10022020 CT Atlas Halloween movies

For those folks who love a scary Halloween season, 2020 offers everything and more. The pandemic has put a fright into every aspect of daily life, including for many people the notion of sitting in a movie theater with — albeit socially distanced and masked — strangers. This means many people are going to be eschewing their family tradition of seeing a scary movie on a big screen. However, Northeast Ohio's Atlas Cinemas has come up with a solution allowing families and friends to safely rent out a theater for a private screening. "We wanted to come up with a way to get people out of the house for Halloween," Atlas Cinemas Vice President/owner Gabriel Saluan said. "This is not a normal year for anybody. "So here's something to do in a clean, safe environment to get out and come to Atlas Cinemas and watch whatever spooky movie they want to see. They can sit in the auditorium within their group, laugh, yell, scream and just have a good time for a couple of hours." While the private screening offer currently has a Halloween movie theme, Saluan said this summer Atlas Cinemas was the first movie theater chain in the area to provide such an opportunity. "We've done many private rentals within the last few months," Saluan said. "It's been overwhelmingly popular. People love it. Families love it. Now we're adding the Halloween theme where people can dress up in their costumes, enjoy the evening and watch a scary movie." Not only is it a safe endeavor being alone in the theater with family and friends, but Saluan said it's affordable. The cost is $50 for up to 10 people and $100 for groups up to 25. The only additional cost is a $25 surcharge for new releases and concessions. The latter — with extra butter, pleases — could truly offer a sense of normalcy during these abnormal times. The private screening offer is available at the nearest Atlas Cinemas location: Elyria's Atlas Cinemas Midway Mall 8, Cleveland's Atlas Cinemas at Shaker Square, Mayfield Heights' Atlas Cinemas Eastgate 10, Euclid's Atlas Cinemas Lakeshore 7 & XXDXP, Mentor's Atlas Cinemas Diamond Center 16 and Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Stadium 16. "People can pick whatever title they want to see," Saluan said. "That could be something we're showing on the screen at that time or they can bring in their own favorite DVD or Blu-ray and we'll project it on the large screen just for them." As far as Halloween movies are concerned, Atlas Cinemas is currently screening "Hotel Transylvania" with "Hocus Pocus" and "The Addams Family" coming soon. "We're booking through October," Saluan said. "We'll see how it goes. We might extend it into the holiday season." For more information, visit atlascinemas.net. Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net.