Overview
UPDATE, Sunday, October 22: More information about Haus of Horror's 2023–24 venues and screenings are on their way, with some details changing — we'll update you when the latest schedule is announced.
How do you start a new horror movie event with a bang? Take a lineup of beloved scary flicks — or spooky-themed, but funny — to a couple of supremely eerie locations. That's Haus of Horror's setup, unleashing both The Exorcist and the OG Scream in a haunted prison with sessions at Parramatta Gaol earlier in 2023, then also taking Beetlejuice to Camperdown Cemetery in Newtown. In the best kind of creepy news, it'll be back to do the same from November through to March 2024 as well.
Haus of Horror's second season is split across the two locations, with its haunted prison screenings skewing darker and its graveyard sessions showing family-friendly fare — all on Saturday nights. The first kicks off on November 2 with A Nightmare on Elm Street, which means that striped jumpers are the outfit of choice. The latter will get started on November 25 with Gremlins, plus rules about feeding after midnight.
Parramatta Gaol will also show The Nightmare Before Christmas at the perfect time, then American Psycho to start 2024 with a savage satire. From there, the North Parramatta venue's lineup includes The Craft, Bram Stoker's Dracula and The Evil Dead — so an impressive roster of top-notch horror classics.
Over at Newtown, Ghostbusters will scare away spirits, the original big-screen version of The Addams Family will get fingers clicking and Edward Scissorhands will close out the season with Tim Burton whimsy.
There's obviously no better place to show scary-themed films than these two settings — and Haus of Horror's movie nights aren't just about the big screen. In the past, its Parramatta sessions have included two hours for attendees to explore Parramatta Gaol's morgue, cell blocks and showers; a bar serving beer and wine; vegan and non-vegan bites to eat; a live DJ spinning tunes while the sun sets; and an interactive photo booth set up like scenes from the film.
At Camperdown Cemetery, attendees were also able to enjoy a cemetery tour, a DJ, a photobooth, and food and drinks.
While the proper Haus of Horror season won't begin until the weather gets warmer, the horror event fiends do have something else in the works in the interim. Fancy catching the original live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film in stink-o-vision, with scratch 'n' sniff cards emitting appropriate scents as you watch? That's coming up on Saturday, August 19 at Roseville Cinemas.
Haus of Horror's 2023–24 season will kick off in November, screening at Parramatta Gaol, corner O'Connell and Dunlop streets, North Parramatta and Camperdown Memorial Rest Park, Federation Road, Lennox and Church streets, Newtown. Head to the Haus of Horror website for further details.