suggestions that are strange, supernatural, and downright scary! (Take a look at our “Haunted Leelanau” story on page X for inspiration.) Tell your favorite local history buff or conspiracy theorist that we will accept ideas through Dec. 1, 2026.

Interlochen’s Community Art Trail Underway This fall, Interlochen began work on the Interlochen Community Art Trail, a 3.5-mile “non-motorized trail connecting parks, schools, campgrounds, neighborhoods, businesses, and cultural destinations throughout Interlochen,” per a press release from Interlochen Center for the Arts. The first phase included the construction and paving of a segment from Green Lake Township Memorial Park to Vagabond Rd., which was completed in late September. The portion of phase two (Interlochen State Park to the Betsie River) that is under contract is expected to be done by Nov. 15. Future phases to complete the trail are dependent on additional funding, as the project is expected to top $3 million. The trail is supported by a variety of local organizations, including Interlochen Downtown Development Authority, Green Lake Township, Interlochen Center for the Arts, and Friends of the Interlochen Community Art Trail. Learn more at interlochencommunityarttrail.com.

October

EVENTS & HAPPENINGS

HALLOWEEN BASH Saturday, 10/31 EVENING IN EGYPT Saturday, 11/21 TRIVIA TUESDAYS KARAOKE FRIDAYS NIGHTLY FEATURES DOWNTOWN PETOSKEY

bottoms up Tank Space’s Ale of the Earth It’s dark beer season, and we love celebrating it in all its shades of glory, from chocolatey porters to sweet, smooth doppelbocks to boozy imperial stouts. If you’ve been a dark beer skeptic in the past, Tank Space (the satellite location of Earthen Ales) has Ale of the Earth, a lightly-smoked English brown ale that supplies all the full-bodied flavor and cozy, coldweather enjoyability of dark beer without losing the approachability of lighter brews. The 4.5 percent ABV is especially welcoming if heavier stouts and porters have historically been too rich for your blood. If you enjoy it, you’re in luck! Earthen Ales just rolled out a whole bunch of terrific autumn beers, from the brewery’s take on Oktoberfest, to a barrelaged version of Ale of the Earth, to a small-batch doppelbock. Enjoy at 1110 E. Eighth St., Traverse City. tankspacetc.com

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 5

KILLING THE DEATH PENALTY

spectator By Stephen Tuttle It was going to be quite the spectacle, our first public execution since 500 or so watched a public hanging in Galena, Missouri, in 1937. A few months earlier, nearly 20,000 people had gathered, apparently in a festive mood, to watch another man hanged in Owensboro, Kentucky. After the Missouri barbarism, public executions were outlawed. But our firing squad execution of the man who killed 13 and injured many more in a mass shooting event at Fort Hood in Texas could have been live streamed and watched by millions. It would have made us just like the other countries with public execution

homicide rate. Neither state has executed its way to safety. To our everlasting credit, Michigan is the only state to ban capital punishment in its state constitution. Though conviction rates vary from state to state, capital murder cases result in convictions more than 70 percent of the time, but actual death sentences are handed down less often, as last-minute plea bargains often remove death from the possible consequences, and sometimes jurors would rather sentence someone to life in prison.

It is not time to return to public executions; it is time to eliminate executions altogether. spectacles like North Korea, Saudi Arabia, and so many other forward-thinking regimes. President Trump, however, was a bit concerned about the image of a man confined to a wheelchair—he was paralyzed in a shootout during his murderous rampage—being shot while seated. So, instead, we’ll kill him more privately.

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6 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

The president would have been better served to advocate for doing away with the death penalty altogether. With mandatory appeals, delays, and separate prison death row sections, death sentences can be two and a half to five times more expensive than even life sentences, according to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC). It’s not only expensive, but carrying out the deed has become more than marginally problematic. Christa Pike is the only woman on Tennessee’s death row. She committed heinous acts, including murder, when she was younger and has not been a model prisoner. She was scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Sept. 30. She was not scheduled to be tortured, but it worked out that way. They had a very hard time finding usable veins, actually injected her twice, and managed to put her into a coma but not kill her. Officials successfully fought to save her so they could grotesquely try to execute her again. Additionally, there is no scientific or empirical evidence capital punishment deters any crime, including murder. If it did, our states with the death penalty would necessarily have the lowest murder rates. Yet the five states with the highest per capita murder rates—Mississippi, Louisiana, New Mexico, Alabama, Tennessee—all have capital punishment. Of the states with the lowest murder rate— New Hampshire, Hawai’i, Idaho, Rhode Island, Vermont—only Idaho still has capital punishment. Texas has killed more than 400 individuals this century, and Florida has executed 33 since the start of 2025, but neither state’s lethal injections have much slowed their

Cost, incompetent application, and lack of deterrence are just part of the problem. Perhaps the best reason of all to reconsider the death penalty is that sometimes law enforcement, the courts, juries, and even witnesses get it wrong. According to the DPIC, 203 death row prisoners have now been exonerated. Some were found not guilty after a retrial, some had their verdicts overturned by appellate courts, some were given a full pardon based on objective new evidence like DNA or fingerprints, and some were released because of serious law enforcement or prosecutorial misconduct. Not all were innocent, but none should have been on death row. Then it gets worse. There are cases we now know in which innocent people were, in fact, wrongly executed. Here are two glaring examples, though there are more. Cameron Todd Willingham was executed in Texas in 2004 for setting a fire that killed his three children. The “arson science” that convicted him was flawed to the point of being nonsensical. Modern, accurate science proved the fire started accidentally, as Willingham had always claimed, not as the result of arson. Carlos DeLuna was executed in Texas in 1989 having been convicted of a convenience store robbery and murder. But he was misidentified and the courts never acknowledged the mistake. The actual culprit was eventually found but too late for Carlos. State sponsored killing in the form of capital punishment accomplishes almost nothing. There is no evidence it makes us safer or deters the next murder, it is brutally expensive, and it risks killing innocent people. It is easy to understand the pain and rage of the families and friends of murder victims. But the most vengeful instincts of our most deeply wounded citizens do not a solid foundation for justice make. It is not time to return to public executions; it is time to eliminate executions altogether.

SUPREME DELIGHT IN THE MISFORTUNE OF OTHERS guest opinion By Isiah Smith, Jr. Within 24 hours of Katie Zacharia’s firing, Trump’s short-lived press secretary, social media erupted with glee over her spectacular rise and fall from grace (or was it waste?). This glee had all the marks of a collective sigh of relief that someone other than oneself has been publicly degraded and made to look like a fool. Behind all the tomfoolery and AI-assisted mockery online were clear signs of relief that “no matter how bad my life is, at least I’m not her.” The reliably poisonous online commentary from the electronic

We often fail to realize that all those “famous people” feel just as lost and dispensable as you do. Behind almost every gleaming, made-for-television celebrity smile lies a lost child seeking love and validation. Too late, we learn that the meaning we sought can be found only within ourselves. It takes a lifetime to become yourself; hopefully, that happens before it’s too late, before the final bell rings. I laughed along with everyone else when Zacharia made a fool of herself at her first

We all make mistakes; how about a bit of grace and understanding for our fellow human beings? wasteland of social media exceeded its shabby reputation in its rush to dance on the unfortunate young lady’s pitiful, warp-speed self-immolation. If I’m being honest, I must admit I wasn’t immune to smug schadenfreude. Like many of us, I suffer from occasional bouts of the dreaded imposter syndrome. It plagues most of us, and in our lonely, sleepless nights, I wonder why I have fallen short of the ideals I set for myself and missed the golden ring of outstanding accomplishments. Perhaps those feelings of failed aspirations are why we glorify apparently successful people with such outsized admiration, lifting them so high that they are bound to shatter when they fall. And when they fall, we feel relieved to escape our own small lives. Secretly, in the dark corners of our minds and hearts, we long to see them fail, to see them rejoin the ranks of the ordinary. That’s largely the truth of our mundane, quotidian existence. We spend much of our lives in the den of the ordinary: we wake up, perform our toilette, eat a generally unsatisfactory breakfast, put on unremarkable clothes while watching sordid cable news, then head out into the world, where most of what we do is unimportant and inconsequential. Sadly, much of what we do each day is meaningless, uninspiring, and easily forgotten. Yet inside, we long for more, for evidence that, as the Shirley Bassey dirge mournfully says, “I was here.” Meanwhile, we indulge in noonday reveries and cultivate schadenfreude. Social media is overflowing with videos and posts that literally scream, “Look at me! Please look at me; I matter. My life is full of meaningful activities because I matter, people like me, and I’m making a difference! I’m just as important as all those famous people you see on television.”

press appearance, but then I caught myself. “Here I am, big old me, all civilized and noble. Except when I’m not, which may be most of the time. Who am I to criticize the other schadenfreude merchants?” Schadenfreude can feel like justice, but we must be honest: often it’s just relief that it wasn’t me. Our laugh felt clean, but it was actually soiled, dirty, and full of self-regard. It is cruelty wrapped in the relief that my own cracks aren’t on display for at least a few minutes. I still laugh when the mighty slip on rhetorical banana peels. I probably always will. But I’m starting to wonder whether that quick spark is less about their fall and more about my fear of falling. If I’m honest, the laugh sounds a lot like relief. And relief, it turns out, isn’t the same as innocence. So the next time I laugh, I might quietly ask what I was so grateful not to feel about myself just then. One last thing before I go. If this doesn’t humble you and me, nothing will: Donald Trump, not known for being touchy-feely, sounded downright compassionate when his short-term press secretary flamed out on live television. He said he encouraged his press secretary to “reconsider” her new job. “Honestly, if I were you, I’d reconsider,” he told reporters, recounting the conversation. “Katie, do you need this? I don’t think you need this.” He added that he didn’t want to see her go through the media lambasting she’d faced over the past 24 or 36 hours. If the man 70 percent or more of Americans despise can show compassion and humanity, perhaps the rest of us can, too. Remember, when you point the finger at someone, three fingers point back at you. We all make mistakes; how about a bit of grace and understanding for our fellow human beings? Isiah Smith, Jr. is a retired government attorney.

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 7

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More Bang for the Buck An Austin, Texas, resident got a little more than they bargained for after purchasing a few boxes at an estate sale. The Houston Chronicle reported that on Oct. 12, the buyer opened the boxes to discover grenades and called the police, who confirmed via X-ray examination that the grenades were live and active. As seen in a photo shared on social media by the Austin Police Department, police cordoned off portions of the neighborhood with yellow caution tape and safely removed the grenades. "No crime here, just a great reminder," the Austin Police Association said in the social media post, "If you ever come across old military ordnance (grenades, shells, mortar rounds, etc.), even if you think it's inert, don't touch it, don't move it, and call 911. Let the experts handle it." [Houston Chronicle, 10/13/26] Locked In Tia Chandler of Keene, New Hampshire, called 911 after being locked in an urgent care facility, WMUR reported on Oct. 13. Chandler was seeking treatment for an asthma attack and received a steroid shot. The staff member who administered the shot said they would be right back, but never returned. Chandler left the exam room hoping to find even a cleaning crew, but the office was empty. When she tried to leave the building, she inadvertently set an alarm off. She ended up calling her husband, who called the police to let her out. "I can't believe this just happened to me," Chandler said, "because literally when I was thinking in my head ... 'They would never lock me in there. That's crazy talk. That only happens in movies or on a show, not in real life.'" A spokesperson for the urgent care says they have apologized to Chandler and "taken steps to ensure this won't happen again." [WMUR, 10/13/26] Least Competent Criminals A man who shattered the window of a Tempe, Arizona, business around 2 a.m. on Oct. 4 took off with dozens of Mac Mini computer boxes that turned out to be empty, Fox 10 Phoenix reported. The computers themselves were right next to the boxes. "They stole empty boxes. Everyone was laughing about it," employee Curran Rose said. "I'm just glad no one was hurt." The company filed a report with the police, and the business owner is offering a $1,500 reward to anyone with information that leads to the identification and arrest of the person seen in security footage. [Fox 10 Phoenix, 10/6/26] Maki J. Davis, 22, of New York might want to revisit his hiring practices for getaway drivers. NJ.com reported on Oct. 13 that Davis robbed a Marshalls in Paramus, New Jersey, by stuffing about $2,200 worth of clothes in three large rolling suitcases and attempting to flee the store with them. As police approached, the man took off running, leaving the stolen goods behind. He fled through the parking lot toward a green Dodge Charger, presumably his ride, but before he could hop in, the driver took off, leaving the shoplifter in the dust. He was arrested and charged with theft, resisting arrest and trespassing. [NJ.com, 10/13/26]

There's a Lot Going on Here Three men wearing masks and women's pajamas allegedly arrived at a bank in India by ambulance and proceeded to break into an ATM, reported Gulf News. The robbery took place at about 1 a.m. on Oct. 11 at a State Bank of India in Gandhari. CCTV footage shows the suspects forcing open the ATM with cutting equipment and then making off with cash. Police are working to identify the suspects and investigating if the ambulance was part of the ploy or if it was authentic. Mission Impossible In a move straight from "Mission: Impossible," four thieves were arrested in France after conducting literal highway robbery, AFP reported on Oct. 6. The robbers leapt onto trucks in transit, going at speeds as high as 56 mph, and threw $225,000 worth of electronics to a trailing vehicle before jumping back in their getaway cars. Surveillance video and detective work led French authorities to the thieves, who were hiding out in Angers. The four are charged with aggravated theft, criminal damage and criminal association and could face up to seven years in prison. [AFP, 10/6/26] People With Issues A Royal Caribbean cruise ship passenger, a 44-year-old Salvadoran woman, was rescued after spending 20 hours in Greece's Ionian Sea, CBS News reported on Oct. 14. The woman jumped from the ship early on Oct. 9 and later told rescuers she did it because she wanted to disembark. A Greek coast guard patrol found her early in the morning the next day, while it was still dark, floating in an orange life ring. The woman went to a hospital for treatment and has been ordered by a local prosecutor to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. [CBS News, 10/14/26] Dangling Opossum A person visiting South Fork Trail in Lincolnton, North Carolina, spotted an opossum dangling from a tree by a fishing hook and called the Carolina Wildlife Conservation Center, reported WWAY 3 on Oct. 7. Upon arrival, a manager from the wildlife center climbed the tree to save the marsupial. After an exam and X-rays, the opossum was found to have a fishing hook embedded beneath its tongue, and the fishing line was still attached. The animal was emaciated and dehydrated, leading experts to believe it had been trapped in the tree for more than 24 hours. The wildlife center shared in a social media post that the hook was removed and the opossum is now safe. [WWAY 3, 10/7/26] Silly Old Bear A library in Mammoth Lakes, California, is going viral after sharing their video of a bear ambling among the books, KTLA reported. Security footage from Oct. 14 -- coincidentally the 100th anniversary of Winnie-the-Pooh, whose first collection of stories was published on the same date in 1926 -- shows the bear wandering in before the library opened or any staff arrived. It took a few moments to peruse the stacks before leaving the premises. Authorities are unclear how the bear got into the library, but it was long gone by the time staff clocked in. [KTLA, 10/15/26]

BOO! NINE SEASONALLY

SPOOKY EXPERIENCES UP NORTH

HALLOWEEN EVENTS FOR ALL AGES By Ellen Miller Whether you’re someone who starts planning their Halloween costume or decor starting Nov. 1 for next year or just someone who appreciates a crisp, fall day, there’s a Halloween event for you. Scope out our roundup of nine events happening locally, and be sure to check our Dates section and your local chamber or tourism event website, as there are way more trick-or-treat and trunk-or-treat events than we can include here! 1. Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Really Oct. 24, 7pm | Oct. 25, 2pm This darkly comic drama puts a modern spin on the bloodthirsty tale of Dracula, “driving a stake through the heart of toxic masculinity,” per the show description. Actors from the Cadillac Footliters Theatre will stage performances at the CAPS Performing Arts Auditorium at Cadillac High School. Tickets are $14 online and $15 at the door. cadillacfootliters.com 2. Screams in the Dark Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through Nov. 1 Find a classic haunted house experience in Kalkaska, where the horrors of Screams in the Dark await! This year’s theme is Blackwood

Hollow, where you can explore the terrifying Blackwood Manor, visit the Midway of Madness, wander through the clown-filled Pandemonium, or explore the woods along the Trail of the Lost. Tickets and more info at evernighthaunt.com. 3. A Night with Edgar Allen Poe Oct. 30, 4-6pm Step into the mysterious world of Edgar Allan Poe! Join the Cadillac Wexford Public Library for dramatic readings of some of Poe’s most famous poems while enjoying themed mocktails inspired by his classic works. This spooky and fun evening is perfect for those who enjoy gothic stories, poetry, and a touch of mystery. Gothic attire is encouraged. Space is limited and sign up is required: call (231) 775-6541 or email teens@cadillaclibrary.org or visit the Cadillac branch’s information desk. cadillaclibrary.org 4. Thriller Night at Jacob’s Farm in TC Oct. 30, 7-9pm Prepare for a scare: paid actors in Halloween costumes hide themselves in the corn and make this maze one you really don’t want to get lost in! There may be walk-in tickets available, but due to this event’s popularity, it is strongly

recommended that you secure your spot ahead of time. Common sense is advised when considering children of a certain age. jacobsfarmtc.com/thriller-night 5. Mock Tours at the Dennos Oct. 30, 7pm or 9:30pm One of our favorite Halloween traditions is when the Dennos Museum Center in Traverse City goes improv! Join Full Tilt Comedy—in costume, of course—as they pose as fictional docents to reimagine the museum through the eyes of ghosts, ghouls, and “the hilariously undead.” Tickets are $20-$25 for the two showtimes above. dennosmuseum.org 6. Freebie BoOok Fair Oct. 31, 12-2pm Join the Manistee County Library for a book fair—like the Scholastic ones that happen in elementary school, but for all ages! All the books are free, and you’ll help give homes to gently used library books. Come “shop” the aisles in the meeting room, and make sure to bring a tote to take home your finds. manisteelibrary.org 7. 18th Annual Zombie 5K Run Oct. 31, 9am The Traverse City Zombie Run is a Halloween staple, and organizers say

“over the years, we’ve seen zombies from all walks of life, or should we say death.” Right Brain Brewery will be hosting the run; afterward, stick around for the medal ceremony, costume prizes, music, post-race refreshments, and zombie socializing. Be sure to register by Oct. 30! tczombierun.com 8. Downtown Petoskey Trick or Treat Oct. 31, 10am- 12pm Attention all witches, goblins, and ghouls! This epic trick-or-treating adventure through the downtown stores will kick off with a costume parade at 10am, starting from Central Elementary and marching down Howard Street to Mitchell Street in Downtown Petoskey. The Wolfshäger Hexenbrut Witches of Sault Ste Marie will also be performing at 10am. petoskeychamber.com 9. Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Party at TC Whiskey Oct. 31, 7-11pm Whether you’re a longtime Rocky Horror fan or just looking for a wickedly fun Halloween party, grab your fishnets, costumes, and friends and join Traverse City Whiskey Co. The party includes a costume lookalike contest, dj, spooky cocktails, and, of course, The Rocky Horror Picture Show on the big screen. Costumes

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 9

FINDING THE BEAUTY IN HORROR NOVELS Author Teagan Olivia King on fear, strength, and imagination

By Anna Faller It’s officially spooky season, folks, which means it’s high time to stack your TBR list with tales of all things terrifying. If you ask Michigan author Teagan Olivia King, however, not all of our favorite horror stories have to be quite so, well, horrible. In fact, we could even be friends with the creatures living under our beds, or at the very least, empowered by them. “Everyone has to fight their own monsters,” says King. “But if those characters [in scary stories] can fight their monsters and survive, so can you.” What’s the trick to besting the bad guy, though, when the most gruesome horrors so often come from real life? King’s advice starts with turning the page. Destined to Write As a fourth-generation English and writing major in a long line of matriarchal creatives—including a grandmother who published several books in the 1980s— author Teagan Olivia King was all but destined for a life of storytelling. Born and raised in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (though she’s since moved to the Cheboygan area), King holds a creative writing degree from Northern Michigan University. In addition to her two full-length books, Spit Back the Bones and Bitterbloom, her work has appeared in numerous publications, including collections from Phantom House Press and Black Spot Books, as well as Bella Grace Magazine, among others. Her short story, “All Our Fertile Bones,” was even included in a 2023 Bram Stoker award reading list anthology. “Growing up in my household, [writing] was just part of life,” King says. “I had my notebook, and I was outside writing as much as possible. That’s never really stopped.” As an eldest millennial daughter and a kid whose childhood experiences also included traumas like religious uncertainty and divorce, however, literature also offered a means of escape. Consequently, much of King’s earliest influence comes from the fantastic classics of authors like C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, whose mythical beings and epic battles opened the door to alternate realities. The door to traditional horror, however, was one King happily kept shut as a kid. “I grew up in the generation of scary movies

[defined by] jump-scares and gore. That was never anything I was into,” she explains. That is, until 2018, when she put a latent idea to paper: a middle grade fantasy horror novel— the writing process for which, she notes, was unexpectedly cathartic. It was also around this time that King discovered the opulent terror of Mexican Gothic, a twist on horror noir by Siliva Moreno-Garcia. “[That book] changed my life, because it opened up this whole new genre,” she explains. “I realized that horror didn’t have to be blood and guts. It could be slow, and supernatural, and terrifying.” Two Books, One Throughline Per King, it’s this lush, atmospheric prose that’s come to define her signature “aesthetic horror.” “You could build a Pinterest board around my style,” she says. “I want it to be pretty, but also disgusting and terrifying.” (Think 17th century Dutch Golden Age imagery of flowers alongside skulls and rotting birds.) Though stoking slow-burning fear in her readers is the desired effect, King also stresses that abject terror isn’t the only emotion she aims to evoke. Strength, determination, awe, and even a sense of haunting beauty are all part of the package. Enter: King’s debut novel, a contemporary horror tale entitled Spit Back the Bones (2025). In it, readers meet 19-year-old Mila, who, at the request of her sister Agatha, begrudgingly returns to their hometown in the Upper Peninsula, only to find that Agatha, like their brother three years prior, has suddenly disappeared. With no help on the horizon from her fractured family or the biased local police, Mila takes matters into her own hands, joining forces with a childhood friend (“who just happens to be hot,” says King with a laugh), before tying everything back to the old family bog, from which voices of the dead emanate. Bitterbloom (2026), by contrast is an “adult gothic fantasy that also plays with themes of religious trauma and chronic illness.” The story follows Adelaide Thorn, whose mysterious visions are thought to be the force behind the unexplained deaths in her village. Even Adelaide’s awful father,

10 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

the vicar, believes she’s been touched by something evil—that is, until she discovers a bell whose ring opens the gates to an Upside Down-esque hell known as Rowan Wood. Joined by a pair of unlikely partners, Adelaide must embark on a harrowing journey to free her mother’s soul from the Devil (spoiler: she meets a hot ghost) and finally bring the long-buried truths about her family to light. Though born from very different visions—Spit Back the Bones pays homage to King’s late brother Jed while Bitterbloom was is a twist on a medieval legend—King underscores that the works are united by the concept of conformity as horror and the powerhouse female players who use their inner strength to surmount it. “[Both books] have strong female characters who are expected to act one way by their community,” King adds. “Instead, they rip down the constructs that are trying to confine them to be a certain way.” Survival Instincts It’s in this thematic overlap where beauty and horror can go hand-in-hand if we let them, she says. For starters, in a century where reallife ghouls—like global pandemics, the impending rise of AI, and beyond— increasingly rival the made-up ones that inhabit our closets and TV screens, King says that scary stories can also reinforce readers’ tenacity in the face of what feels like insurmountable terror. In other words, if characters facing impossible odds can make it out in the end, then so can we. “Horrible things happen in real life, but I’ve read these stories where things were even more horrible for someone else, and they survive it,” King says. “[I’d think], if this character can survive all of these crazy things, then I can get through whatever I’m dealing with.” Then, there’s the distinct and singular beauty of burning it all down, whatever “it” might be (a relationship, a social construct, a career decision, etc.), but still letting yourself return to a place of softness and safety in the next chapter, and maybe even acknowledging that there’s beauty in the tough stuff, like hard-won growth or the destruction of a past life. “I want my books to challenge those

concepts,” adds King. “It’s okay to break apart and get angry, but I also want [readers] to be able to relate to the idea of [building] something new.” The Next Story In fact, King herself has recently embarked on a journey of reimagination. Following a period of publication “limbo” and the ensuing burnout from releasing two books just months apart, King now works as a children’s librarian by day, a position she uses to inspire the next generation of readers through enthusiastically-selected titles (for burgeoning horror fans, she recommends The Clackity and Branden Mull’s Fablehaven series). Though nothing’s set in stone just yet, there is another project in the works. Drafted in the late 2010s, the book, which King had previously tabled, is “a dark fantasy with a fun magic system,” though her lips are sealed as far as the rest. The plan is to revise the book, including voice and character modifications catered to a middle-grade audience, with the goal of finalizing and submitting for publication in the first half of 2027. In fact, she hints that the genre swap from adult to middle grade might be even permanent; especially as it relates to equipping kids to fight societal monsters early on. (She’s even toyed with the idea of writing AI as a middle-grade antagonist!). And it all started with cracking a scary story. “Books give us the ability to escape for a while. I think that’s so important,” King adds. “It’s okay to step back sometimes and fall into a story.” Check out Teagan Olivia King and her books at teaganoliviaking.com.

IN DEFENSE OF THE HUMANITIES

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GUEST OPINION by Richard Fidler A post-secondary education based upon science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is promoted by politicians and government leaders as the best path for students to follow in college and trade schools. As the argument goes, most jobs in the future will require a solid background in those disciplines, at the same time implying that college degrees in English, foreign languages, art and design, the social sciences, and philosophy are a waste of time and money. An education in the humanities simply doesn’t “pay off.”

brought me as much joy as devouring a homemade slice of apple pie! My education in the humanities has done more than foster openness of mind. Courses in English helped make me a better writer. A course in photography made me a more critical viewer of works of art. Folkdance helped me overcome shyness, teaching me to move my body to melodies very different from those that surround me. Even science courses unconnected to problem-solving courses in chemistry or physics—botany, for example—converted a simple walk through

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In short, the humanities make us better citizens. I have one foot in STEM and another in humanities. I hold a BA degree with a concentration in biology, an MS in biology, and an Ed.D. (doctorate in education), specializing in science education. With that background, I have developed an appreciation of science and the methods it uses to reach conclusions. Consequently, I do not advocate an education that avoids science and mathematics. Instead, I want an education vibrant with both science and the humanities. I was lucky to have gone to college at a time when tuition was cheap. Before I set upon becoming a science teacher in the public school, I became interested in the languages of East Asia, both Chinese and Japanese. Obtaining a degree in East Asian Languages and Literature, I was able to spend a year in Japan studying that language intensively, living in non-English speaking neighborhoods. In the end, I dropped my goal of becoming a professor of Chinese or Japanese, drawn to biology and teaching instead. I never used my knowledge of those languages. A waste of time and money—or was it? Understanding and speaking a foreign language opens windows to a new culture. You come to realize that there are many ways of experiencing life, not just the blinkered perspective you have developed in the social conditioning you received during childhood and afterwards. The Japanese say “gambatte!” when they visit someone suffering illness or accident in a hospital, a phrase that means “fight your best fight!”, an encouragement not equivalent to anything we might say. Participation in another culture opens our eyes to different ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. It is antithetical to ideas of knee-jerk patriotism or an insistence that our culture is superior to all others. Besides stretching my mind, education in East Asian languages did something else: slurping up soba noodles with two chopsticks

the woods into a trip through the plains of Africa, the organisms I encounter every bit as exotic as lions and zebras. Education stretches us—at its best, it whets our appetite to learn more, not to secure more income but to grant us moments of appreciation of the wonders all about us. Humans do certain jobs better than AI, many of those associated with lines of work deemed unproductive or less productive of generating wealth, jobs such as social workers, preschool teachers, nurses, actors, and writers. While AI may write decent computer programs, it is less successful in comforting a child who suffered a fall on playground equipment. Teaching programs work for some students, but not most, who would prefer live beings with real personalities and a sense of humor for their teachers. The humanities serve the needs of humankind, not the creation and processing of data, an insight that should not be surprising given the common root word, “human.” Finally, we must not forget the role of humanities in enabling us to maintain a democracy. A government of, for, and by the people only exists in a climate of freely shared information gathered from a wide variety of reliable sources. It founders if the people are poorly informed, misinformed, or apathetic. It fails if citizens cannot follow arguments, justify their own beliefs, criticize opinions based upon speculation and cheap propaganda, or change their minds as circumstances dictate. The social sciences provide perspectives on politics outside the narrow limits of our own experience. History provides us with an understanding of how things came to be as they are. Philosophy can help us establish a system of values that we can use in making political decisions. In short, the humanities make us better citizens. Richard Fidler is a former public school teacher for Traverse City Area Public Schools who has written about the history and natural history of the area.

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 11

A TWILIGHT TOUR OF GRAND TRAVERSE COMMONS The former asylum tour is so informative, it’s scary

By Todd VanSickle On a cool day in October, more than 20 people gathered for the Twilight Asylum tour in the lower level of Building 50 in the Village at Grand Traverse Commons. After signing in, some read about the property’s history posted on the light-beige brick wall as they waited for the tour to begin. The hospital’s timeline starts in 1881, when the Michigan Legislature approved funding for the construction of “The Northern Michigan Asylum for the insane.” At the time, it would be the state’s third such institution. Its tranquil location and proximity to fresh water made it an ideal site for treating patients under the Kirkbride Plan, developed by American psychiatrist Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride. His philosophy was based on moral treatment for patients that utilized the hospital buildings as a tool. During the day, patients were locked out of their rooms to

encourage activity and maximize exposure to fresh air and sunlight. They worked at an onsite farm and were given independence as a way of treatment. At its peak in 1966, the hospital had about 3,600 patients, but by 1989, it had dwindled to about 200 before its closure due to lack of funding and new medications. The Guides “Many of the patients had it better here than where they were coming from,” says tour guide Tony Lombardi, who added that the hospital had running water and electricity when many nearby residents did not have such amenities when the hospital opened. Lombardi and Natalie Balogh recently led the more than two-hour tour. Each has different backgrounds and connections to the hospital, but are equally passionate about the property. Lombardi has been helping with the property’s renovations for the past

12 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

26 years and provides a solid understanding of the buildings’ architecture. “Tony has worked here longer than I have been alive,” says Balogh, whose grandmother was a nurse at the hospital in the 1940s. Kate Angove, who handles tour bookings and scheduling, says all 12 of the Commons’ tour guides have some sort of personal connection to the hospital, including two guides whose fathers worked at the hospital. “We are very selective in our tour guides,” says Angove. “We want to be sure that they have a connection. They are a really close group of people who get together regularly and talk about the history and the things that they’ve discovered in their research. They are just an amazing group of people who are so committed to sharing the accurate history of the property.” The Grand Traverse Commons offers several different tours throughout the year, but October is its busiest. The tours began more than 13 years ago, according to Angove.

“So many people come here thinking it’s going to be this really scary place, and that there were all these really scary stories,” says Angove. “People were here because they were sick and they had issues, so not every story is a happy one, but they really were trying to care for people here and that’s really what we want to remind everyone and make sure that people who visit here know. …When you learn the history of it, it creates a way more meaningful visit to the property.” Over the years, the tours have changed as the property has been developed into shops, restaurants, and living quarters. And more development is in the works for Buildings 34, 30, and 32, which includes more condominiums and potentially a hotel. There could come a time when the tours don’t include an inside look of some of the buildings. “The redevelopment will continue until everything’s been brought back,” says Angove. “But I don’t ever see a time where we don’t do some type of history tour. If

it comes to a point where we aren’t able to access a building, there is certainly the history can be shared in other ways through photos, and the tunnels will always be part of the tour.” Out into the Twilight After a brief introduction in Building 50, the tour heads outside for a view of the former hospital’s palatial façade against a darkening sky. Tourgoers learn how the hospital was laid out and operated on the 135 acres. Building 50 was the first building erected and took less than two years to complete. The first patients were admitted in 1885. The building was designed to house 500 patients from the Grand Rapids area—250 women on the north side and 250 men on the south side. “For the most part, they didn’t really intermingle,” Balogh says. “However, within their first year of operation they had 22 live births. So, make of that what you will.” Additionally, the tour guides share their disdain for the current building at the center of the complex, coined the “Flub,” which stands for “the flat, ugly building.” “They wanted modern, shiny new offices, and that is not what we had here at the time,” Balogh says. “Rather than bring that section of the building up to fire code, they had the gorgeous double-wide mahogany staircase in the entry deemed a fire hazard, and they tore the entire front center section of this building down.” The now-drab administrative building replaced the main center building in the 1960s. A large portion of the tour takes place outside, but it heads indoors to the pitchdark Cottage 30, which has been abandoned since 1968. (The building is currently being renovated and will eventually be condominiums.) Tourgoers get the opportunity to explore the building from top to bottom with flashlight in hand. “If you see something, say something,” says Balogh, who refers to trespassers who might be lurking in the building. “And watch

out for bats, but don’t swing at them—they are more scared of you.” The tour starts in the attic of the building, where Lombardi asks everyone to stand on the edge of a large round room with a high cone-shaped ceiling that leads to one of the many iconic spires that are key in ventilating the century-old buildings. The windows are broken and the walls are mostly exposed wooden studs. Props like an antique chest and a creepy doll remain from a previous event held in the building. (Balogh reassures tourgoers that the props are not associated with the tour or the building.) Signatures and Graffiti Lombardi points out signatures on one of the walls from construction workers and employees, including nurses, who often stayed in the attics while the patients stayed in the floors below. “My first job was helping with the original roof assessment,” says Lombardi. “As we were going through the attic, we kept finding stuff written all over the wall. It was like a timesheet for the masons and everyone else. A lot of the stuff we learned about the building, we learned from all these notes. A lot of them were actually written in German. There were a lot of German tradesmen here. In the cottages, it was a big tradition for staff to always sign and date any brick in any building they were working in. We traced a lot of these names—almost all staff.” One of the signatures belongs to a tour guide’s father, who was a nurse’s attendant at the hospital. More clues were discovered during renovations in Building 50, when sagging soffits led to a cache of old alcohol and wine bottles—some unopened—hidden 100 years ago by workers who were not permitted to drink in the attics, according to Lombardi. On the lower level, tourgoers used black light flashlights to illuminate fluorescent graffiti plastered on the walls and floor. Balogh says crude graffiti and trespassers are the bane of her existence.

“If you are going to break into a building and trespass, at least make it good graffiti,” she says, as she referenced several misspellings in the spray-painted messages on the walls and floors. “Everybody and their brother got in here back in the day, and they still try to this day. The place got abandoned for about a decade, before they figured something should probably be done.”

patients, waiting for his stuff to show up, and he realizes that even on the most disturbed wards of this hospital, the staff and the patients have a wonderful rapport. It’s unlike anything he’s experienced as he’s traveled across the country doing these lobotomies, and he has this kind of moral epiphany.” Dr. Ferguson never performed another lobotomy in his life, the guide adds.

Treatment History The penultimate stop on the tour is Kirkbride Hall. The former chapel is admired from the outside before going inside for a deeper dive into the building’s history and secrets. From the parking lot below, the glowing wavy stained glass windows are on display. Inside, the ornate cathedral ceiling steals the show. Lombardi says while renovating the building, secret rooms were found. The hall was used for various reasons over the years, including a library and a “Lunatic Ball” hosted by hospital staff. During this point in the tour, Balogh gives a talk about how the Traverse City asylum was more compassionate than other institutions. In great detail, she hammers home the macabre act of lobotomies and how it was practiced but not widely accepted here. “The two things people always want to know about is electroshock and lobotomies,” says Balogh, who is also a surgical technologist in the operating room at Munson. “Electroshock was a very common treatment back in the day. The nice thing about here is that once anesthesia was figured out, they did their electroshock under anesthesia, which not everybody else did.” From Balogh’s research from state archives, only two lobotomies were performed at the hospital, despite the state sending Dr. John Jack Ferguson to perform 500 transorbital lobotomies in 1954. “He shows up. His tools did not,” Balogh says. “They were all lost during transport somewhere along the way. So, he’s wandering around, observing the staff and

The Tunnels The last stop on the tour ends 14 feet under Building 50 in the brick-lined ventilation tunnels. Some of the tunnels leading to the original power plant’s main distribution hub have since been closed off to prevent theft and trespassing. The tunnel conjures up an eerie feeling on its own, but the lights are shut off to further set the scene for a ghost story in the dark. Balogh narrates a story about a woman in a red dress from Angels in the Architecture by Heidi Johnson. The story is an account from nurses that had worked at the hospital. “The girl with the red dress—that story is infamous,” says Angove. “It’s out of one of the books that we have here from stories that people told when it was open. The red dress story is well known.” After the story, Lombardi takes photos of individual tourgoers with their phones with the tunnel as the backdrop. The guides encourage photos throughout the tour and often receive messages later from past tourgoers looking for an explanation of what appeared in their photos. “Your guess is as good as mine,” Balogh says of the inquiries about the unexplained and apparitions on the property. “I would like to think if there are people still here, instead of being angry, vengeful or stuck, maybe this is the nicest place they have ever had. Or maybe this is the best they were ever treated. Maybe they are just fine hanging out.” Learn more about the Commons tours at thevillagetc.com/tour.

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 13

DID YOU SERVE IN THE UNITED STATES MILITARY? it comes to a point where we aren’t able to access a building, there is certainly the history can be shared in other ways through photos, and the tunnels will always be part of the tour.”

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Out into the Twilight After a brief introduction in Building 50, the tour heads outside for a view of the former hospital’s palatial façade against a darkening sky. Tourgoers learn how the hospital was laid out and operated on the 135 acres. Building 50 was the first building erected and took less than two years to complete. The first patients were admitted in 1885. The building was designed to house 500 patients from the Grand Rapids area—250 women on the north side and 250 men on the south side. “For the most part, they didn’t really intermingle,” Balogh says. “However, within their first year of operation they had 22 live births. So, make of that what you will.” Additionally, the tour guides share their disdain for the current building at the center of the complex, coined the “Flub,” which stands for “the flat, ugly building.” “They wanted modern, shiny new offices, and that is not what we had here at the time,” Balogh says. “Rather than bring that section of the building up to fire code, they had the gorgeous double-wide mahogany staircase in the entry deemed a fire hazard, and they tore the entire front center section of this building down.” The now-drab administrative building replaced the main center building in the 1960s. A large portion of the tour takes place outside, but it heads indoors to the pitchdark Cottage 30, which has been abandoned since 1968. (The building is currently being renovated and will eventually be condominiums.) Tourgoers get the opportunity to explore the building from top to bottom with flashlight in hand. “If you see something, say something,” says Balogh, who refers to trespassers who might be lurking in the building. “And watch

Did you know the VASignatures has aand benefit to Graffiti Lombardi out signatures on one help pay for a nursing home, points assisted of the walls from construction workers and employees, including nurses, who often living facility or in-home care? stayed in the attics while the patients stayed

in the floors below. “My first job was helping with the original roof assessment,” says Lombardi. “As we were going through the attic, we kept finding stuff written all over the wall. It was like a timesheet for the masons and everyone else. A lot of the stuff we learned about the building, we learned from all these notes. A lot of them were actually written in German. There were a lot of German tradesmen here. In the cottages, it was a big tradition for staff to always sign and date any brick in any building they were working in. We traced a lot of these names—almost all staff.” One of the signatures belongs to a tour guide’s father, who was a nurse’s attendant at the hospital. More clues were discovered during renovations in Building 50, when sagging soffits led to a cache of old alcohol and wine bottles—some unopened—hidden 100 years ago by workers who were not permitted to drink in the attics, according to Lombardi. On the lower level, tourgoers used black light flashlights to illuminate fluorescent graffiti plastered on the walls and floor. Balogh says crude graffiti and trespassers are the bane of her existence.

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14 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

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Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 15

South Manitou Lighthouse

Julia and Aaron Sheridan (photos courtesy of Jack Sheridan)

HAUNTED LEELANAU Local historians lean into the spooky stories from the County

By Beth Milligan Haunted lighthouses. Ghost towns. Strange phenomena. Leelanau County has more than its fair share of spooky lore and eerie legends. Is all the supernatural activity just rumors and conjecture, or is there any historical weight to the myths? We pulled up a (metaphorical) seat around the campfire with some local experts to find out. South Manitou Lighthouse Michigan has the most lighthouses of any U.S. state at over 120, according to the United States Lighthouse Society. Because the historic beacons are often located near shipwrecks and other Great Lakes tragedies, they tend to have some of the most persistent haunting rumors. That’s true in Leelanau County, where two lighthouses—the South Manitou Island Lighthouse and the Grand Traverse Lighthouse in Northport’s Leelanau State Park—have long been enshrouded in ghostly mystery. Promote Michigan President Dianna Higgs Stampfler is the author of Michigan’s Haunted Lighthouses, a 2019 book from The History Press that investigates more than a dozen historic lighthouses rumored to have supernatural occupants. Stampfler’s research on the South Manitou Island Lighthouse took her on a wide-ranging quest, from newspaper archives to family interviews to overnight stays on the island itself. She says that in the mid-1800s, the island was “home to some 200 residents who lived and worked farming, logging, and serving the shipping industry.” South Manitou was a key refueling stop between Chicago and the Straits of Mackinac. Some of the island’s earliest spooky legends owed to that fact, as ships were rumored to stop at the island and bury cholera victims when outbreaks occurred on board—including passengers not yet fully dead. The cries of those buried alive can still be heard on some nights, according to local lore. But the lighthouse remains the main focal point due to the tragic tale of keeper Aaron Sheridan and his wife, Julia, who took up their posts in 1866 and served during the

time when a new, taller lighthouse tower was built in the early 1870s. Stampfler writes that in March 1878, the couple and an infant son were returning from a boat trip to the mainland when a squall overturned their vessel just as they were approaching South Manitou. The bodies of the family were never found, and five orphaned children were left behind. In the ensuing years, both rangers and visitors “have reported hearing the echo of voices, the sounds of footsteps, and other unexplained noises coming from the causeway which connects the boardedup keeper’s residence to the light tower, as well as accounts reported in other nearby structures,” Stampfler writes. Stampfler did not experience any ghostly visitations herself, and others with long-time island experience have denied any paranormal activity. Still, South Manitou remains “shrouded in intriguing and spirited theories that would make even the most seasoned ghost hunter’s hair stand on end,” she writes. Grand Traverse Lighthouse Another lighthouse keeper rumored to still be maintaining his post after death is Captain Peter Nelson, who served at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse from 1874 to 1890. Many are convinced Nelson still roams the site, with visitors and volunteers reporting unexplained voices, shadowy figures glimpsed down hallways, sudden chills, and the unmistakable feeling of a physical presence. The footprints of children on recently mopped floors—when no children are present—have also been witnessed. The Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum offers haunted lighthouse tours on various weekend dates in October highlighting the “strange and unusual” happenings at the site. Stampfler has a theory on why the local lighthouses may be haunted. “Lighthouse keepers were a different type of person,” she says. “Leelanau County is pretty remote today, but think about the 1800s. M-22 didn’t exist. It was rural, remote, and lonesome. Being a keeper was a calling to serve, where people didn’t see it as just work but as their life’s mission. After they passed, they loved it so much they couldn’t

16 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

leave. They’re still on the job.” Ghost Towns In 2020, Emma Keaton was promoted from summer intern to the newly hired archivist at the Leelanau Historical Society Museum (LHSM). One of her first projects was highlighting Leelanau County’s ghost towns in a series of Facebook posts. “Although a ghost town is defined as an abandoned town that still has standing buildings, we will be including towns whose structures have long since disappeared but who still have important stories to share,” LHSM posted. Keaton gave us a personal peek into her behind-the-scenes research for the series. Her work details the fascinating past of Glen Haven—once called Sleeping Bearville and one of the more “active ghost towns” in Leelanau County today with old shops and museums where visitors can still experience its history, Keaton says—as well as lost communities like Port Oneida, Crescent City, Gills Pier, Fouch, and Good Harbor. In contrast to Glen Haven, Good Harbor has few standing remains today to alert visitors they’re in a spot where a busy commerce town once thrived. “Nothing can last forever, and when the mill burnt down in 1906, villagers began to gradually move out, leaving their homes behind. Standing abandoned, the homes remained until the winter of 1924-25, when they were disassembled for their lumber,” Keaton writes for LHSM. The name Good Harbor today is mostly associated with the local bay and popular Sleeping Bear Dunes beach. Those wanting a truly haunting vibe to their ghost towns should look into Isadore in Centerville Township. Initially called Four Corners, the Polish community’s activities centered around its Holy Rosary Church and parochial school. However, Isadore was also home to “one of the county’s most famous murders,” according to Keaton, that of the nun Sister Mary Janina. Her disappearance and the subsequent discovery of her body buried in the church basement is the focus of the book Isadore’s Secret: Sin, Murder, and Confession in a

A clipping from March 1878 from the Detroit Post, detailing the deaths of the Sheridan family.

Northern Michigan Town by Traverse City author and journalist Mardi Link. The book makes for spookily ideal Halloween reading. Strange Phenomena Keaton has also researched a variety of other strange phenomena and unusual sightings in Leelanau County. Her work highlights an incident in September 1967 when multiple witnesses reported seeing a UFO, including above Lake Leelanau and near Sugar Loaf. The craft was described variously as having “blueish white lights”

Photograph of J.J. Kilwy's store in Good Harbor taken in 1909

and a “bright orange color,” hovering noiselessly a few hundred feet in the air and then departing at “a great rate of speed.” In LHSM’s oral histories—available on the organization’s website at LeelanauHistory.org—former Leelanau County Sheriff Bob White describes his experience in the early 1900s in Leland with foxfire, a bioluminescent light generated by some fungal species in forests or swamps. It’s an eerie sight at night, especially if you don’t know its cause. White described the foxfire as being so bright it lit up a swampy area “just like a city street.” Another natural event that caused some consternation decades later in the 1980s was “carnivore deer.” A once-small population of white-tailed deer, normally herbivores, on North Manitou Island grew overcrowded and became so desperate for food they began consuming large amounts of dead alewives along the island’s beaches. The animals were even seen wading and dunking their heads in the waves trying to get at the fish. Today, the National Park Service manages a special annual hunt on North Manitou—this year’s event is Oct. 31-Nov. 7—to help keep the deer population in check.

A Local Cryptid Finally, did you know Lake Leelanau reportedly has its own version of the Loch Ness Monster? “It is a monster said to disguise itself as a drifting log or tree until you’re close enough to see its eyes,” Keaton writes in her research. Among other verbal accounts, the most detailed testimony came from a teenage William Gauthier in 1910. Gauthier attempted to tie his boat to a tree in Lake Leelanau while fishing and suddenly found two eyes popping open and looking at him when he touched the stump. The boy watched, frozen in fear, as the large animal dove under his rowboat. Cryptid Wiki, which documents various creature encounters, notes that “Gauthier claimed that animal’s length was so impressive that he could see the submerged head of the beast appear on the far side of the boat while its tail still remained aloft.” According to the entry, Gauthier’s great-grandson attested Gauthier was left “thoroughly terrified” by the encounter, adding “the event had shaken him so badly that he avoided fishing on Lake Leelanau for many, many years.”

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Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 17

by Joseph beyer

Other Mommy

There’s a whole lot to like about the terror in the sometimes-sophisticated psychological thriller Other Mommy, from famed weirdo-director Rob Savage of Host (2020) and The Boogeyman (2023) and Blumhouse Productions, the central producer and distribution leader of Hollywood’s horror pipeline. Not only did Blumhouse Productions almost single-handedly revive the genre, they’ve stayed at the top of their game with commercial hit after hit. So it’s hardly a surprise they snagged topnotch indie actors Jessica Chastain and Jay Duplass to star in this latest holidaythemed demon-fest, which is part treatise on adultery, part commentary on parental neglect, and part finely crafted meditation on childhood. It’s also very haunting, very otherworldly, and features a terrifying entity that should definitely scare you in an otherwise straight-faced, sardonic comedy. Perhaps being all these things is part of the surprise and delight, but for this critic, the film’s identity crisis, trying to be all things at once, ultimately left me feeling puzzled. Based on the 2024 novel Incidents Around the House by Michigan author Josh Malerman (yes, the Bird Box bro), the story follows Bela (Arabella Olivia Clark), a girl with a secret friend who looks and sounds exactly like her mother and fills the void of her loneliness. This “friend” is anything but, and tries to lure Bela into submission by preying on her emotions and using the family dynamic against her. “Other Mommy” can wear other people’s faces, and that’s the film’s creepiest idea, which manifests

18 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

itself in a sort of Silly Putty Palooza of metamorphosis. Bela’s real mom is a hard-charging professional who’s rarely present, while husband Russell (Duplass) has become the laid-back stay-athome dad. Bela is a keen observer and feels the cracks in their marriage long before she can understand them. Savage has a talent for making the ordinary tense and hostile, and the slow, moody pace pays off, even as the film goes through multiple third-act surprises and climaxes that sometimes feel strained. But credit the script for skipping the tired ritual of grown-ups refusing to believe a frightened kid and playing it pretty straight. So committed and deliciously creepy is Chastain in the dual role that she nearly rescues the film. The Oscar winner of The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2021) fame is clearly having a ball as the villain, all frozen smiles and heads tilted a few degrees past natural, while grounding Ursula as a flawed mother trying her best. Duplass, the mumblecore pioneer turned character actor, makes Russell a sympathetic and lovable sort of loser. The real discovery in Other Mommy is the young actress Clark, who at just 10 years old carries the film’s emotional stakes with the poise of a seasoned pro. Sure, the film buries its smartest ideas under a pile of jump scares, and yes, that creak from your kid’s closet door will never sound the same, but Other Mommy delivers the intended escapism for the season and should satisfy horror fans of all ages. Rated R for some ultra bloody violence, the film runs a tight 1 hour and 33 minutes.

INSIDE MANISTEE’S GHOST SHIP Ghosts, ghouls and gore await

By Ross Boissoneau Each October, the City of Milwaukee is overrun by the dead and the undead, from vampires and werewolves to zombies and mummies. Visitors find their nightmares have come to life. Sounds like a movie set in the largest city in Wisconsin, but A) it really happens, and B) it’s not in Milwaukee but on board the ship S.S. City of Milwaukee. The retired railroad ferry car docked in Manistee now serves as a museum, but during the Halloween season, it undergoes a transformation into a ghost ship, complete with actors, animatronics, and effects, all put together by a crew of about 40. Robby Laurain is the executive director of the nonprofit Society for the Preservation of the S.S. City of Milwaukee and the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Acacia. The group oversees tours of the both ships and efforts to maintain them and tell their stories. “We’re so very lucky” to have them, says Laurain of the two historic watercraft. The ships offer tours throughout the summer which draw numerous visitors, but those numbers are dwarfed by the throngs of people who wait hours in line to tour Manistee’s Ghost Ship and get the bejeebers scared out of them. The lines snaking through the parking lot testify to its everincreasing popularity. Laurain says the ghost ship tours are the biggest fundraiser of the year for the nonprofit. “Some wait in line one and a half to two hours,” he says, before it is their turn to enter the haunted engine room, galley, staterooms,

passageways, and other areas of the ship. If they dare—even from the parking lot, they can see the occasional flashing lights and hear the screams, moans, and other sounds from the ship. But don’t feel too sorry for those waiting in line; they also enjoy live music from a band of the undead and can make purchases from on-site vendors. A Haunted History While the story of the S.S. City of Milwaukee is relatively mundane, her birth came about due to a true horror. The ship was built in 1930 to replace the S.S. Milwaukee, which sank in October 1929 during a gale just three miles from its home port of Milwaukee, killing all 52 men aboard. The S.S. City of Milwaukee subsequently operated from 1931 until 1978, carrying railroad cars between Muskegon and Milwaukee. She was then chartered to the Ann Arbor Railroad, for which she sailed until being retired in 1982. Now a national historic landmark, the City of Milwaukee also offers overnight stays in the summer. It also hosts private events, even a wedding or two each year. “It’s unique, a beautiful setting,” Laurain says. Her more recent history is full of mayhem, murder, terrifying supernatural happenings, and scarifying incidents involving mad scientists, severed limbs, and other accoutrements of carnage. Fortunately, that’s only been the case since 2000, when Manistee’s Ghost Ship first opened her hatches. The Halloween makeover attracts around 5,000 people each year. Its appeal is so

widespread it was named “Haunt of the Year” in 2024 by Michigan Haunted Houses—yes, there is such an organization—and has been nominated several other times. How the Horror Gets Made Laurain credits the crew that transforms the ship and scares the heck out of people. “It is an amazing group of people that comes together. It’s like an unorganized symphony,” he says with a laugh. Laurain says the volunteers meet a couple times prior to opening to come up with a plan for that year’s attractions. While they rely on things that have worked in the past—he mentions staples such as clowns, spiders, darkness, and a hospital—they also change things up to keep the scares fresh. The route through the ship changes yearly, and the 20 or so rooms have different themes. “Every year is different. This year there’s a mineshaft,” he says. The ship closes for the summer tours at the end of August, leaving just a month to transform it into a house—err, ship— of horrors. “It’s our biggest challenge and biggest opportunity,” says Laurain. Making it work is up to the cadre of volunteers. They each have their area of expertise. “Maybe they’re good at lighting or makeup, sound or set building.” Others portray the various inhabitants of the ship in all their gory glory. “We are always looking for more volunteers. All are appreciated,” says Laurain. That appreciation seems to go both ways. Many volunteers return yearly, some for a decade or more. Laurain says while most

come from the Manistee area, some hail from Traverse City, Reed City, Scottville, and beyond. “Some come from Wisconsin,” he says, though typically just for a weekend. The three dozen-plus volunteers take great pains to make sure the ship is festooned with spider webs, instruments of torture, and other props, with special effects adding to the fear factor. They are sourced from various places: “Halloween tours and shops, thrift stores, a lot are homemade,” says Laurain. While some are contrived by the volunteers, a number are purchased through Poison Props, a high-end Halloween supplier of props, animatronics, lights and more. Visitors are able to pace themselves so they can catch their breath before moving on to whatever awaits them around the next corner, and groups of guests are deliberately spaced out to provide the maximum amount of terror. Laurain says in some places you can’t even tell you are on a ship. In those you can, the setting and narrow passageways themselves can induce claustrophobia, adding to the thrills and chills. “The ship itself is creepy. If you turned the lights off, that would be sufficient,” he says. Manistee’s Ghost Ship is open every Friday and Saturday in October from 7:30-10:30pm and Sunday, Oct. 25, from 7:30-10pm. Admission is $15 to $20, depending on the night. New this year is the Fright Club, offering endless admissions for $85. That also provides for discounts on merchandise and a free Fright Club sticker.

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 19

Letting the Cat Out of the Bag The team behind Mama Lu’s is bringing a new Asian-inspired concept to Traverse City while keeping Mama Lu’s alive

By Matt Dursum Front Street’s 100 block is where tourists come for adorable gifts, cherries, and TC merch. It’s also where Traverse City’s foodies come for a fix of Mama Lu’s, a popular taco shop known and beloved for its artisanal tacos, Mexican sides, and margaritas worthy of award. After nearly a decade downtown, Executive Chef John Larson and Adrienne Brunette had planned to close the taco shop and turn it into The Happy Cat, a Cantonese-inspired restaurant built around dim sum, giant bowls of noodles, and a laidback yet elevated dining experience. But as they prepared to say goodbye, they realized Mama Lu’s wasn’t quite ready to leave. The Mama Lu’s Story Larson and Brunette opened Mama Lu’s in 2016 as an ode to Larson’s greatgrandmother, Mama Lu, in El Paso, Texas. Larson spent his youth being immersed in Mexican comfort food, like hand-pressed tortillas, freshly cut cilantro and white onion, and tear-inducing chilis charred on the grill. Mama Lu’s home cooking stuck with Larson as he pursued culinary school at the French Culinary Institute in New York City. After years in the hospitality industry, the couple bet on Traverse City’s growing food scene to embrace the flavors from the border. And it did. For almost a decade, Larson and Brunette’s team weathered the town’s seasons. Packed tables and non-stop rushes challenged them during the height of summer. In winter, they navigated snowstorms and road closures

and quickly gained a local following. Then there was COVID. As time went on, the little bar and taco shop not only persevered but thrived. Their business dream started with Mama Lu’s and eventually led to The Flying Noodle in 2020 and The Burrow TC in 2022. Instead of recreating the authentic flavors they experienced on their travels, they wanted their team to have fun with the concepts. “At The Flying Noodle, for instance, we’re not trying to be Italy. You’re not going to go to Italy and get that same dish, just like you’re not going to go to Mexico and get Mama Lu’s,” Brunette says. What they wanted to make was something memorable, with dishes made with real ingredients by people who are culinary trained and focused on the craft. Building the Happy Cat Menu But after almost a decade, Larson and Brunette decided it was time to move on. “We wanted to give our team an opportunity, and so we said, ‘Great, we’ll revamp Mama Lu’s and give everyone this new, exciting thing,’” Brunette says. So the team set the course to transform a popular taco shop into an Asian noodle bistro. The concept came to Larson and Brunette much as it did for their other ventures. “We travel a lot as a family, and even before John and I had kids, we always loved to travel, and obviously we have a passion for food,” Brunette says. “And one of our goals when we moved back to northern Michigan was to bring food that we felt the area was missing.” Inspired by their trips to East Asia and experiences at trend-setting restaurants

20 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

around the world, they envisioned their next venture to be a Cantonese-inspired restaurant in downtown Traverse City, with a menu featuring dim sum, crispy spring rolls, crab rangoons, green beans with spicy chili crisp, and pot stickers. Steamed buns and housemade noodles will be prepared in a brand-new pasta machine converted to deliver nonstop noodles on the fly; plus there’s a plan to end each meal with the restaurant’s playful version of a fortune cookie. For the drinks program, a curated sake selection, Asian beers, and cocktails inspired by the flavors of the region like fresh cut lychee, lemongrass, yuzu, and anise. Inside, expect a cozy and colorful vibe. “Our inspiration is like the street markets of Hong Kong,” says Brunette. “So just big bold flavors and big bold colors inside.” For the name and brand icon, Larson created something both recognizable and inviting. “We all know the little lucky cat that you see in all the windows around East Asia,” Brunette says, referring to the beckoning cat or maneki-neko of Japanese origin, popularized in Chinatown storefronts around the world. One Door Almost Closes…But Stays Open Larson and Brunette planned for Mama Lu’s last day on May 5, Cinco de Mayo, before spending a week converting it into The Happy Cat. But just before going through with it, Brunette suffered a medical emergency and had to put their plans on hold. As she recovered, Brunette says something unexpected happened. “We had people coming in saying, ‘Oh my gosh, we

had to get our fix, and come back one last time before you closed,’” she says. The public let them know, in forums and chats, that they didn’t approve of their planned glow-up for their restaurant. Mama Lu’s had to stay. “When we stepped back, we just realized what a missed opportunity it would be not to try to do both—so we pivoted.” The team knew the public wanted both restaurants to exist, and they did, too. For months, through all the FOMO and public eulogies for Mama Lu’s, they had to keep their plans a secret until they found the right space for The Happy Cat. “It was definitely busy for us,” Brunette says. “I’m just not a deceitful person, and it was killing me to not be able to tell people, ‘you know, don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere.’” When Amanda and Josh Thomas of Identity Brewing heard Larson and Brunette’s restaurant plans, they decided to sell the space and make plans for a future endeavor in town. Brunette says by late summer, it was time to let the cat out of the bag. The team at The Happy Cat will be converting the space throughout the month of October. Brunette says The Happy Cat can sit up to 50 people inside and 40 outside on a seasonal patio. “Our goal is to open, hopefully, between Thanksgiving and the first of December,” Brunette says. “However, we’ll see when we start getting in there—you never know what you’ll find with a remodel of an old building in Traverse City.” Stay up to date on Happy Cat’s opening day at happycattc.com or instagram.com/happycattc.

oct 24

Saturday

GREAT LAKES ENVIRONMENTAL FESTIVAL: 9am-4pm, West Shore Community College, Manistee. “One Health and One Water.” Learn about Green Schools, current concerns in the Great Lakes Region including climate change, environmental threats from microplastics, contagious disease from ticks, data centers, wild fires & much more. Free. glef.us ---------------------------------HALLOWEEN HOOPLA: Boyne Mountain, Boyne Falls, Oct. 23-25. Today includes pumpkin decorating, Character Meet-andGreets, trick or treating, free wagon rides, bonfire & free s’mores, & more. boynemountain.com/upcoming-events ---------------------------------HALLOWEEN FOR ALL: 10am-1pm, Dennos Museum Center, NMC, TC. Join The Dennos, Children’s Therapy Corner, Children’s Advocacy Center, TADL Youth Services, & Oryana for the fourth annual sensory-friendly Halloween event. Featuring a variety of fun activities, being mindful of diverse sensory needs & accommodations to create an inclusive environment. Free. simpletix.com/e/halloween-for-all-2026-tickets-287484 ---------------------------------RUCK THE MOUNTAIN: Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. 10am: Ruck the Mountain. The six-mile ruck includes both flat terrain & steep inclines around the property. Go at your own pace. Participant lunch is included between 11am-2pm. Noon-3pm: Run the Mountain (optional). Enjoy a fun run straight on up to the top of one of Crystal Mountain’s ski runs. $40-$70. crystalmountain.com/ events-activities/events/event-calendar/ ruck-the-mountain ---------------------------------YOGA IN THE GALLERIES: BREATH & MOVEMENT: 10:30am, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Bonfield Gallery, Petoskey. For adults. An all-levels vinyasa flow class held within the Modern Movement: Martha Graham and Barbara Morgan exhibition. The practice blends yoga, breathwork, & meditation while drawing from Graham’s approach to movement & expression. Free. crookedtree.app.neoncrm.com/eventdetail?event=27118 ---------------------------------SAY NO TO ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE & MANIPULATION OF CONGRESS: 11am, Grandview Parkway + Union St., TC. Protest Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people & manipulation of the American government. mideastjustpeace.net ---------------------------------TRICK OR TREAT IN THE GARDEN: 11am12:30pm, Peninsula Community Library, TC. Skeletons, stories, crafts & more. Not too scary family fun! Dress up if you like. Free. peninsulacommunitylibrary.org ---------------------------------FALL HARVEST FEST: Noon-2pm, East Bay Branch Library, TC. Celebrate fall with cider & donuts, games, (not so) spooky crafts, & more. Costumes welcome. Free. tadl.org/event/fall-harvest-fest-east-baybranch-34860 ---------------------------------DANIEL IN THE LIONS’ DEN: 2pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Corson Auditorium. Get ready to roar with the lions, stand with the Queen, & revel in the courage that echoes through the ages! Tickets start at $27. interlochen.org/events/daniel-in-lionsden-2026-10-24 ---------------------------------THE BELLAIRE WITCH PROJECT HALLOWEEN EVENT: 2-9pm, downtown Bel-

laire. Creepy cocktails, shopping specials, prizes for best costumes, tarot card readings, & more. ---------------------------------WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU VOTE WITH MI CIVIC ED: 2pm, Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Community Room, TC. Join the Michigan Center for Civic Education & the Traverse Area District Library for an interactive, hands-on event designed to prepare all new voters, including high school students, for active civic participation. Free. tadl.org/WhatToExpectWhenYouVote ---------------------------------$1 FAMILY MOVIE SATURDAY: “CASPER”: 4pm, The Garden Theater, Frankfort. $1 tickets, popcorn & juice boxes. gardentheater. org/comingsoon ---------------------------------3RD ANNUAL TC WITCH PADDLE: 4pm. Meet at Boardman River boat launch off Park & Grandview Parkway in downtown TC. Bring your own board or any paddling vessel, & witch or wizard attire. All ages welcome. Raincheck date: Oct. 25. Raising awareness for The Watershed Center Grand Traverse Bay. After the paddle, everyone is invited to The Workshop Brewing Co. Free. facebook.com/events/1490834352853214 ---------------------------------HALLOWEEN MOVIE NIGHT: 5-7pm, Lavender Hill Farm, Boyne City. Featuring “Hotel Transylvania.” Wear your Halloween best! Free; reserve ticket. ---------------------------------AUSABLE COMMUNITY THEATRE PRESENTS: “DILEMMAS WITH DINNER” BY ROBIN ROBERTS: 7pm, AuSable Artisan Village Performing Arts Center, Grayling. A messy, fast-paced farce of a dinner party gone wrong! $20. artisanvillage.org/events ---------------------------------DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY: 7pm, CAPS Performing Arts Auditorium, Cadillac High School. In this version of the story, the women are not portrayed as weak but more like the really brave heroes everyone needs to take on the monsters. The real question at hand is who are the monsters? Presented by Cadillac Footliters. $12-$15. cadillacfootliters.com ---------------------------------LIVE AT THE BAY: THE MURDER MYSTERY CO.: 7pm, The Bay Community Theatre, Suttons Bay. Featuring “Midnight at the Masquerade,” a masquerade-themed murder mystery. With a mystery under each feathery façade, unmasking the killer may be quite a challenge. It’s up to you to determine which partygoer is guilty, bring this crime to justice, & save the party! $30-$35. thebaytheatre.org/ movie/live-at-the-bay-the-murder-mystery-co ---------------------------------“THE THERAPIST”: 7:30pm, The Cheboygan Opera House. Presented by the Fine Arts Society of Detroit. Enjoy Jerry Nehr’s hilarious new play. “The Therapist” follows a day in the life of Buster - a psychotherapist who’s not very good at his job. $10-$20. ---------------------------------DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS: 7:30pm, Old Town Playhouse, TC. When her sister falls ill with a mysterious disease, Lucy & her fiance Jonathan seek out the dangerous & sexy Count Dracula. $25-$35. oldtownplayhouse.com/performances/mainstage/dracula.html ---------------------------------KAMIKAZE COMEDY W/ BRAD WENZEL FEAT. BLAIN HILL; HOSTED BY JEREMY WEST: 8pm, Right Brain Brewery, TC. Wenzel is known for his offbeat one-liners, dry delivery, & unassuming presence. Hill has performed for a decade in the Detroit comedy scene. $15-$20. kamikazecomedy. square.site/product/brad-wenzel-october23rd-24th/URIW3676L7KVXDIKFUV5U5FB ?cs=true&cst=custom

oct/nov

24-01 send your dates to: events@traverseticker.com

Former Northern Michigan Health Officer Lisa Peacock celebrates the release of her new memoir, “Swimming Up: A Health Officer’s Journey of Dignity, Defiance, and Hope” at the Traverse City Golf & Country Club, Thurs., Oct. 29 from 5:30-8pm. Hear about this story of resilience, the power of human connection and the possibility of hope even during life’s most challenging seasons. Joining Peacock will be Kelli Mengebier, a Traverse City business owner, former National Cherry Queen and recent President of the National Cherry Festival Board of Directors. Admission is complimentary; please register in advance: lisapeacock.net/swimming-up-tcgc-event-registration.

oct 25

Sunday

INTERLOCHEN FARMERS MARKET HALLOWEEN BASH: 9am-2pm, 2112 Joe Maddy Pkwy, Interlochen. End of season Halloween Bash. Trick or treat at the Interlochen Farmers Market! Free. facebook.com/InterlochenFarmersMarket ---------------------------------BOOZY BOOK FAIR: CHAPTER 4: 11am, Castle Farms, Charlevoix. Browse books, shop enchanting creations from local makers & artists, discover spooky treasures, & enjoy Halloween vibes. Costumes are encouraged, & bring a book for the community book swap. Admission is free. castlefarms. com/event/boozy-book-fair-chapter-4 ---------------------------------STUTSMANVILLE CHAPEL FALL FESTIVAL: 11:30am-1:30pm, Stutsmanville Cha-

pel, Harbor Springs. Trunk or Treat, games, face paintings, tractor rides & more. Free. ---------------------------------WANDER WALLOON: GUIDED FALL COLOR HIKE: 1-2:30pm, Postle Farm Preserve, Boyne Falls. Enjoy the beauty of northern Michigan’s fall colors on a guided hike through Postle Farm Preserve. Join WLAC to learn about the forest & natural communities that make the preserve special while enjoying the changing landscape & one of the Walloon Lake watershed’s most scenic seasons. Free. walloon.org/event/wander-walloonguided-fall-color-hike ---------------------------------SLEUTHING AT STITES NATURAL AREA: 1:30pm, Stites Natural Area, Suttons Bay. Join the Leelanau Conservancy for a sensory-filled experience on a docent-led hike as you explore what you might notice from the tip-top of the trees to the leafy carpet of the forest floor—& everywhere in between. Free.

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 21

leelanauconservancy.org/events/sleuthingat-stites-natural-area ---------------------------------DRACULA, A FEMINIST REVENGE FANTASY, REALLY: (See Sat., Oct. 24, except today’s time is 2pm.) ---------------------------------FORMULA 1 FREE WATCH PARTIES: USA (AUSTIN): 2pm, The Bay Community Theatre, Suttons Bay. Experience the races on the big screen! Includes Formula 1 games. Doors open an hour before the start of each race. thebaytheatre.org/home-page ---------------------------------FREE DANCE: 2-5pm, Bodies in Motion, TC. Join Night Moves Social Dance & Dance with Ramon for an afternoon of dancing. Learn beginner-friendly steps in waltz, east coast swing, country two-step, & more. facebook.com/events/s/free-openhouse/1235253803015531 ---------------------------------GREAT LAKES CINEMA SERIES PRESENTS: “HOTEL TRANSYLVANIA: TRANSFORMANIA” 2pm, Great Lakes Center for the Arts, Bay Harbor. Costumes encouraged! Pay what you choose. greatlakescfa.org/ events/detail/hotel-transylvania-transformania ---------------------------------BEETHOVEN: SYMPHONY 7 + ‘EMPEROR’ CONCERTO: 3pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Corson Auditorium. Experience Beethoven at his most powerful & exhilarating. Symphony No. 7 surges with driving rhythms & soaring melodies, a work Wagner called the apotheosis of the dance. $33–$72. tcphil.org/events/beethoven-symphony7-emperor-concerto ---------------------------------AUSABLE COMMUNITY THEATRE PRESENTS: “DILEMMAS WITH DINNER” BY ROBIN ROBERTS: (See Sat., Oct. 24, except today’s time is 4:30pm.)

---------------------------------THE FLANNEL SEASON COMEDY TOUR: 7pm, The Outsider, Manistee. Michigan comic Brendon Lemon brings The Flannel Season Comedy Tour to West Michigan, Oct. 20-28. Besides Lemon, who has appeared on NBC, CBS, The Drew Barrymore Show, & more, this tour includes some of the best local comics. Tickets run from free & pay-what-you-want up to $12. bit.ly/m/ FlannelSeason

oct 26

monday

NCMC CELEBRATES INTERNATIONAL WEEK: NCMC Library, Petoskey. Today includes a Travel Photography Exhibition (Oct. 26-30) & Bollywood Beats & Beyond 6-7pm. This includes an Indian culture music & dance lesson. ncmich.edu ---------------------------------2026 NORTHWEST MICHIGAN HOUSING SUMMIT: 9am, Hagerty Center, NMC, TC. This annual convening brings together community leaders, housing professionals, & partners from across the region to share ideas, & highlight innovative solutions to advance housing efforts. housingnorth.org/ nwm-housing-summit ---------------------------------BOOK-OR-TREAT: 10am, Suttons Bay Bingham District Library. Bring your child (age 0-12) to the library the week of Oct. 2631 for Book-or-Treat! Your child can pick out a special treat: a new, free book to keep! One book per child, please. While supplies last. sbbdl.org/event/6555/2026-10-26 ---------------------------------LITERARY MACABRE: 6:30pm, Peninsula Community Library, TC. Authors Jillian

22 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

Laine (“Henry Tudor Must Die”), Eloise Corvo (“Stone’s Throw Mystery Series”) & L.E. Todd (“The Spoiler”) join for a night of mystery, murder & magic. Partake of the snacks if you dare! Free. ---------------------------------THE FLANNEL SEASON COMEDY TOUR: 7pm, The Hideout Saloon, Cadillac. Michigan comic Brendon Lemon brings The Flannel Season Comedy Tour to West Michigan, Oct. 20-28. Besides Lemon, who has appeared on NBC, CBS, The Drew Barrymore Show, & more, this tour includes some of the best local comics. Tickets run from free & pay-what-you-want up to $12. bit.ly/m/ FlannelSeason

oct 27

tuesday

2026 NORTHWEST MICHIGAN HOUSING SUMMIT: (See Mon., Oct. 26) --------------------THE FRIENDLY GARDEN CLUB OCTOBER MEETING: 10am, Debra J. Edson Family Education Center, The Botanic Garden, Historic Barns Park, TC. Learn about spring & summer blossoms that start as bulbs & corms from Jeannine Rupert, co-owner of Pine Hill Nursery. RSVP: clarksandi44@ gmail.com. ---------------------------------CONNECTING WOMEN IN BUSINESS LUNCHEON & WOMEN’S SMALL BUSINESS SHOWCASE: 11:30am-1:30pm, Grand Unity Event Center, Petoskey. Get a jump start on your holiday shopping while celebrating the power of local entrepreneurship! Buffet lunch from Sweetwater Catering – grab it when you want. The Showcase will feature up to 30 women-owned & women-

led businesses. Register. $35-$45. petoskeychamber.com ---------------------------------TALK ABOUT IT TUESDAYS: CARING FOR YOUR ADHD BRAIN: 2:30pm, NCMC Library, Petoskey. Local psychologist Dr. Lilah Clevey will share evidence-based strategies for optimizing the functioning of an ADHD brain. The session will explore ways to tailor daily life to work with the brain rather than against it, along with practical selfcompassion & self-care techniques. Free. ncmich.edu ---------------------------------THE BILL OF RIGHTS: WHY ARE THEY IMPORTANT?: 6pm, Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Community Room, TC. If the original constitution of the United States of America is such a perfect document, then why do we have the Bill of Rights? Why were they so important to add? And what exactly are our rights contained in those Amendments? Free. tadl. org/BillOfRights ---------------------------------THE FLANNEL SEASON COMEDY TOUR: 7pm, The Karlin Inn, Interlochen. Michigan comic Brendon Lemon brings The Flannel Season Comedy Tour to West Michigan, Oct. 20-28. Besides Lemon, who has appeared on NBC, CBS, The Drew Barrymore Show, & more, this tour includes some of the best local comics. Tickets run from free & pay-what-you-want up to $12. bit.ly/m/ FlannelSeason

oct 28

wednesday

TRUNK OR TREAT: 3:30pm, Leelanau Sands Casino, Peshawbestown. Candy galore, creative cars,

& you get to vote for Best Trunk! Free. leelanausandscasino.com/events ---------------------------------THE FLANNEL SEASON COMEDY TOUR: 7pm, The Weathervane Restaurant, Charlevoix. Michigan comic Brendon Lemon brings The Flannel Season Comedy Tour to West Michigan, Oct. 20-28. Besides Lemon, who has appeared on NBC, CBS, The Drew Barrymore Show, & more, this tour includes some of the best local comics. Tickets run from free & pay-what-you-want up to $12. bit.ly/m/FlannelSeason ---------------------------------THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW: 8:30pm, Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Community Room, TC. Interactive props handed out at the door, costumes encouraged. Free. tadl.org/rockyhorror

oct 29

thursday

COFFEE @ TEN, PETOSKEY: 10am, Crooked Tree Arts Center, Theater, Petoskey. Join CTAC School of Ballet student choreographer, Ella Galle, & long-time guest choreographer with the School, Robin Pettersen, for a look behind the scenes into the process of creating Fall for Dance. Free. crookedtree. org/events-and-exhibitions/events/lectures/ petoskey-lectures.html ---------------------------------TREE PLANTING WORKBEE: 10am-2pm, Brown Bridge Quiet Area, TC. Help restore, diversify, & beautify the Brown Bridge Quiet Area by planting native trees & shrubs along the banks of the Boardman-Ottaway River. Meet at the Canoe Landing Trailhead

off Brown Bridge Rd. Free; registration required. natureiscalling.org/events ---------------------------------NEVER SETTLE: 5pm, Peninsula Community Library, TC. OMP resident & author Attia Qureshi talks about her book & negotiation skills to get what you want. Attia is the founder of AQ Consulting & an adjunct professor at Ford School of Public Policy. Free. ---------------------------------ANTRIM COUNTY HIGH TEA FOR BREAST CANCER PREVENTION PRESENTATION: 5:30pm, Bellaire Public Library. Learn more about breast cancer awareness & prevention while coming together as a community during Breast Cancer Awareness Month. ---------------------------------SWIMMING UP: AN EVENING OF STORY, LEADERSHIP & HOPE: 5:30-8pm, TC Golf & Country Club. Join Lisa Peacock for the official Traverse City launch of “Swimming Up: A Health Officer’s Journey of Dignity, Defiance, and Hope.” Gather & connect, followed by a brief author talk, reading & Q&A. Free; registration requested. lisapeacock. net/swimming-up-tcgc-event-registration ---------------------------------HALLOWEEN LANTERN-LIT HIKE: 6-8pm, Boardman River Nature Center, TC. Throw on your costume & celebrate Halloween with a self-guided hike featuring North Sky Raptor Sanctuary! Get ready for games, trivia & live raptors on the trail. $5; registration required. natureiscalling.org/events ---------------------------------CANDLELIGHT: 90S UNPLUGGED: 6:30pm, The Village at GT Commons, Kirkbride Hall, TC. Surrounded by the warm glow of thousands of candles, a string quartet brings music from Everlong - Foo Fighters, Don’t Speak - No Doubt, Zombie - The Cran-

berries to life in a 60-minute concert. $39$63 + booking fee. feverup.com/m/546352 ---------------------------------CONTROLLED CHAOS WITH ERIC HALL: 6:30pm, Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Community Room, TC. Author & former teacher Eric Hall will talk about his new book, “Controlled Chaos: Lessons They Didn’t Teach You in Teacher School,” & share some of the lessons, life-changing moments & hilarious stories. Free. tadl.org/ controlledchaos ---------------------------------DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS: (See Sat., Oct. 24) ---------------------------------WHEN THE LIGHT LEAVES: 7:30pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Dendrinos Chapel & Recital Hall. Interlochen Arts Academy singer-songwriter students perform original songs in a variety of contemporary & traditional styles. $14-$17. interlochen.org/ events/singer-songwriter-2026-10-29

oct 30

friday

LUNCHEON LECTURE: LET THE CHILDREN PLAY: 11:30am-1pm, NCMC, Library Conference Center, Petoskey. NCMC Early Childhood Education Coordinator Jen Wixson will present. $15. ncmclifelonglearning. com/event-6778651 ---------------------------------TEEN MONSTER MASH: 2-5pm, Petoskey District Library. Intended for grades 7-12. Come in costume & enjoy food, treats, games & music. ----------------------------------

TRUNK OR TREAT ON MAIN ST.: 4-5pm, Main St., Village at Bay Harbor. Main St. will be closed & lined up with vehicles & GEM cars with trunks filled with goodies for all the kids dressed to impress. ---------------------------------19TH ANNUAL FALL FOR DANCE: 7pm, Harbor Springs Performing Arts Center. The CTAC School of Ballet presents an evening of works choreographed by their pre-professional dancers & celebrated guest choreographers. $5-$50. crookedtree.org/eventsand-exhibitions/events/fall-for-dance.html ---------------------------------ENOCH ARDEN: 7pm, The Music House, Williamsburg. Enjoy this dramatic multimedia performance featuring Chris Lane, Jean Merce Coonrod, & Michael Coonrod. It is a powerful story told through voice, cello, piano, & image. $25-$30. mynorthtickets. com/events/chris-lane-jean-coonrod-andmichael-coonrod-perform-enoch-arden-atthe-music-house-october-30-10-30-2026 ---------------------------------LITTLE DIPPER WSG ELISABETH PIXLEY-FINK: 7pm, Old Art Building, Leland. Enjoy a night of high energy country hits & middle-school dance ballads. $25. oldartbuilding.com/events/little-dipper-with-special-guest-elisabeth-pixley-fink ---------------------------------MOCK TOURS AT THE DENNOS: HALLOWEEN EDITION: Dennos Museum Center, NMC, TC. Join Full Tilt Comedy & The Dennos for a Halloween-themed improv experience that reimagines the museum through the eyes of ghosts, ghouls, & the hilariously undead. Professional improvisers pose as fictional docents, leading you on a spirited tour of the galleries. Choose from two tour times: 7pm or 9:30pm. $20-$25.

THE THANKSGIVING PLAY BY LARISSA FASTHORSE

Good intentions collide with absurd assumptions in this wickedly funny satire, as a troupe of terminally woke teaching artists scrambles to create a pageant that somehow manages to celebrate both Turkey Day and Native American Heritage Month. November 6,7,8,13,14,15

Scan the QR code for tickets!

www.solsticetheatre.company

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 23

LEARN MORE AT NWM.ORG/LABS

YOUR EDUCATION. YOUR FUTURE. YOUR OPPORTUNITY.

simpletix.com/e/mock-tours-at-the-dennoshalloween-edition-tickets-287486 ---------------------------------THRILLER NIGHT: 7-9pm, Jacob’s Farm, TC. Prepare for a scare, as paid actors in Halloween costumes hide themselves in the corn & make this maze one you don’t want to get lost in! Best to purchase tickets in advance. $20. jacobsfarmtc.com/thriller-night ---------------------------------“MOBY DICK: REHEARSED”: 7:30pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Harvey Theatre. Experience one of the great American novels reimagined through the visionary theatrical style of Orson Welles. $19-$24. interlochen.org/concerts-and-events/allevents?search=Moby+Dick ---------------------------------DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS: (See Sat., Oct. 24)

oct 31

saturday

18TH ANNUAL ZOMBIE 5K RUN: 9am, Right Brain Brewery, TC. Proceeds benefit TART Trails. Stick around after the race for a medal ceremony, costume prizes, music, post-race refreshments & zombie socializing. $25-$35. traversetrails.org/event/zombie-run ---------------------------------MORALLY GREY 5K RUN/WALK: 9am, Magnus Park, Petoskey. A portion of the proceeds benefit the Great Start Collaborative & Family Coalition of Charlevoix, Emmet, & Northern Antrim counties. Register. $45. FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT runsignup.com/Race/MI/Petoskey/MorallyGrey5K NWM.ORG/LABS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - SKI SWAP: 9am-2pm, James Bay, lower level of Crystal Center, Crystal Mountain, Thompsonville. Sell your skis, boots, snowboards, poles & goggles, as well as clean & lightly used ski & snowboard outerwear. Drop off at lower level of Crystal Center, Oct. 29 from 9am-3pm; & Oct. 30 from 1-7pm. 25% of the proceeds from this THE ADULT EDUCATION event benefits local high school teams & the Crystal Community Ski Club. Unsold equipment must be picked up after the High School Computer & sale, between 2-4pm. crystalmountain. Diploma Technology Skills Your Education. Your Future. Your Opportunity. com/events-activities/events/event-calendar/ski-swap ---------------------------------High School DOWNTOWN PETOSKEY TRICK OR Workplace & Equivalency TREAT: Join for a trick-or-treating advenEmployability Skills Test Prep (GED ®) ture throughout the downtown stores. Meet at Central Elementary School at 9:45am to High School Diploma Computer kick off the costume parade. The parade will & Technology Skills begin at 10am, starting from Central ElemenEnglish as a Second Postsecondary tary & marching down Howard St. to Mitchell Language (ESL) Classes Education St. petoskeydowntown.com/events/hallowHigh School Equivalency Workplace een-fun Test Prep (GED®) & Employability Skills ---------------------------------DOWNTOWN TC HALLOWEEN WALK: 10Basic Skills Hybrid Learning 11:30am. Wear your costume & enjoy trick English as a Second Language Postsecondary Development Options or treating, family friendly activities, candy & (ESL) Classes Preparation more! Held on Front St., State St., Old Town, West Front, & surrounding side streets. downtowntc.com/events/downtown-hallowBasic Skills Hybrid Learning een-walk.html Development Options SIX LOCATIONS ACROSS NORTHERN MICHIGAN ---------------------------------TRAVERSE CITY REPAIR CAFE: FALL EDITION: 10am, Traverse Area District Library, McGuire Community Room, TC. Benzonia @ BACN Cadillac Kalkaska Benzonia @ BACN Manistee Cadillac Partners Green Door Folk School & the 231-882-9544 231-876-1648 231-258-9304 231-882-9544 231-723-5910 231-876-1648 rockstar fixers will be back! Free. tadl.org/ repaircafe2026 Kalkaska Petoskey Traverse City Manistee Petoskey Traverse City ---------------------------------231-258-9304 231-439-5204 231-922-3761 SAY NO TO ISRAEL’S GENOCIDE & MA231-723-5910 231-439-5204 231-922-3761 NIPULATION OF CONGRESS: (See Sat., Oct. 24) A PROGRAM OF ---------------------------------SAFETY BOO BASH: Noon, Station 12, 2025 N. East Silver Lake Rd., TC. Join Grand Traverse Metro Fire Dept. for a Halloween afternoon. Enjoy trick-or-treating, games,

OUR SERVICES

LEARNING LABS

OUR SERVICES

Northwest Michigan Works! is supported by the State of Michigan and is a proud partner of the American Job Center Network. This project may have been funded, in portion or in whole, with authorized and appropriate federal funds. Contact Networks Northwest to request a speciﬁc dollar ﬁgure, as funding levels change frequently. Equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and service are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may call the Michigan Relay Center by dialing 711.

24 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

& community resources, all while learning some safety tips along the way. Enter for your chance to win a free one-night stay at Great Wolf Lodge. Free. facebook.com/ share/1EtAZDz2C8 ---------------------------------HALLOWEEN AT POND HILL FARM, HARBOR SPRINGS: Halloween Kids Costume Contest at 1:15pm, followed by the Giant Pumpkin Explosion at 2pm. pondhill.com ---------------------------------HALLO-READ: 2pm, Interlochen Public Library. Show off your costume, enjoy the party, & celebrate the season with neighbors & friends. Free. InterlochenPublicLibrary.org ---------------------------------CEDAR CHAMBER TRUNK OR TREAT: 3-5pm, downtown Cedar. Free. facebook. com/share/1LZSxbCyh7 ---------------------------------ANNUAL DOWNTOWN BELLAIRE TRICK OR TREATING: 5-8pm, Bridge St., downtown Bellaire. ---------------------------------ARCADIA TRUNK OR TREAT: Arcadia Historical Museum. Parking: 4:30-5pm; Trunk or Treat: 5-7pm; Museum Flashlight Tour with Spooky Surprises: 6-7pm. Free hot dogs, brats, chips & pop. arcadiamimuseum.org/ event-list ---------------------------------ELLSWORTH COMMUNITY TRUNK OR TREAT: 5-7pm, Ellsworth Community Park. Presented by Ellsworth DDA & community businesses, organizations & churches. For all ages. ---------------------------------EMPIRE TRUNK-OR-TREAT: 5-6:30pm, Front St., Empire. Sponsored by the Empire Area Community Center. Free hotdogs & chips supplied by Empire Methodist Church. empireareacommunitycenter.org ---------------------------------MACKINAW CITY TRUNK OR TREAT: 5-7pm, Old School Park, Mackinaw City. ---------------------------------TRICKS, TREATS & TALES AT THE LIBRARY: 5-7pm, Bellaire Public Library. ---------------------------------“MOBY DICK: REHEARSED”: 7:30pm, Interlochen Center for the Arts, Harvey Theatre. Experience one of the great American novels reimagined through the visionary theatrical style of Orson Welles. $19-$24. interlochen.org/concerts-and-events/allevents?search=Moby+Dick ---------------------------------DRACULA: A COMEDY OF TERRORS: (See Sat., Oct. 24)

nov 01

sunday

“MOBY DICK: REHEARSED”: (See Sat., Oct. 31, except today’s time is 2pm.) --------------------CYCLES: FOUR CENTURIES. ONE MUSICAL THREAD.: 4pm, Mission Hill Church, TC. The Dido Ensemble, a new professional chamber orchestra, creates an intimate, immersive & adventurous listening experience. $20 suggestion donation. ---------------------------------FORMULA 1 FREE WATCH PARTIES: MEXICO: 5pm, The Bay Community Theatre, Suttons Bay. Experience the races on the big screen! Includes Formula 1 games. thebaytheatre.org/home-page

helping hands

BUY ONE, GIVE ONE SOCK CAMPAIGN: East Jordan sock company, Socks Kick, teams up with Project Feed the Kids in TC for a Buy One, Give One sock campaign. For

$10, customers get a pair of high-quality wool socks in a mystery color & design. For every pair purchased, Socks Kick donates another pair to Project Feed the Kids. Purchase at website: sockskick.com/products/givingsocks-buy-1-donate-1.

ongoing

THE DEAD ENDS ON SPRUCE: Oct. 1-31, Spruce St., TC. An ordinary home is transformed into a spooky & immersive haunted attraction. The display features elaborate Halloween decorations, eerie scenes, animatronics, special effects, & interactive elements for visitors of all ages. Find ‘The Dead Ends on Spruce’ on Facebook. ---------------------------------PETOSKEY BUDDHIST BOOK STUDY SANGHA: Tuesdays, 10am-noon through Dec. 8. First Presbyterian Church, Petoskey. Meditate, read together a current Buddhistfocused book, meet with Zen teacher. For more info contact: juliafogarty.jf@gmail.com or skiprenker@gmail.com. ---------------------------------BIKES & BEERS: Held the last Weds. of every month, as long as weather allows. Meet at Nocturnal Bloom, TC at 6:30pm for a group ride followed by beers. All riders & abilities welcome. See web site for map & more details. nocturnalbloombrewing.com/ events/bikes-and-beers-pe4jp

farmers markets

EAST BAY CORNERS FARMERS MARKET: Thursdays, 2-6pm through Oct. 29 at East Bay Twp. Offices, TC. Shop fresh local produce, baked goods, handmade items & more while connecting with neighbors & supporting regional farmers & small businesses. Special events each week. eastbaytwp.org/ residents/food_security.php ---------------------------------SARA HARDY DOWNTOWN FARMERS MARKET: Saturdays, 7:30am-noon; Wednesdays, 8am-noon. Rotary Square, downtown TC. dda.downtowntc.com/farmers-market

art

INSIDE CROOKED TREE II: Crooked Tree Arts Center, Galleries, TC. Take a peek inside Crooked Tree, with an exhibition that celebrates the talented artists & creatives who make up the Crooked Tree Arts Center community. Featuring artwork by staff from both Crooked Tree locations, along with instructors & volunteers. Runs through Nov. 7. See web site for hours. crookedtree. org/events-and-exhibitions/exhibits/insidecrooked-tree-ii.html ---------------------------------THE LONG MOMENT: POLAROIDS & SOLARGRAPHS BY RACHEL WINSLOW: Leelanau Twp. Library, Northport. Rachel uses analog processes (light sensitive film & paper, vintage & pinhole cameras, etc.) to create atmospheric images of otherworldly proportions. Her exhibition, “The Long Moment,” brings together a selection of Polaroids & Solargraphs that portray life’s colors & tones at the crossroads between the imagined & real. The exhibition runs through Feb. 15. Closed on Sundays. See web site for hours. Free. leelanautownshiplibrary.org/ team-1 ---------------------------------SHAPE, FORM & LIGHT 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY MEMBER EXHIBIT: Village

Arts Building, Northport. Presented by the Northport Arts Association, this exhibit runs through Oct., Tues. through Sun., noon4pm. Free. northportartsassociation.org/ events-exhibits ---------------------------------“HEART OF A TREE, SOUL OF A STORM”: Charlevoix Circle of Arts. A juried art exhibition featuring creative works rooted in a fallen tree & shaped by the 2025 ice storm that changed the landscape. Runs through Oct. See web site for hours. charlevoixcircle.org ---------------------------------CROOKED TREE ARTS CENTER, PETOSKEY: - ECHOES: REVISITING MEMORY: Held in Gilbert Gallery. Environments, places & landscapes shape our memories & experiences. “Echoes” explores how memories lose their clarity & change as we revisit them. The works on view reflect these varied reminiscences of environments that stay with us & reverberate in our minds over time. Runs through Oct. See web site for hours. crookedtree.org/events-and-exhibitions/exhibits/echoes-revisiting-memory.html - “MODERN MOVEMENT: MARTHA GRAHAM & BARBARA MORGAN”: Held in Bonfield Gallery. Featuring original Barbara Morgan photographs of Graham & her company in the 1930s & 40s. Runs through Oct. See web site for hours. crookedtree. org/events-and-exhibitions/exhibits/modern-movement.html ---------------------------------DENNOS MUSEUM CENTER, NMC, TC: - DARRYL BROWN: “BUBBLES OF LOVE”: A dreamscape of both primitive & modern juxtaposed color & a whimsical journey that blends Atavistic Animism with a pure discovery in the moment & from different angles. Runs through March 28, 2027. Open Tues. through Sun., 11am-4pm. Closed Mondays & major holidays. dennosmuseum.org/art/ upcoming-exhibitions - DRAWING TO MOTION: CONTEMPORARY INUIT ART FROM THE DENNOS MUSEUM: From spiritual & physical transformations to modes of transportation & scenes of daily life, this exhibition provides an intimate view into the hand-drawn & animated-by-hand world of Inuit artists from the late 20th & early 21st centuries. Runs through May 30, 2027. Open Tues. through Sun., 11am-4pm. Closed Mondays & major holidays. dennosmuseum.org/art/ upcoming-exhibitions - MATERIAL WORLD: TEN WOMEN: An invitational exhibition organized by the Muskegon Museum of Art, featuring women artists working with non-traditional materials or using traditional materials in non-traditional ways. Many of the works use found objects common to the everyday household, or bring elements from nature into inside spaces. Runs through Jan. 3, 2027. Open Tues. through Sun., 11am-4pm. Closed on Mondays & major holidays. dennosmuseum.org/ art/upcoming-exhibitions - “FULL CIRCLE: WASTE PLASTIC TRANSFORMATIONS”: TC raised artist Simon Anton returns to the area with a body of sculpture & design objects built over the last 12 years at his Detroit Studio for his solo exhibit. Anton uses plastic sourced from Detroit neighborhoods, factory waste & the automotive industry. Runs through Aug. 8, 2027. Dennos Museum Center is open Tues. through Sun., 11am-4pm; closed Mondays. dennosmuseum.org/art/upcoming-exhibitions - REFLECTIONS ON COMMUNITY: 75 YEARS OF STUDENT VOICES: This exhibition celebrates NMC’s 75th Anniversary by exploring the college’s history through the eyes of those who experienced it firsthand – students. Runs through Jan. 3. dennosmuse-

um.org/art/now-on-view/75-years-studentvoices.html ---------------------------------GLEN ARBOR ARTS CENTER: - “AT LEAST A DOZEN FRIENDS”: Held in Lobby Gallery. Margo Burian is known as a painter of quiet, atmospheric landscapes, waterscapes, farmsteads, & rowboats hitched to old docks. Over the years she has been developing a body of work based on collage, image transfer, & mixed media. Her exhibit runs through Dec. 17. See web site for hours. glenarborart.org/product/exhibitat-least-a-dozen-friends - “TAKING FLIGHT”: Invitational group exhibition featuring the works of Shanny Brooke (paintings), Cynthia Marks (ceramic vessels) & Michelle Tock York (mixed media sculpture). Runs through Oct. 29. See web site for hours. glenarborart.org/product/exhibittaking-flight ---------------------------------OLIVER ART CENTER: - ATMOSPHERES: PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE LOVELESS: Photographer & Michigan native Steve Loveless has been capturHours: 10am - 5pm, 7 days a week ing the stunning atmospheres of northern 10480 SE Torch Michigan for decades. This exhibition runs Lake Rd • aldenmillhouse.com through Oct. 30. Open Tues. - Sat., 10am4pm; Sun., noon-4pm. oliverartcenterfrankfort.org/music-series - ALL MEDIA JURIED EXHIBITION: Runs through Nov. 13. This exhibition showcases the best work of regional artists in all media. Open Tues.-Sat., 10am-4pm; Sun., noon4pm. oliverart.org

Deadline for Dates information is Spicing up Tuesday for the life since following1984 week.

For Traverse City area news and events, visit TraverseTicker.com

HEART SLEEVE PRESENTS

LIVE AT

city opera house

jacob ramseyer A TWO-DAY LIVE MUSIC EXPERIENCE FEATURING A FULL CONCERT EVENT, INTIMATE STORYTELLING PERFORMANCE, SPECIAL GUESTS, AND EXCLUSIVE FAN EXPERIENCES.

Deadline for Dates information is ALL LIVE AT THE CITY OPERA HOUSE. Tuesday for the november 19 & following week. november 20

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

john richard paul

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 25

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um.org/art/now-on-view/75-years-studentvoices.html ---------------------------------GLEN ARBOR ARTS CENTER: - “AT LEAST A DOZEN FRIENDS”: Held in Lobby Gallery. Margo Burian is known as a painter of quiet, atmospheric landscapes, waterscapes, farmsteads, & rowboats hitched to old docks. Over the years she has been developing a body of work based on collage, image transfer, & mixed media. Her exhibit runs through Dec. 17. See web site for hours. glenarborart.org/product/exhibitat-least-a-dozen-friends - “TAKING FLIGHT”: Invitational group exhibition featuring the works of Shanny Brooke (paintings), Cynthia Marks (ceramic vessels) & Michelle Tock York (mixed media sculpture). Runs through Oct. 29. See web site for hours. glenarborart.org/product/exhibittaking-flight ---------------------------------OLIVER ART CENTER: - ATMOSPHERES: PHOTOGRAPHY BY STEVE LOVELESS: Photographer & Michigan native Steve Loveless has been capturing the stunning atmospheres of northern Michigan for decades. This exhibition runs through Oct. 30. Open Tues. - Sat., 10am4pm; Sun., noon-4pm. oliverartcenterfrankfort.org/music-series - ALL MEDIA JURIED EXHIBITION: Runs through Nov. 13. This exhibition showcases the best work of regional artists in all media. Open Tues.-Sat., 10am-4pm; Sun., noon4pm. oliverart.org

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Now Booking for the Holidays! This holiday season, whether you’re planning an intimate family dinner for 20 or a work event for 60, let us take care of the details while you relax. Our culinary team has created a wonderful holiday menu for you & your guests to enjoy.

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26 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

lOGY

OCT 26 - NOV 01 BY ROB BREZSNY

LIBRA If you’ve spent years regretting the moment a friend took credit for your best idea, that sting may finally lose its hold on you. If an opportunity you earned was handed to someone else, you may soon receive recognition in a form you never anticipated. And if an ancient family legend claims you were doomed to repeat the same mistake forever, you can now break that pattern. The days ahead favor overdue adjustments. Watch for turns of fortune that don’t erase what happened, but change what it means, and what becomes possible next. For Halloween, be an exorcist. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Peacocks’ extravagant feathers are beautiful displays that also communicate health, vitality, and genetic resilience. They’re excellent role models for you. You should never apologize for expressing your charisma with style and theatrical flair. As long as your outer brilliance reflects inner vitality, your radiance will nourish rather than intimidate others. Authentic glamour is a public service. For Halloween, be a sun deity, lion monarch, or glamorous ringmaster. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): "Dear Oracle: I am obsessed with improving things. I tinker with systems that already work fine. I wake at 3 a.m. and catalog details I could have done better. My results are never ultimate enough. Please offer tips to help me find rest. —Drooping Purist." Dear Drooping: The autumn season is your teacher. The harvest is in; the fields are meant to lie fallow. Nothing more can be improved by force. Growth happens underground, invisibly. In that spirit, I invite you to practice the radical art of leaving at least one thing gloriously alone so it can work its magic outside the reach of your conscious awareness. For Halloween, be a scarecrow who stands serenely in the harvested field, watching over everything, accomplishing its whole purpose by being present.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): This is your

high holy season, Scorpio, which also happens to be the time when the veil is thinnest between this world and the other world. Others find this eerie, but you've always been at home here. You know how to explore the deepest depths, how to abide with what’s buried and hidden, and how to find treasure in the dark. In the coming weeks, your natural power to perceive what's concealed will be amplified. For Halloween, be a psychopomp: a keeper of the threshold, a soul-guide draped in shadow and starlight who walks comfortably between the living and the dead.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Early

balloonists had little control over the direction of their flights. They couldn't steer horizontally. But they found that changing altitude allowed them to catch different winds moving in different directions. The smartest way to change course was to rise or descend. Keep that image close, Sagittarius. If you can't alter external circumstances directly, shift your perspective or your social environment. A new current may be waiting higher or lower than where you've been drifting. For Halloween, be a hotair balloon pilot, comet rider, sky pirate, or bird god like the Hindu Garuda.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19):

Life must both perpetuate itself and surpass itself. Capricorn philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said that. We need continuity, but we also need transcendence. This beautifully encapsulates your assignment in the coming months. Your fun job will be to continue honoring the commitments that anchor your life while also making room for an exhilarating experiment or two. Make stability your launching pad rather than your destination. For Halloween, be the person you will be three years from now.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Inventors

often describe breakthroughs arriving after weeks or months of seemingly unproductive tinkering. Clearly, their subconscious minds kept working on the puzzles even while their conscious minds felt frustrated. Eventually, a fresh arrangement appeared as if by magic. I suspect you're approaching a threshold like that. Your experiments have

been subliminally educating your intuition. The solution that's searching for you may be cleverer than the one you've been searching for. For Halloween, be a time traveler, benevolent extraterrestrial, or eccentric professor.

PISCES

(Feb 19-March 20): Travelers crossing dark marshes on foot may report eerie, flickering lights hovering over the bog. Science explains these will-o'-the-wisps as gases from decaying matter that ignites in the night air. Folklore provides other theories: They're spirit-lanterns, fairy lights, the lamps of the dead, or beckoning wanderers. I believe you’re in a similar liminal zone these days. Science and magic are both at work. Truth may take the form of both inexplicable mystery and fascinating anomalies that light your way. Be open to both! For Halloween, be a will-o'-the-wisp made flesh: a glowing spirit of the marsh draped in mist and lantern-light, beautiful and uncanny.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): For centuries,

Japanese craftspeople have cultivated an ethos called shokunin kishitsu: a devotion to skilled work, lifelong learning, and continual refinement. The pursuit of perfection is less about reaching a final state than about bringing ever greater care and precision to the work. In traditional carpentry, this can mean years of learning to make joints whose quality resides in their strength and durability even though no customer will ever notice. I suggest you try out this attitude, Aries. Pour extra focus into details, regardless of whether anyone will applaud them. For Halloween, be a blacksmith, artisan, or eccentric inventor.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): How do the

oldest trees live for so many years? What's their secret to longevity? They're very adaptable. During storms, they bend without breaking. During droughts, they slow down their growth. Cultivating alliances with fungi is one of their brilliant tactics. You’re in an opportune phase to favor this approach to strength and endurance, Taurus. Here's what I propose: Weave gleaming strands of buoyant resilience into your fervent willpower. Experiment with yielding strategically rather than resisting reflexively. Boost your soulful power through flexibility and adaptability. For Halloween, be an ancient oak tree, forest guardian, or mushroom spirit.

GEMINI

(May 21-June 20): When archaeologists unearth a fresh batch of ancient artifacts, they never find a complete civilization in one dramatic moment. Each object or bone fragment helps explain another. A piece of pottery illuminates the meaning of an inscription. A broken staircase reveals why buildings were constructed as they were. Through educated guesswork and chains of association, knowledge accumulates. I invite you to wield your curiosity in the same way, Gemini. Treasure the sequence of little discoveries that gradually reshape your overall understanding. Have eager faith that every clue will lead you to further clues. For Halloween, be an archaeologist, paleontologist, or investigator of crime scenes.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Researchers

studying wolves have found that play remains essential to them throughout their lives. Mature wolves wrestle, chase, and invent games that strengthen trust and sharpen cooperation. They never graduate from joyful experimentation. I hope their friskiness inspires you to remember, dear Cancerian, that serious responsibilities don't require a terminally serious personality. That's especially crucial to keep in mind now. I invite you to bring maximum amounts of playful intelligence into everything you value. Laugh during challenging conversations. Invent rituals that nobody else would think of. Observe the true rule: Amused delight generates an atmosphere where meaningful work may become exceptional. For Halloween, be a playful wolf.

“Jonesin” Crosswords "Capital Gains"--gaining an extra letter. by Matt Jones

ACROSS 1. African capital on the Atlantic 6. Sound of surprise 10. Made an escape 14. Savory sensation 15. State where dirty sodas originated 16. "Touched by an Angel" costar Downey 17. Animal on old nickels 18. "A Streetcar Named Desire" director Kazan 19. Final writeup? 20. Living room controller 23. North ___, Alaska 24. "___ not worth much" 25. Oscar nominee for "The Crying Game" 26. Amorphous amount 27. "___ up" (Canadian hockey slogan that gained traction in 2025) 31. Helmet attachment 35. Prized Australian export 38. Suffix meaning "vision" 39. Fans of cruciverbalism (like you, I hope?) 42. Car with a four-ring logo 43. ___ out (barely got by) 44. "Chicago" actress Zellweger 45. Joint, back in the day 47. Word before maker or breaker 49. Vexation 50. Inc., in Cambridge 51. Gare du ___ (Paris train terminal) 55. Playful words to an infant 60. "Terrible" ruler 61. ___-speak (altered words to bypass social media filters) 62. Backless couch 63. "Scream" star Campbell 64. Genesis figure 65. Bandleader Miller 66. Became larger 67. Fast-food franchises that announced a switch from Pepsi to Coke beverages after 40 years 68. Alex's mom on "Family Ties"

DOWN 1. Brush (against) 2. Acid in proteins 3. "Fawlty Towers" owner 4. "Don't make ___!" 5. Spork part 6. Place to write your name in a museum or B&B 7. Collection of cartography 8. Nautical sheet 9. "Happy" singer Williams 10. Rain source? 11. Rebecca of the Basketball Hall of Fame 12. Release 13. November 3, for one 21. Museu do Amanh„ site, casually 22. Anago, in sushi bars (if it's saltwater) 26. Navigation aid 28. Store door sign 29. Send via Western Union 30. Freelancer's postal encl. 31. Simba's uncle 32. Provable 33. Took the bus 34. "No idea, really" 36. Post's opposite 37. Building expansions 40. Return announcement? 41. Siderite, for one 46. Mesozoic, e.g. 48. Columbia House offerings, once 50. Sudoku solving skill 51. "Jurassic Park" actor Sam 52. "Up, Up and ___" (2006 book about Judaism and comics) 53. Chestnut horses 54. "Practical Magic" director Griffin 55. Attempt to message 56. At any point 57. Roof's overhang 58. Lemony Snicket's Count 59. Jigsaw starting point

Northern Express Weekly • october 26, 2026 • 27

Grand Traverse & Kalkaska CHATEAU GRAND TRAVERSE, TC 10/24 -- Jeff Socia, 5-8 JACOB'S FARM, TC 10/24 -- Empire Highway, noon-3; Touch of Grey, 5-8 10/25 -- Olivia Prior, noon-3; Cosmic Dupree, 5-8 10/28 -- Chris Smith, 5-8 10/29 -- The Robert Abate Trio, 5-8 10/30 -- The Timebombs, 5-8 KILKENNY'S IRISH PUBLIC HOUSE, TC 10/23-24 -- The Ampersands, 9:30 Mon. -- DJ Trivia, 7-9 Tues. -- The Will Harris Trio, 8-12 Weds. -- The Pocket Band, 8-12 Thurs. -- DJ Leo, 9:30-1:30 10/30-31 -- Timberline, 9:30 KINGSLEY LOCAL BREWING 10/24 -- Harvest Party w/ live music, 1-4 10/27 -- Open Mic Night, 6-9 10/28 -- Straight Forward Bluegrass, 7-9 10/29 -- Trivia Night w/ Marcus, 6:30-9 LEFT FOOT CHARLEY, TC BARREL ROOM: 10/26 -- Open Mic w/ Rob Coonrod, 6-9 TASTING ROOM: 10/30 -- Randy Reszka, 5-7 MARI VINEYARDS, TC 10/29 -- Rhett & John, 4-6 MIDDLECOAST BREWING CO., TC 10/26 -- Poets Meet Musicians, 7-9 10/28 -- Trivia Night w/ Steveo, 7-9 10/30 -- Anna P.S., 6-9

NOCTURNAL BLOOM BREWING, TC 10/26 -- Celtic Music/Open Session, 5:30-8 Thu -- Trivia, 6 NORTH BAR, TC 10/24 -- Jeff Linsell, 7-10 10/28 -- Jim Hawley, 6 10/29 -- Drew Hale, 7-9 OLD MISSION DISTILLING, TC SEVEN HILLS: 10/24 -- Bauer Jones, 7-9 10/30 -- Chris Smith, 7-9:30 10/31 -- Brady Corcoran, 6:308:30 RIGHT BRAIN BREWERY, TC 10/23-24 – Kamikaze Comedy w/ Brad Wenzel feat. Blain Hill; Hosted by Jeremy West, 8 10/27 -- Trivia w/ a Twist, 7-9 10/28 -- Midweek Mixtape, 7-9 TC WHISKEY CO. - THE STILLHOUSE 10/31 -- Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Party w/ DJ, 7-10 THE ALLUVION, TC 10/24 -- The Go Rounds - Night Two - Standing Room Rock Show, 7-9:30 10/25 -- The Alluvion Big Band, 2:30-4 10/31 -- The Rodney Whitaker Sextet, 7 THE HAYLOFT INN, TC 10/23-24 & 10/30-31 -- Cody Stewart & the Traverse City Troubadours, 7:30-11 10/28 -- Bucky's Halloween Family Karaoke Party, 6-10

THE LITTLE FLEET, TC 10/31 -- A Very Famous Halloween Party w/ DJ, 8 THE PARLOR, TC 7-10: 10/24 -- Zach Watson 10/27 -- Jesse Jefferson 10/28 -- Rob Coonrod 10/30 -- Loren Kranz

GYPSY SPIRITS, PETOSKEY 10/31 -- Halloween Night w/ DJ Jawdy, 8

BOYNE VALLEY VINEYARDS, PETOSKEY 2-6: 10/24 -- Two Track Mind 10/31 -- Michelle Chenard

INDIAN RIVER GOLF CLUB BIRDIES: 10/30 -- Mike Ridley, 6-9

BRANDY'S HARBORTOWN, BAY HARBOR 10/24 -- Chris Calleja, 5 10/27 -- Singo, 6 10/29 -- Halloween Movie Trivia Night, 6 10/30 -- Dueling Pianos, 6 10/31 -- Derek Boik, 5 CITY PARK GRILL, PETOSKEY 10/27 -- Trivia Night, 7-9 10/30 -- Karaoke, 9:30 10/31 -- Halloween Bash w/ DJ Bill Da Cat, 9 GYPSY DISTILLERY, PETOSKEY 10/30 -- Halloween Bash w/ DJ Lee Blossom, 7

INN BETWEEN, INDIAN RIVER 10/29 -- Mike Ridley, 4-7 NOGGIN ROOM PUB, PETOSKEY 10/24 -- Will Springsteen, 7-10 10/30 -- Sean Bielby, 7-10 10/31 -- Brett Hartfert, 7-9 NORTHERN LIGHTS RECREATION, HARBOR SPRINGS 10/27 -- Trivia, 6:30 10/30 -- Ty Parkin, 5:30-8:30 LOUIE’S SPORTS BAR & GRILL: 10/28 -- Comedy Night w/ Steve Sabo & Scott Putnam, 7:30 ROCKY’S BEER GARDEN: 10/24 -- Halloween Party w/ Pseudo Silence, 7-10

oct 24 - nov 01 Send Nitelife to: events@traverseticker.com For more than four years, Glo - The Party Band has been crushing 80s rock/pop and current dance hits. Spend your Halloween with them at Short’s Pub in Bellaire, beginning at 8:30pm!

THE PUB, TC 10/24 & 10/31 -- DJ Producer AJ, 10 10/26 -- Karaoke, 8 10/28 -- Zeke Clemons, 7-10 10/30 -- Saints, Sinners, & Shots A Halloween Party w/ DJs, 9 THE WORKSHOP BREWING CO., TC 10/24 -- Younce Guitar Duo, 7 10/25 -- The Disruption x Poetry Open Mic, 1-3; Full Tilt Comedy Presents: Comedy Mixtape, 6-8 10/26 -- USS Comedy: Open Mic, 8-9:30 10/27 -- Open Mic w/ Zak Bunce, 6-10 10/28 -- Jazz Jam w/ Ron Getz, 6-9 10/29 -- DJ Trivia, 7-9 10/30 -- Hot Flat Pop's Costume Contest, 7 10/31 -- Split Decision, 7-9 11/1 -- Stretch Stand-up Comedy Contest, 7-9 TURTLE CREEK CASINO, WILLIAMSBURG WATERFALL, 6-10: 10/23-24 – Funkle Jesse 10/30-31 -- 404 Delux

Leelanau & Benzie BEL LAGO VINEYARD, WINERY & CIDERY, CEDAR 10/31 -- Hallo-Wine w/ Dominic Fortuna, 4-6 CEDAR TAVERN 10/31 -- Jim Hawley, 1-4

Emmet & Cheboygan BOB'S PLACE, ALANSON 10/29 -- Trivia & Halloween Costume Contest, 6:30

nitelife

ODAWA CASINO RESORT, PETOSKEY VICTORIES, 9: 10/24 -- Driving Dawn 10/30 -- DJ Deckhand POND HILL FARM, HARBOR SPRINGS 10/24 -- Daydrinkers Series w/ Jim Hawley, Jeff Currie & Jimmy Hawley, 3-6; Andy Perrin & The Show Buds, 7-10 10/25 -- Eric Jaqua, 1-5 10/30 -- Halloween Costume Party w/ RPM Band, 5-8 THE LARK LOUNGE, CHEBOYGAN 5:30-7:30: 10/29 -- The Young Sowles & Flatbreads 10/30 -- Amanda Jane THE LARK THEATER, CHEBOYGAN 10/24 -- The Lark's Got Talent Competition, 6 THE WIGWAM, INDIAN RIVER 10/29 -- Dominic Fortuna, 7:309:30 10/30 -- Karaoke, 8-11

CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN, THOMPSONVILLE CRYSTAL CENTER, NORTHWEST TERRITORIES: 10/31 -- Dueling Pianos Hosted by Crystal Scholarship Foundation, 7-9 DUNE BIRD WINERY, NORTHPORT 3-6: 10/25 -- Emily Faber 10/29 -- BayTrippers FRENCH VALLEY VINEYARD, CEDAR 4-7: 10/26 -- Jakob Abraham 10/29 -- Chris Skellenger

NORTHERN NATURAL CIDER HOUSE & WINERY, KALEVA 7: 10/24 -- Tim Krause 10/30 -- Chief Jam-Open Mic Hosted by Andy McQuillen

28 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly

THE GREENHOUSE - WILLOW/ PRIMOS, CADILLAC 10/28 -- Trivia & Music Bingo, 6-9

SHADY LANE CELLARS, SUTTONS BAY PATIO: 10/30 -- Friday Night Live w/ Luke Woltanski, 4-7

LAKE ANN BREWING CO. 10/24 -- Jim Hawley, 3-6; Andy Perrin & The Show Buds, 7-10 10/28 -- Open Mic Night Hosted by Johnathon North, 6:30-9:30 10/29 -- Trivia Night, 7 10/30 -- Levi Britton, 6:30-9:30 10/31 -- Daydrinkers Series w/ Anders Palarz, 3-6; The Dune Brothers, 6:30-9:30

ST. AMBROSE CELLARS, BEULAH 10/24 -- Darin Christian, 5-8 10/29 -- Open Mic Night, 6-9 10/30 -- Jesse Jefferson, 5-8 10/31 -- Luke Woltanski, 5-8

LEGENDS AND SPIRITS BAR & GRILL, BEULAH 10/30 -- Halloween Party w/ Scaraoke & Costume Contest, 9 NORTHERN LATITUDES DISTILLERY, LAKE LEELANAU 10/30 -- Loose Change, 4:45-6:45

STORMCLOUD BREWING CO., FRANKFORT 10/24 -- Dennis & Brad's Great Brewery Tour 2026, 7-9:30 10/28 -- Downtown Pub Trivia Night, 7 SUTTONS BAY CIDERS 10/29 -- Thurs. DJ Trivia, 6:30-8 THE CABBAGE SHED, ELBERTA 10/24 -- Halloween Party w/ K. Jones & the Benzie Playboys, 7

Antrim & Charlevoix BOYNE RIVER INN, BOYNE CITY 10/29 -- Nelson Olstrom, 7-10 CASTLE FARMS, CHARLEVOIX THE CASTLE PUB: 10/28 -- Ken Dinkins, 5-8 10/30 -- Michelle Keyboard, 7

FIRESIDE LOUNGE, BELLAIRE 10/24 -- Todd Aldrich, 6:30-9:30 10/30 -- DJ Bingo - Halloween Themed, 7 10/31 -- Haunted 1920s Speakeasy w/ DJ Mark, 7

ETHANOLOGY DISTILLATION, ELK RAPIDS 10/30 -- Halloween Bash w/ Beatnip (DJ Franck), 7-11

MUSKRAT DISTILLING, BOYNE CITY 10/26 -- Trivia, 7 10/28 -- Karaoke Night, 8

Manistee, Wexford & Missaukee LITTLE RIVER CASINO RESORT, MANISTEE 10/31 -- Onager, 8

IRON FISH DISTILLERY, THOMPSONVILLE 5:30-7:30: 10/24 -- Rhett DuCouer 10/30 -- John Piatek

10/31 -- Halloween Party: Karaoke, Costume Contest, DJ T-Bone, 8 SHORT'S PUB, BELLAIRE 10/28 -- Open Mic Night, 6-8 10/29 -- DJ Trivia, 6-8 10/31 -- Halloween Party w/ GLO the Party Band, 8:30

Otsego, Crawford & Central ALPINE TAVERN & EATERY, GAYLORD 10/24 -- Nelson Olstrom, 6 10/30 -- Craig Soderberg, 6-9 10/31 -- Matt Orlandi, 6-8

SNOWBELT BREWING CO., GAYLORD 6-9: 10/28 -- Karaoke Night

10/30 -- Melissa May & Brian Coonan

N O RT H E R N E X P R E S S

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32 • october 26, 2026 • Northern Express Weekly