Thursday, Oct. 29 SPOOKY SHELVES We all know reading books gives you tons of ideas. Here’s your chance to make those ideas into a costume (encouraged, but not required) for a Halloween experience at the library. The children’s room transforms into a haunted space with a pumpkin patch and a graveyard. Those aren’t goblins, but middle-schoolers volunteering to set up this immersive experience, recommended for children 12 and under. (Adults accompanying children are welcome too— costumes are also encouraged.) The rest of the library is open during this time—needless to say, costumes are optional there, as well. It’s Halloween season, after all. [SR] 3:30-5:30pm Thursday, Oct. 29. Children’s room at Pacific Grove Public Library, 550 Central Ave., Pacific Grove. Free. (831) 648-5760, pacificgrovelibrary.org. LIFE STORY Welcome to the last 2026 iteration of the series that took Carmel by storm last year, sending hordes to the tiny black box stage of the Carl Cherry Center. In PorchLight Stories, eight storytellers take the stage, each presenting a five- to seven-minute true story about themselves without prompts or notes. “This round of stories includes tales of adventure, strange lands, jobs gone sideways, saying goodbye, employment mishaps and paying your rent,” according to the organizers. The storytellers include artists Anna Rheim and Polly Osborne; Student Debt Crisis Center founder Natalia Abrams; community activist Joan Costello; events producer Joe Fletcher; seamstress Holly Goodwin; adventurer Dixie Dixon; and sculptor JP Frary. The next show is planned for late February 2027; storytellers can submit their ideas through Sunday, Jan. 24. [AP] 5pm and 7:30pm Thursday, Oct. 29. Carl Cherry Center for the Arts, 729 4th Ave., Carmel. $25; Sold out. (831) 624-7491, carlcherrycenter.org. Friday, Oct. 30 WE LOVETT Texas singer-songwriter Lyle Lovett burst onto the scene in the mid-1980s, with a shock of hair and a sound that was country and yet at the same time 30 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 29-NOVEMBER 4, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com LEONARD HAN Works by Monterey-based artist Leonard Han are now on display at Wave Street Studios (at 774 Wave St., Monterey). The exhibit, An Ethos for the Living—What Remains, What Becomes, gathers Han’s paintings, monotypes and dry pastel drawings, his “best of” five decades of artistic practice that “moves freely across subjects, approaches and material,” as he summarizes the scope. Combining the personal with the universal, Han’s pieces—for the most part abstract—are informed by his experience of being born and raised on the Monterey Peninsula and his own passions—Taiji, Qigong and Chinese Lion Dance. Han works as an educator in those fields, for years at CSU Monterey Bay and now part time at Monterey Peninsula College. [AP] HOT PICKS OCTOBER 29–NOVEMBER 04 To see more local events, and add your own, visit montereycountynow.com/events LEONARD HAN ANDREA JOHNSON VISUALS ANDREA JOHNSON Salinas Valley-based painter Andrea Johnson observes nature from afar and up close. She excels at landscapes and has immortalized the pastures and the hills of Salinas Valley, where she grew up. But Johnson also creates landscapes on a microscopic level, showing the drama and the sweep of life from the eye level of a bird or a budding plant. See both worlds—in watercolors and acrylics—in Johnson’s new show, Luminous Landscapes, opening Sunday, Nov. 1. Johnson’s interest in the intricate paintings of fauna and flora stems from her five-year stay in Japan. She is the daughter of artist Barbara Johnson; both are members of Carmel Art Association. Opening reception: 3-5pm Saturday, Nov. 7 at Winfield Gallery, located on Dolores at Ocean Avenue, Carmel. Hours are 11am-5pm Monday-Saturday; noon-5pm Sundays. On display until Nov. 29. [AP] Wake the Dead brings a party that anyone—living or otherwise—is welcome to attend. The band performs hits from iconic bands from the ’60s with a unique take on Sunday, Nov. 1 (see p. 33). COURTESY OF WAKE THE DEAD Boris Karloff as the monster in the 1931 version of Frankenstein. Monterey Public Library celebrates Halloween with two classic features (see p. 32). UNIVERSAL PICTURES
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