Steel City Horror Show Celebrates Two Years of Scares

PHOTO COURTESY OF STEEL CITY HORROR SHOW | HORROR SHOW CO-HOSTS ALLIE LAMPMAN-SIMS AND SEAN COLLIER, WHO PREVIOUSLY WORKED FOR PITTSBURGH MAGAZINE AS AN EDITOR, OUTSIDE OF THE HARRIS THEATER

Halloween comes once a month at Downtown’s Harris Theater.

The Steel City Horror Show is celebrating its second anniversary this weekend with a special show that co-host Allie Lampman-Sims says will bring even more scares. 

The show, which is also co-hosted by former Pittsburgh Magazine editor Sean Collier, has been bringing immersive horror to the Harris through mystery screenings of horror hits and cult classics. Paying homage to late-night horror shows of decades past, it leans into the pulpy, thematic elements of the genre and blends the theatre experience with the kind of immersion folks might expect from Halloween haunts like Scarehouse, where Lampman-Sims and Collier both previously worked.

“It’s definitely a different movie experience,” says Lampman-Sims, who also plays the character Dr. Gielgud — and his many family members — at the show. “We create characters that people can interact with; we can have full-blown conversations in-character.” 

As for what characters guests can expect to see this weekend, Lampman-Sims was reluctant to give too much away. The mystery is part of the fun, and part of what has kept patrons coming back for two years. 

Moviegoers don’t know which film will be screened ahead of time or what kind of special guests may be in attendance, but Lampman-Sims says that’s part of the allure. Prior to the show, the hosts will show some videos or play music that contain hints to what the film will be;the audience is encouraged to take a guess prior to the big reveal. 

“People love that guessing,” she says.

The hosts have  shown a wide variety of horror films spanning decades and subgenres, from the “Invisible Man,” which first hit the silver screen in 1933, to “November,” a fantasy-horror film from 2017. Last year, Steel City Horror Show screened the 1990s remake of “Night of the Living Dead,” complete with a pre-show workout featuring zombies from the Allentown gym Dead Comes Lifting. For their first-ever show, Lampman-Sims and Collier screened the animal horror film “Alligator,”  and the special guest was a tegu named Lasagna. 

“We like creating these unique experiences,” Lampman-Sims says. “It’s great, and I’m just glad that so many people enjoy it.”