Halloween weekend in Harlem starts on Thursday, October 29, and Melanin Madness is the reason. The Harlem-born movie night returns to The Apollo Stages at The Victoria for another immersive screening of Vampire in Brooklyn, and it is coming back bigger than the first run.
Melanin Madness is calling it a “movie night with your favorite cousins”, and that line says everything about the energy. This is not a quiet screening where you sit still and whisper. It is a room full of people who grew up on Wes Craven’s 1995 horror comedy, who know what Eddie Murphy and Angela Bassett bring to it, and who came to watch it together. Vampire in Brooklyn has been a Black household October staple for decades. Melanin Madness puts that tradition in a room where the reactions are half the show.
The first screening was a good enough time that the team decided to add more! This round brings a costume contest with spooky prizes, and the dress code is simple: come dressed to impress or dressed to terrify! Halloween in Harlem has always rewarded the people who commit, and the contest gives you a stage to prove it. Show up in costume, win something, and watch the film surrounded by people who did the same.
The MADNESS does not stop when the credits roll. DJ Steph Cakes is providing the music for an after-party, which means the Halloween fun runs well past the final scene. You can come for the movie and leave at the end, or you can stay for the party and make a full night of it!
Doors open at 6:30 PM and the show starts at 7:30 PM at The Apollo Stages at The Victoria, 233 W 125th Street, third floor. Tickets are $35, and a ticket with after-party access is $50. A VIP upgrade adds entry to the pre-show lounge, express entry into the theater, and a VIP wristband. The early price has already ended, so locking in your spot now is the smart move. Tickets are available at https://www.apollotheater.org/event/melanin-madness-vampire-in-brooklyn.
Black audiences have always known how to turn a movie into an event. Melanin Madness gives that instinct a home in Harlem, with a screening, a contest, and a party on one ticket. Bring the cousins, bring the costume, and bring the noise.
– REAVES // @fisher.reaves