THE LATE GREAT MIDNITE SPOOK SHOW - Multimedia Presentation by Rob Zabrecky

THE LATE GREAT MIDNITE SPOOK SHOW - A Multimedia Presentation by Rob Zabrecky

From the 1930s through the 1960s, macabre themed magic shows, presented together with horror films, played in movie theaters at midnight throughout the United States. They were known as Spook Shows. Today they are nearly forgotten.

The Late Great Midnite Spook Show takes audiences on a revealing look back at a nearly lost piece of American pop-culture history. The Spook Show, also known as the Ghost Show or Midnight Horror Show, was a genre unto itself; one that combined the excitement of live magic shows with the thrills of horror films. During its heyday, a typical Spook Show featured a full evening of séance-themed magic and Grand Guignol theater, interlaced with comedy, hypnosis, and concluded with a showing of a horror film.

For nearly four decades, Spook Shows were presented inside movie theaters across the US as ghoulish and garish late-night immersive theater. After its demise, the Spook Show proved to be the inspiration for the popularity of midnight movies such as Rocky Horror Picture Show, and paved the way for the success of ghoulish television hosts such as Vampira, Elvira, Dr. Evil, and Zacherly. Today the Spook Show is nearly forgotten, though enthusiastic fans pay top dollar for Spook Show props and ephemera.

For this presentation, Zabrecky will guide the audience through the origins, rise, and fall of the Spook Show through a series of slides and film excerpts. Zabrecky will also explain the effects and impact Spook Shows hold in today’s world of entertainment.

Rob Zabrecky:

There’s simply no other entertainer like Zabrecky. Through a wide range of artistic work that spans acting, writing, magic, and music, Zabrecky has established himself globally as an original entertainer.

As a magician, he has invented a magical world through a series of strange and beautiful effects which he combines with remarkable timing and theatrical edifice. His absurdist and deadpan humor has delighted audiences from Tokyo to New York City. Recognized for his efforts, he has received six awards by the Academy of Magical Arts at the Magic Castle.

In film, he’s best known for his roles in A Ghost Story, Lost River, and Decay. In television, he’s appeared in guest and co-star roles in Lady Dynamite, GLOW, Angie Tribeca, Comedy Bang! Bang! the CBS biopic series, Strange Angel, based on the life of rocket scientist Jack Parsons, and many others.

He is the author of the acclaimed memoir, Strange Cures (Rothco Press), which chronicles his story of self-discovery, success, failure, and reinvention amidst the Los Angeles landscape during the 70s-90s. The LA Times praised the book as, “A punk poem to a forgotten Los Angeles,” and musician Jane Wiedlin of the Go-Go’s dubbed it, “A 1980s San Fernando Valley Time Machine.”

Zabrecky's career began as a musician while being the singer- songwriter and bassist for the Los Angeles group Possum Dixon, who released three albums on Interscope Records during the 1990s.

Rob Zabrecky will be available to sign copies of his book "Strange Cures" after the event, on sale at the PRS Bookstore.

Ticket Price: $15 (in-person event only).

Please email [email protected] or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

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PARKING

Parking is available in both front lot (entry from Los Feliz Blvd. when heading east) and back lot (entry from first alley way, off Griffith Park Blvd. from intersection with Los Feliz Blvd.), as well as ample street parking on Griffith Park Blvd.

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Host or Publisher The Philosophical Research Society