Huge, huge Ray Parker Jr. fans.

If there’s one thing better than cheesy fun, it’s unified, one-stop shopping cheesy fun. And if there’s anything better than unified, one-stop shopping cheesy fun, it’s unified, one-stop shopping cheesy fun with the chance of seeing some guy with a fanny pack, football full o’ beer and an epic, braided rat-tail strolling through the street. (Yes, this really happened. Someone needs to start PeopleofFremontStreet as a response to PeopleofWalMart.)

The Fremont Street Experience’s OktoberFrightFest runs through Halloween night to Lon Cheney up your downtown experience. They’ve got “Time Warp” and “Monster Mash” on Viva Vision, plus Halloween-themed shows on the First Street, Third Street and “Haunted Bus” stages.

German illusionist Jan Rouven opens with a fairly compelling bit (pun!) called the Drill of Death in which he gets impaled, lifted and spun on a giant drill. Of death. Just so we’re clear on that. We’re not sure, though, why he follows that up with yet another aerialist scarf act. It’s the most tired routine in town, no matter how skin-tight the leotard is you’re cramming your assistant into.

Painted-up musical act Frank & The Steins runs through Halloween-ish tunes after some sub-Price mumbo jumbo from their drummer, including “I’m Your Bogey Man,” “Ghostbusters” and “Spooky.” To be fair, we’d watch any band in costume bang out “Monster Mash” and “Dead Man’s Party” over and over like the Blues Brothers doing “Rawhide” if it were up to us.

Mario & Jenny, featured on America’s Got Talent and recently in Monster Circus do some light acrobatics and juggling of things on fire. Like a giant cube, and some fake guitars. Frankly, if you can’t be entertained by crap on fire getting juggled, we can’t help you.

Binion’s takes the whole thing to heart, though. They’ve decked out the outside of the casino with a big ol’ Satan, skeletal horses and a guy riding the electric chair every few minutes. Inside, half the dealers are in bunny costumes. (Actually, we have no idea if that was part of Halloween or not, but it’s an idea they should consider year-round.) The second floor has been converted into their Haunted Casino.

It’s a series of three haunted houses that make use of existing space — making it the first time we’ve every gone through an actual service kitchen for a haunted house. (The first one has a dining theme) These things are what they are. Either you already like them or you don’t. The Binion’s ones aren’t the most elaborate you’ve ever been in (although they’re the first we’ve seen with what we think might have been live slot machines), but they’re not bad by any stretch. We didn’t go to Fright Dome this year, but if the houses there are anything like they were the last couple of years, they’re a step above Binion’s. The downtown experience as a whole, though, makes it a different ball of wax. It’s absolutely worth hitting it up for cheap Halloween laughs — especially when it already looks like everyone is already in costume already.

By Jason Scavone

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