Stranger Suggests: Your Agenda This Week, October 12–18

MONDAY 10/12

Boy Harsher

(MUSIC) Synthy darkwave duo Boy Harsher returns to Seattle for a two-night stand after last performing here in 2022. In the four years since, the band’s members ended their romantic relationship and released their fifth full-length record, Get Mean. The album explores the moody turmoil that follows a breakup while the two find ways to bring out the creative best in each other, with vocalist Jae Matthews describing it as a “complex emo time” in her “wild hallowed life.” Considering everything, I find it particularly fascinating that the album artwork is a photo of themselves from 2021 where their faces and lips are touching intimately. Underground pop princess True Blue and experimental industrial band Kassie Krut round out the lineup of artists whose music encourages dancing through the darkness. Time to break out your faux leather jacket and thick black eyeliner! (The Showbox, 8 pm, all ages) SHANNON LUBETICH

TUESDAY 10/13

Neal Stephenson Presents ‘D: Heavy Water’

(LITERATURE) No one does a sprawling narrative universe like Neal Stephenson. His novels usually contain enough information to make you briefly believe that you, too, could understand orbital mechanics, cryptography, nuclear physics, or whatever special interest he’s bringing to the adventure this time. I’m a huge fan: Seveneves and Fall; or, Dodge in Hell are two of my favorite science fiction works by a contemporary author. When I saw his 2024 book, Polostan, was a historical-fiction spy novel, I was skeptical (for selfish reasons—I was hoping for another 900-page sci-fi epic to transport me out of our current tech nightmare and into a much more interesting one). But, as Baroque Cycle readers already know, Stephenson’s an entertaining historian—I flew through the story, which follows a young spy-in-the-making and moves between the Soviet Union and America in the interwar years. (There’s a stop at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair that’s particularly fascinating.) Polotsan is the first in his Bomb Light series; its sequel, D: Heavy Water, picks back up in 1930s Europe where journalists, spies, scientists, and government officials scramble to control a substance crucial to the coming atomic age. Stephenson’s superpower is making enormous concepts and systems feel thrilling, and I, for one, am ready to go on this ride. (Third Place Books, 7 pm) EMILY NOKES

WEDNESDAY 10/14

David Byrne

(LITERATURE) Wake up babe, David Byrne’s new book about his creative process, Sleeping Beauties, just dropped. The Talking Heads frontman’s latest endeavor explores his concept of “sleeping beauties,” which refers to slept-on ideas that don’t gain traction until long after the creator is gone—the most obvious example of this is Vincent van Gogh, who famously sold just one painting in his lifetime. In his new book, Byrne digs into how these ideas “fell asleep,” how they can “wake up,” and the importance of not overlooking the next great idea. (Meany Center for the Performing Arts, 7:30 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN

Orcas Island Film Festival

(FILM) Exactly a year ago, I was in Eastsound for what I consider to be the best film festival in the Pacific Northwest, the Orcas Island Film Festival. The day was cool with brief blasts of rain. I met people leaving a No Kings protest at Green Park. I watched a number of top-tier films. And one night, after drinking at the Barnacle, I experienced the kind of rain and wind that can only be described as numinously autumn. This year, the festival again has top-tier films, thanks to OIFF’s on-it team, which includes SIFF’s former chief curator and director Carl Spencer. To name a few: There’s Clarissa, a modern-day adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway (it’s set in Lagos, Nigeria, and stars David Oyelowo). And there’s Paweł Pawlikowski’s gorgeous Fatherland, which stars Sandra Hüller and concerns one of the giants of modernist literature, Thomas Mann. And there’s Andrey Zvyagintsev’s Minotaur, which exposes the moral rot of neoliberal Russia by examining the marriage of a wealthy but unhappy couple. If you need a quick but wholly satisfying break from Seattle, this festival will not do you dirty. (Orcas Island, 11 am) CHARLES MUDEDE

THURSDAY 10/15

Rocky Horror Picture Spooktacular Tour with Patricia Quinn

(FILM) I will never forget the first time I saw Tim Curry as Dr. Frank N. Furter step out of the elevator singing “Sweet Transvestite” in fishnets and a sequin corset. I was 13, at the Admiral Theater’s monthly midnight screening of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I felt deeply confused and excited by my first crush that existed beyond gender. This, my friends, is the bi experience. As the years have passed and monthly screenings diminish, I fear that teenagers are not being exposed to the magic of Rocky Horror. Take this opportunity to introduce the virgins in your life (in RHPS speak, that’s someone who’s never seen the film) to absolute pleasure with a special appearance from Magenta herself, Patricia Quinn. (5th Avenue Theatre, 7:30 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN

FRIDAY 10/16

somesurprises & Ilyas Ahmed w/ Morgan Henderson

(MUSIC) Formerly the bedroom project of singer-songwriter Natasha El-Sergany, somesurprises has evolved through the years into a dynamic duo with synthesist and guitarist Josh Medina, blending soothing folk with electronic elements and shoegaze-inspired fuzz. Their latest EP, Year Without Spring, is appropriately reverbed (which, in my opinion, is a lot of reverb) and will most definitely sound amazing in the Good Shepherd Center’s spacious Chapel Performance Space. They will be joined by Portland-based experimental artist Ilyas Ahmed and multi-instrumentalist and Stranger Genius Award short-lister Morgan Henderson (Blood Brothers, Fleet Foxes). For fans of: Broadcast, La Luz, Mazzy Star, Phoebe Bridgers, and Slowdive. (Chapel Performance Space, 7:30 pm, all ages) AUDREY VANN

SATURDAY 10/17

Refract 2026: Through the Looking Glass Tour

(VISUAL ART) If you’ve ever yearned to deepen your knowledge of the region’s glass scene, gather with glassholes, or dabble in the hot shop yourself, let Refract be your guide. The annual festival takes place at galleries, museums, and studios across the greater Seattle area. Sample the hottest young glass artists in town (like Yale Wolf, Megan Stelljes, and Henry Jackson-Spieker) in Refract: Local Frequencies at The Space Columbia City, get hands-on making your own decorative autumnal squash at SLU’s Seattle Glassblowing Studio, or get downward-dog amid Chihuly’s many-tentacled splendors during a yoga class at the Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum. My top picks, however, are the intimate artist open studio sessions with masters of the craft like Carol Milne, Morgan Madison, and Weston Lambert. (Various locations) AMANDA MANITACH

SUNDAY 10/18

Tailwind Cafe’s Pumpkin Spice Latte

(FOOD & DRINK) My fellow Fall Bitches, I have found the best PSL in the city, and it’s at Tailwind Cafe in Capitol Hill’s Chophouse Row. Tailwind lovingly crafts their (vegan!) pumpkin spice syrup in-house, blending quality ingredients one might expect (actual pumpkin puree) with some that might surprise you (pancake syrup). The result is both familiar and divine. Spiced velvety foam gives way to a smooth, hearty body. The finish is mildly sweet but never cloying, and ground clove and cinnamon linger on the tongue even after the last sip. If last season is anything to go by, PSL season ends at Tailwind when they run out of syrup, so get yours soon! (Tailwind Cafe, 9 am–7 pm) SURPRISE PARADISO

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Dracula
The 5th Avenue Theatre, October 25

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Contest ends October 13 at 10 am

Baba Obscura
Pioneer Square, November 5–8, 21+

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Contest ends October 19 at 10 am

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