Dracula’s eerie world is brought to spine-tingling life with expressive movement, thrilling music, dramatic setting, lighting and romantic costuming. From October 20 to 23, Pulse-quickening theatrics will take center stage in this heart-pounding story of seduction and sacrifice, Michael Pink’s Dracula, the gothic horror story based on Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel. Orlando Ballet resurrects one of the most classic Halloween horror stories that might have guests stopping to buy garlic on their way home. This supernatural tale of seduction, manipulation, suspense and superstition follows an unsuspecting hero as he faces treacherous witches, confronts his forbidden love and, of course, the deadly Headless Horseman of Sleepy Hollow.

On October 15 and 16, Ballet Tessera‘s adaptation of Washington Irving’s classic 1820 tale, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, will have guests holding on to their heads as they experience America’s first bone-chilling ghost story.

Through evocative storytelling, Phantastical dance, explosive stage combat, puppetry, projections and original music, the critically acclaimed troupe entertained guests with the sheer terror of “The Tell-Tale Heart,” the haunted stirrings of “The Raven,” the grim tolling of “The Bells” and the bittersweet grieving of “Anabelle Lee” along with a selection of Poe’s other terrifying stories and poems. From October 6 to 8, Victorian Horror Troupe Phantasmagoria brought to life the tales and poetry of the ‘master of macabre,’ Edgar Allan Poe, with Phantasmagoria XIII: Poe, Through the Tales Darkly.

Perfectly ushering in the arts center’s spooky season was a show that had guests hearing heartbeats.

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