Boss Lady’s Almanac of Showbiz Survival: October
Halloween burlesque and cabaret shows mean devils, witches, voodoo chaos, gothic weirdness, fake blood disasters, and the Boss Lady hanging in there by the skin of her teeth!

October is not a gentle month.
October is asummoning.
This is the season of Halloween burlesque, macabre cabaret and spine-chilling circus, with shows so dark, filthy, and unhinged they feel less like entertainment and more like an offering to the theatre gods.
Devils slink out of the wings.
Witches crawl onto the stage.
Voodoo beats throb through the floor.
Goblins, gremlins, and deeply disturbing contortionists twist themselves into shapes that absolutely should not be anatomically possible.
And the audience?
If they come dressed up - masks, horns, corsets, latex, capes, and eyeliner sharp enough to kill, then the night immediately ascends into somethingdeliciously feral.
Halloween audiences don’t want polite.
They want spooky.
They want weird.
They want mind-blowing, ritualistic filth, theatrical possession, and at least one moment where they whisper:“I don’t know what that was, but I loved it!”
HALLOWEEN SHOWS ARE NOT FOR THE WEAK!
For Producers, Halloween shows are not just themed shows. They are a pressure cooker of stress and chaos!
Everything is darker.
Everything is wetter.
Everything is just ... well ...!
Everything has extra props, candles, blood, feathers, smoke, bones, and at least one cursed item that no one in the legal team remembers approving.
This is the month where performers swear something will be “minimal”, “symbolic”, or “mostly contained”.
It never bloody is.
Halloween shows are where the Producer's sanity goes to die, and creativity runs riot. It’s when the entertainment scene leans further into horror, fetish, ritual, and theatre so hard that the line between performance and possession becomes somewhat blurry.
And honestly?
That’s why Halloween burlesque and cabaret audiences keep coming back.
THE BEAUTIFUL, FILTHY REALITY:
Behind the scenes, the whole month of October means:
- Fake blood that defies physics
- Costumes that will never be the same again (usually due to the damn fake blood!)
- Stage managers quietly questioning their life choices
- Boss Lady wielding disinfectant like a sacred relic, and still scrubbing the stage clean at 3am
- A mop that has seen baaaaaaad things
- At least one performer insisting: “don't worry - it’ll be fine!”
- A tarpaulin that did not deserve what happened to it
But onstage?
It’s absolutely bloody glorious!
Halloween lets performers be monsters.
Halloween allows beauty standards to rot, glamour to distort, and desire to get uncomfortable. Devils seduce. Witches enchant. Bodies bend. Faces contort. Music pulses like a heartbeat.
It’s not meant to be safe.
It’s meant to be unforgettable.
And when the audience leans in instead of backing away - when they dress up, howl, cheer, and surrender to the weirdness - that’s when the magic hits properly.
That’s when October earns its thorny crown in the entertainment calendar.
Halloween is exhausting.
Halloween is filthy.
Halloween is spectacular.
If you want safe, stay home.
If you want spooky, sexy, mind-bending weirdness - THIS is Halloween!
BOSS LADY WISDOM:
Never, EVER trust a performer who says their fake blood pour can be “contained” over the tarpaulin.
This is not sarcasm.
This is the truth.
ENTER THE DARKNESS!
If you crave dark cabaret, gothic spectacle, and immersive Halloween burlesque energy, keep your eyes on our Cabaret Gothique shows this year.
Dress up.
Go feral.
Lean into the ritual.
Some nights aren’t meant to be watched.
They’re meant to be survived.
Boss Lady - Lara Gothique - The QUEEN of Halloween!
Founder, Curator, Choreographer, Performer, Swamp-Witch, and Slightly Feral Producer of The Velvet Burlesque™
© Lara Gothique - Velvet Burlesque™
All content, text, and imagery are the original work of Lara Gothique - The Velvet Burlesque™ unless otherwise stated.
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