BY CHARLI BATTERSBY | In the burlesque industry, ya’ gotta have a gimmick. This time of year, the ubiquitous gimmick is horror-themed burlesque to coincide with Halloween. Have your leggy showgirls dress up like characters from scary movies, and you’ve got that magic mixture of fear and sexual arousal which always sells tickets. You may call it “Scarousal.” The immersive event Haunted Hollywood combines “Grammable” photo ops with sultry lounge singing and some spooky burlesque, all in a format palatable for the Upper West Side.

The event takes place inside The Shops at Columbus Circle, so the performances are tailored for a Central Park West crowd. It’s tamer than what audiences will see in the Village, but there will definitely be some dames in pasties, and at least one lucky lady from the crowd will get lapdanced by a muscle boy (at least in the performance we reviewed).

The event is divided into three segments: The first is a photogenic “Parlor” where the performers are dressed as famous figures from Hollywood. Audiences can mingle with Marlon Brando, Marlene Dietrich, and other legends, while sipping cocktails at the bar. In the same lounge space there are also dioramas recreating famous horror movie scenes. Attendees can pose with Norman Bates’ mother in the shower, or in a bedroom with Chuckie the doll lurking in the background, and even share some pizza with Slimer from Ghostbusters.

Haunted Hollywood is a cabaret-style event with cocktails and dining so, after giving the audience half an hour to enjoy the photo salon, the audience was seated for food and drink. (A singer dressed as Elvira performed torch songs while the wait staff attended the diners.)

Thirty minutes later, the lights dimmed and the show proper began. It was hosted by a drag queen dressed as the Bride of Frankenstein, who opened with a rendition of Sweet Transvestite from Rocky Horror–delightfully apropos. There were plenty of gentle jabs at the Upper West Side crowd from the hostess, well-received by the gracious victims on the night we attended.

In between the Bride’s routines was a selection of vaudeville and burlesque acts featuring horror characters. All of the performances involved some manner of striptease, often starting with a fully-costumed and masked performer who then stripped out of the Freddy Krueger or Michael Myers outfits with a dramatic reveal of something sexier underneath. One of the fun things is that you couldn’t be sure who was under the costumes. Freddy Krueger pulled off his mask and sweater to reveal the leggy woman who had previously been dressed as Marlene Dietrich.

For the ladies (and certain gentlemen), there was a bit of beefcake. No one should be surprised that Michael Myers is quite muscular under that asylum jumpsuit. In retrospect, we should have all just assumed that this unstoppable juggernaut is a slab of well-toned man meat.

Earlier in the show, a hunky scientist danced with a pair of M3GAN dolls. If any franchise should not be fetishized, it’s M3GAN, a sci-fi comedy about a murderous robot that looks like a little girl. But we live in the worst end of the multi-verse so, of course, M3GAN has her own fetish community (you know who you are, and the FBI is watching).

Other horror franchises seem built from the ground up to be fetish fuel. Like The Nun spinoff from The Conjuring (even an evil demonic nun is hot when she quickly disrobes down to her sequined pasties).

At times, the performances had little to do with the movie being referenced. But who cares if the aerialist routine is related to The Exorcist? Certainly not when you have a lithe brunette in skimpy red lingerie swinging around on a hoop.

There was a great deal of audience interaction. During one scene, Casey from Scream was onstage, and several Ghostfaces roamed the audience (30-year-old Spoiler Alert: There’s more than one Ghostface). Later, a mob of zombies prowled the theater as a slinky dancer stripped, and was then devoured.

For audiences who want a little naughtiness but don’t want to visit Coney Island, or Bushwick, or Thompkins Square, then Haunted Hollywood is a more refined, upscale alternative to the straight up decadence that can be found elsewhere. The lapdances might even qualify as classy.

Haunted Hollywood New York takes place at Haunted Hollywood 10 Columbus Circle, 4th Floor. For more information, click here. For tickets (from $69.87 to $101.66), click here. To preview the menu, click here.

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