Best Fright Night 2008 | E.J. Antilla's Horror Remix | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Fright Night

E.J. Antilla's Horror Remix

Horror films are great. Nothing beats a good scare and some really bad acting. Nothing except local artist E.J. Antilla's Horror Remixes. As the Web site boasts, it's "All Killer, No Filler" when Antilla edits down B-rated horror flicks (think Hell High, Silent Night Deadly Night 2, Slumber Party Massacre and the like) to 30- or 40-minute flicks without all the lame side-plots and stupid dialogue. Each film's Horror Remix is basically a greatest hits of itself—gratuitous nudity, gore, sex and some seriously bad hair. All of Antilla's remixes are available for download or pop-up viewing on his site, and occasionally he'll hit the town with themed screenings. And for the blog followers, Antilla offers epilogues for most features with commentary from Thunderclap and Cheesecake (puppets with very particular tastes). Go see for yourself...but lock all the doors and windows first.

Best Gay Game

Gaybingo

Don't know who'll be there when the roll is called up yonder...but here's where lots of folks will be when their number is called down here. Gaybingo is the silliest fun you can have on the third Saturday of the month. This long-running hit is one of Dallas' hottest GLBT events. Hosted by drag divas Jenna Skyy and former Miss Gay America Patti LePlaeSafe, this ain't your Maw-Maw's bingo, although she might be there in the crowd of hundreds whooping, hollering and hooting. Recently relocated to posh digs in the Rose Room, this high-octane game night features polished production numbers, full service bars and chances to win prizes and cash. Lavish themes are announced in advance, and attendees are encouraged, though not required, to participate. Careful not to break rules or throw 'tude lest you find yourself at the mercy of the BVDs: Bingo Verifying Divas, the fierce drag queens who keep order as they roll through the crowd on inline skates, tossing one-liners and insults. The event also benefits the Resource Center of Dallas, a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving the GLBT and HIV/AIDS communities. Tickets go quickly, but if you get in—Bingo!—you're in for some outrageous fun.

Best Gray Gays

DFW Prime Timers

Gay guys get old too. And this social organization relishes and reveres the more mature man. DFW Prime Timers offer social, educational and self-improvement activities for mature gay and bisexual men and their admirers. General meetings (guests welcome) are held on the third Sunday afternoon of each month at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in the Oak Lawn area. Being a part of Prime Timers can help widen a circle of friends with an endless array of scheduled and spontaneous events. Older gay men use the group to meet and relax with friends who appreciate and respect the accomplishments of a life long lived. This isn't your auntie's sewing circle, however. These still vital gents are young at heart and ready to roll with regular potluck dinners, movie nights, picnic outings, restaurant dining and theater trips. Sub-groups of this club are doing something nearly every day of the week. You're never too old to come out, you know.

Best Honky-Tonk

Adair's Saloon

Adair's is cool, if a little small. Hell, if you didn't know where it was, you might walk right past it—well, if your ears were somehow covered. Adair's makes up for its lack of stature by bringing in more than its fair share of bands to play on its right-by-the-front-door stage. And though the stage isn't necessarily exclusive to hosting country bands, it sure tends to lean that way most of the time. Plus, the bar's biggest draw happens to be a country act; The King Bucks, the area's most revered country cover band not named Boys Named Sue play the stage every Monday night to an attentive crowd of well-lubricated regulars by the bar.

Best Hoochie Lessons

The Girls Room

Within every straitlaced lady there's a stripper busting to get out. Or so they think at the Girls Room, where the emphasis is on sexy exercise, not sleaze. There is something sort of nicely naughty, though, about classes called Beginners Pole Dancing and Intro to Burlesque. Learning to bump and grind in a safe environment is merely an avenue to self-empowerment and getting into shape, says founder Karyn Pentecost. Yoga, belly-dancing, "Pole-lates" and other variations of movement instruction also focus on feminine fitness. Sorry, no guys allowed, no matter how much greenery you throw at the scenery.

Best Idea Ever

Extending the Smoking Ban

Rumblings down at City Hall point to Mayor Tom Leppert and the city council pushing for an extension of our current smoking ordinances to include bars and nightclubs by year's end—to which we say, what took you so long? Sure, there are some Observer staffers who might disagree, but there are also several of us who long for the night we can leave The Double Wide or The Cavern without reeking of music editors past and present. And spare us the "But it's a bar!" excuses. There was a time when it was OK to shoot people in saloons too.

Best Jukebox

Lakewood Landing

Lauren Drewes Daniels

From the outside, the Landing is unassuming at best. Not surprising, considering it proudly calls itself "an upscale dive" on the sign outside. So you walk in, allow your eyes to adjust to just how damn dark it is in there, and you maybe grab some of the surprisingly delicious bar food. And you relax. Subconsciously, you find your head nodding along to the infectious tune coming from the jukebox. You pause. You know this song...what is it? So you walk over to the source and flip through the rows of the machine's albums. Oh look, an Old 97's record. Hey, the Slider Pines. Wow—there's a lot of local discs in this sumbitch. Which makes sense when you find the disc you were looking for. Oh yeah, it's another local: Baboon. You thumb through your pocket, grab a crumpled dollar bill and you keep the local love going. Now this, you think to yourself, this is a jukebox you can get behind.

Best Kids' Party

Kreative Kidz Partyz

If spelling is an issue for your kid in school, you might want to plan his or her party with someone other than Kreative Kidz Partyz. But if you are looking for a place that puts the K in creative and takes the stress out of your party planning, then parents, look no further. This Plano party spot packages themes for birthdays at reasonable prices. By themes, we mean the current pop fixation of your 5-year-old: Disney princesses, Dora the Explorer, Hannah Montana, High School Musical, Pop Star Karaoke. Kreative Kidz Partyz does everything, from themed invitations to themed birthday cakes to themed costumes for the partygoers to themed party helpers. For 90 minutes of birthday party-crazy, you let the professionals take care of all the details. Plus there is no nagging cleanup afterward. There's even a thank-you note attached to the themed party favor. Thank you!

Best Latin Club

Gloria's

So, Gloria's isn't necessarily a club, per se. But, nonetheless, once a week, every Thursday night, Gloria's might as well be considered a discoteca thanks to the salsa dance party that takes place inside. The music comes courtesy of The Havana NRG Orchestra, a nationally renowned, Dallas-based Latin orchestra; by the time the band is in full swing and the dance floor has a crowd, you'll forget that you're having this much fun in a restaurant. No, you'll think you're somewhere south of the border. The best part: Though the restaurant charges a $5 cover charge to men at this popular event, the women get in free. Ay, Chihuahua.

Best Library Renovation

The Library Bar

Maybe not a great place to read, despite all those shelves of old books. But this bar, recently redone but, thank God, not too much, is an interesting place to read people. For the kind of grown-up date where you want a good drink and some meaningful conversation, the Library Bar has that old New York bar vibe. Some nights there's a pianist, tinkling the keys of the grand piano for some mellow show tunes and jazz. The lighting is low, the waitstaff is attentive when needed and the bartenders can mix a Manhattan. Start spreadin' the news.

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