On a cold, windy night in Seymour, The Strand Theater’s marquee lights up, revealing the theme for the evening’s double feature. The scent of buttered popcorn and excited murmurs fill the theater as a group of movie fans gather for a night of horror, terror, and suspense. The lights dim, and an old projector rolls the opening credits, which takes viewers through a mental institution. The John Carpenter Night has begun.

Held by Connecticut Cult Classics, and sponsored by several local businesses, this event was the third Carpenter-centric event that had been put on. Although it was simply called “John Carpenter Night 3,” they missed an opportunity to call it: “John Carpenter Night 3: Season of the Witch” (a reference to the third Halloween film, which infamously does not feature Michael Myers). Connecticut Cult Classics frequently puts on double features based on either director, holiday, or a particular theme. This time, the films shown were 1980’s The Fog and 1994’s In the Mouth of Madness, two cosmic horror films done at different points in Carpenter’s career. This isn’t a review of the movies that were shown, but both were excellent entries in Carpenter’s filmography.

If you are unfamiliar with the films, here is a brief summary of both:

The Fog (1980): On the eve of Antonio Bay’s 100th birthday, a mysterious, glowing fog rolls in over the horizon, causing chaos around town as ghostly figures begin to emerge. An ensemble cast including a radio DJ, a hitchhiker and her lover, and an old priest uncover the dark underbelly surrounding their idyllic coast town’s founding and must try to stop the evil force before the fog takes over. Starring: Adrienne Barbeau, Jamie Lee Curtis, Hal Holbrook, and Janet Leigh.

In the Mouth of Madness (1994): Famed horror writer Sutter Cane has gone missing, just as his newest novel, which shares its title with that of the film, is set to be released. His fans have been acting strangely, showing signs of paranoid schizophrenia, and John Trent is set on finding Cane and proving two things: (1) Cane’s novels are not actually real, and (2) That he can return home with his sanity intact. Starring: Sam Neill, Julie Carmen, and Jurgen Prochnow.

Before each film, trailers from 70s and 80s B-horror flicks would play (The House That Screamed, Pirhana and its sequel, and The Curse, among others) making the audience feel as though they were in a drive-in theater 50 years ago.

Despite showing two horror films, the atmosphere was not always suspenseful and anxious. Throughout most of In the Mouth of Madness, audience members were laughing at line deliveries, which may seem a little odd, given that the film is a straightforward horror film and not a horror-comedy. It just goes to show that people can still find an aspect of joy in something meant to be creepy. During the first few minutes of The Fog, John Carpenter made an uncredited cameo as Ben Tramer (a name that Halloween fans will recognize). When Ben’s face was revealed to the audience, one woman called out, “Hi, John!”

After DJ Stevie Wayne initially reports the presence of the fog, before its danger is made clear to the audience, a group of drunk fishermen call her crazy, since they do not see the fog. A few seconds later, one of the men said in a low, grisly tone, “Hey, look, there’s a fog bank.” Again, the audience was cracking up.

The fun did not stop at unintentionally funny moments, fun trailers, or purposely cheesy PSAs about theater etiquette, no way. Inbetween the two films, there was a raffle in which people could win themed prizes, such as a copy of In the Mouth of Madness (in the form of a journal), film posters, a grab bag of John Carpenter DVDs, VHS copies of the night’s films, and even an autograph from Adrienne Barbeau (Stevie Wayne in The Fog). Winners were announced by the last three digits on their ticket stub. A few were a bit overexcited to win, but the excitement is understandable (that grab bag was very cool…).

In an age where people may prefer to watch movies in their homes, there is no experience that can top being in a chilled movie theater, watching terror unfold before them in the dark. Then, at the end of the night, maybe they’ll be on the lookout for a fog rolling in, or the latest Sutter Cane novel, and the fear inspired by John Carpenter will linger on in the witching hour, following the audience home.