Short Takes: Get the Scoop on the Famous, Infamous at Star Museum

STAGEFRIGHT
Hollywood long ago perfected the practice of scaring the stuffing out of us. Just watch 1973’s “The Exorcist.”
Or partake in Abingdon’s Star Museum Stagefright tours. Scheduled for Oct. 23-25 and 28-31, the tours delve into the dark side of Hollywood courtesy artifacts from the collection of spiritualist C. Robert Weisfeld.
See items from actresses Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who starred in the psychological classic “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” Connect with Hollywood’s early eras of horror from “Frankenstein” and “Dracula.”
Better still, listen as WEHC-FM radio show host Weisfeld spooks with stories of local ghosts, some of which are reputed to even haunt the Star Museum.

IF YOU GO
What: Star Museum’s Second Annual Halloween Tour, Stagefright
When: Oct. 23-25 and 28-31; tours start at 7:30 p.m.
Where: Star Museum, 170 E. Main St., Abingdon, Va.
Admission: $10, by reservation only
Info: (276) 628-2962 or e-mail
Web: http://www.myspace.com/starmuseum

APPALACHIAN LITERARY FESTIVAL
This year’s 27th Annual Appalachian Literary Festival at Emory and Henry College spotlights and welcomes poet Frank X Walker on Oct. 23-24.
To date, the Kentucky poet has authored four collections of poetry including his latest, the riveting “When Winter Come: The Ascension of York.”
A founding member of Affrilachian Poets, much of Walker’s work examines York, the personal slave of William Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. Clark often referred to York as his “servant” in his journals.
Walker’s stately poems give York a soul and route through the chains of slavery and the boundless gates of freedom.

IF YOU GO
What: 27th Annual Appalachian Literary Festival
When: Oct. 23-24, 2:30 p.m.
Where: Emory and Henry College, Emory, Va.
Admission: Free
Info: (276) 944-6143
Web: http://www.ehc.edu/litfest/
Also: http://www.frankxwalker.com

MAGIC MAN
Now you see it ... and now you don’t.
So go the goings on of a magician. So it goes with Dave Vaught, who aims to astound and wow on Oct. 26 at the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tenn.
He’s not Harry, but Bristol’s Houdini is quite a showman. Expect birds that appear, dogs that disappear and humor at the ever ready.
Of importance, foul language and indecency may sell tickets, but that’s not Vaught’s thing. Clean magic is his modus operandi.
A grand entertainer, Vaught will most likely lead more than one in the crowd to wonder, “Now, how’d he do that?”

IF YOU GO
Who: Dave Vaught & Company
When: Oct. 26, 3 p.m.
Where: Paramount Center for the Arts, 518 State St., Bristol, Tenn.
Admission: $10 for adults, $6 for students
Info: (423) 274-8920
Web: http://www.davevaught.com

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .