"Like Nothing Had Changed." That was the Block Club Chicago headline the day The 400 Theater reopened on July 31, after people lined up on Sheridan Road for the first screenings in three years. By September, the Loyola Phoenix was reporting strong attendance and steady positive feedback from the community.
This is the theater's first October back, and it changes how the neighborhood's month works. Most Rogers Park fall events are one-day dates: a Saturday screening at Jarvis Square, one afternoon of trick-or-treating, a single walk on November 1. The 400 is open every day. This month it has put classic monster movies on Thursday nights at 7:15, which gives the calendar a fixed point the other dates can fit around. Rogers Park hasn't had that since 2023.
A 1912 Building Showing 1930s Monsters
The building at 6746 N. Sheridan Rd. went up in 1912. It ran as a theater and movie house for 111 years, hosting everything from vaudeville to first-run releases, before it closed in 2023. At closing it was the oldest movie theater in the city and one of its last independent cinemas. The new operator, Jordan Stancil, runs three movie houses in Michigan. One of them is the Rialto Theater in Grayling, which his family has owned since 1915.
The theater's FAQ describes the plan as about five new releases a month plus around 30 other titles. Those other titles are where October gets interesting. The theater is running a series called "Monster Mash," built from Universal Pictures' horror films of the 1930s through the 1950s. The program notes say the series "holds a mirror up to the enduring fears of otherness that animate the genre." Next to it is "Black Cats and Broomsticks," a witch-themed series.
Here is how the two series fall across the month:
| Date | Film | Series | Showtime |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday, Oct. 7 | Matilda, 1996 | Black Cats and Broomsticks | 4:15 p.m. |
| Thursday, Oct. 8 | The Bride of Frankenstein, 1935 | Monster Mash | 7:15 p.m. |
| Friday, Oct. 9 | I Married a Witch | Black Cats and Broomsticks | 9:15 p.m. |
| Thursday, Oct. 15 | Dracula, 1931 | Monster Mash | 7:15 p.m. |
| Thursday, Oct. 22 | The Wolf Man, 1941 | Monster Mash | 7:15 p.m. |
| Thursday, Oct. 29 | Creature from the Black Lagoon, 1954 | Monster Mash | 7:15 p.m. |
| Saturday, Oct. 31 | The Mummy, 1932 | Monster Mash | 4:45 p.m. |
Some of these films have more than one showing. The Bride of Frankenstein, for example, also has late screenings earlier in the week, so check the 400 Theater's schedule before picking a night. Still, the Thursday 7:15 slot repeats for four straight weeks. That makes the series easy to build a routine around, and the rest of this calendar is organized that way.
What a Night There Costs Right Now
Before opening, the theater announced these ticket prices: $11 for evening shows, $8.50 for afternoon shows, $6 on Tuesdays and $6 for children 11 and younger. Online purchases add a $1.50 fee plus tax. The online checkout currently shows $11 for an adult evening ticket and $6 for a child, followed by a step to choose your seats. Reserved seating is working.
One thing to check yourself is alcohol. In July the theater said alcohol would be served "eventually." We couldn't confirm from the current schedule or ticketing pages whether that has started. If you want a drink with your Dracula, plan it around the movie for now.
Jarvis Square Takes the Saturdays
If the 400 holds Thursdays, Jarvis Square holds the weekends. Its October events are mostly free and outdoors at Jarvis Square Alfresco, and they don't overlap with the Thursday monster nights.
- Twilight Market, Mondays. It runs Mondays from June through October. The next listed date is tomorrow, Oct. 5, from 4 to 8 p.m.
- Rocky Horror Picture Show, Saturday, Oct. 10. A free outdoor screening from 7 to 9 p.m., with prop bags, themed cocktails and meatloaf from R Public House.
- Family Fall Halloween Fest, Saturday, Oct. 24. Free, from 2 to 6 p.m.
The Oct. 10 screening means Rogers Park has two movie screens running the same week. On Thursday, Oct. 8, The Bride of Frankenstein plays indoors on Sheridan. Two nights later, Rocky Horror plays outdoors at Jarvis, and that film is itself a parody of the Universal monster pictures the 400 is showing. A cult-film fan could see both the original and the parody in one week without leaving the neighborhood.
Jarvis also has a new dinner option for a Thursday night. L'Angolo Italiano opened in early July at 1538 W. Jarvis Ave. as the Italian Cultural Center's new restaurant. It's run by Daniela Cavallero and Paola Nervi. It's open Thursday through Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m. Those hours start on the same night as the Monster Mash series, so an early dinner before a 7:15 show works on four Thursdays this month.
Live Stages Cover the Nights the Screen Doesn't
The 400 isn't the only place in the neighborhood with a fall season. Two Rogers Park stage companies have shows running through all of October, so there's a live option on almost any night without a movie you want.
Lifeline Theatre has two shows running at once. Its adaptation of "A Wrinkle in Time" runs through Oct. 18 after opening Sept. 11. "Sugar Plum Fairy, P.I.," a world-premiere family production, opened Oct. 3 and runs through Nov. 8. For families, that gives a weekend matinee option alongside the Matilda screening on Oct. 7 and the Jarvis Halloween Fest on Oct. 24. After Halloween, Lifeline moves to the holidays, with "Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol" running Nov. 28 through Dec. 20.
On Howard Street, the Factory Theater is opening "Radical Futures" at 1623 W. Howard St. Previews run Oct. 9 to 11, and the regular run goes from Oct. 16 to Nov. 21. The previews fall on the same weekend as Rocky Horror at Jarvis and I Married a Witch at the 400. That makes Oct. 9 to 11 the busiest stretch of the month in Rogers Park, with something on all three corridors.
Halloween Weekend Runs From Howard Street to a 1932 Mummy
The last four days of the month line up neatly. Here is the order:
- Thursday, Oct. 29. Creature from the Black Lagoon closes the Thursday series at the 400 at 7:15 p.m.
- Friday, Oct. 30. Halloween on Howard Street runs from 4 to 7 p.m. at Callan Plaza, 621 W. Howard St., and it's free. This one is on the Evanston side of Howard. Callan Plaza is new itself. It opened with a celebration on Aug. 29 as Howard Street's newest community gathering space.
- Saturday, Oct. 31. The Mummy screens at 4:45 p.m. on Halloween. That's early enough to fit a classic monster film into the afternoon, before evening plans.
- Sunday, Nov. 1. The Rogers Park Business Alliance lists its Día de los Muertos Catrina Walk for this date. The alliance describes its annual Día de los Muertos observance as running Nov. 1 and 2. A start time hadn't been posted when we checked, so watch the Rogers Park Business Alliance for details.
The Rogers Park Business Alliance also lists a Halloween Trick or Treat on Howard Street as one of its recurring October events. We couldn't find a 2026 date or time for the Chicago side yet. The Oct. 30 event at Callan Plaza is the only dated Howard Street Halloween listing we found.
Put the month together and the 400 is the common thread. It opens the run of events on Oct. 7 with Matilda, takes the four Thursdays, and has the last screening on Halloween afternoon. Jarvis Square, Lifeline, the Factory and Howard Street all fall on the days around it. In 2024 and 2025, the building at 6746 N. Sheridan sat dark through October.
We pay attention to this kind of change because it shapes what daily life looks like on a given block, and that's part of how we think about a home's value. If you live near Sheridan, Jarvis or Howard and want to know how your home is positioned this fall, Allie Payne and the Allie + Julie team can walk you through it. Request a free home valuation, and we'll start with the blocks you know best.
