5 Free Things to Do in Metro Phoenix This Week

Christmas decorations have started to make appearances in department stores around the Valley. Before you start freaking out about holiday shopping, push those worries aside and enjoy the upcoming week knowing that you can attend some pretty cool events without dropping a single dime. Our gift to you includes the following list of monster movies, art shows, and a talk by an award-winning author, all for free.

Radical Rankings: Top 10 Best Monster Movies
As Halloween approaches, so do the opportunities to binge-watch horror and monster movies. If you need help deciding which one to watch or feel like debating whether or not Monsters, Inc. deserves to be on any list that includes Night of the Living Dead and The Babadook, this is the roundtable for you. Head to a discussion of the top 10 best monster movies, as selected by an online poll on Facebook, as a part of the monthly list-driven happy hour program aptly named Radical Rankings. Monster movie enthusiasts can meet at the Hard Rock Cafe downtown on Thursday, October 15, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. While it is a free meeting, you must RSVP. You can do so on the event's Facebook page, where you can also find more details and participate in the movie poll.  

Author Talk: Edwidge Danticat
Edwidge Danticat boasts a MacArthur Genius Grant, an Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction, multiple National Book Awards, an endorsement from Oprah's Book Club, and many more accolades. She will be in Scottsdale on Thursday, October 15, to read excerpts from her latest novel, Untwine. To attend, RSVP at the Eventbrite page, then meet at SMoCA at 7:30 p.m. More details at the event's Facebook page.

"INCEPT: ASU MFA Artists"
Some of ASU's most creative minds will show their work this Friday at 9 the Gallery. From 6 to 10 p.m., the gallery will debut "INCEPT," which features students who have worked in the Too Hot Art Collective. The exhibition is on view until October 28. For more information and a list of artists who will show their work, visit the show's Facebook page.

Downtown Chandler Zombie Art Walk
The monthly Third Friday Art Walk in Downtown Chandler on Friday, October 15, might look a little different this time around. Instead of the peaceful, art-loving citizens you know and love, expect to see some art-loving, brain-hungry zombies limping around. Meet at Three South Arizona Avenue in downtown Chandler at 6 p.m. to join the walk or to have your face painted. More information is available on Facebook. 

"Tenth Annual Grid Show: Art About to (Public) Art"
Each year the Trunk Space hosts an exhibition that highlights and celebrates changes in the Valley. Last year, it was "Signs of the Times" The year before, it was personal maps. This year, the Trunk Space invites Phoenicians to come over and discover some of the Valley's most iconic signs and pieces of public art that have come to define the neighborhood in which they are displayed. Curated by the ubiquitous Marshall Shore and Douglas Towne, the exhibit will last from 6 to 10 p.m. For more information and a full list of artists and curators, visit the Trunk Space's website.