By Gordon Anderson | gordon@rantnc.com
Spooky season may be over for 2026, but Spring Lane Cinemas is keeping the spirit alive in November with a film screening of a horror classic followed by a Q&A with the director.
The theater will celebrate Friday, November 13 with a 7 p.m. showing of 1986’s Friday the 13th Part VI. Writer and director Tom McLoughlin will be on hand to answer questions after the film. The screening is free with a purchase from the concession stand. McLoughlin will be available for photos and autographs beforehand.
Jared Campbell, Spring Lane’s general manager, said any Friday the 13th — the date, not the film franchise — is an excuse to get people through the doors to enjoy a scary movie.
“Any time there’s a Friday the thirteenth, we’ll be showing a movie,” he said. “There’s a sense of nostalgia for a lot of people, because when we were kids horror movies were kind of off limits. It’s a date that holds a special place for a lot of people, because you can take just about anything and make it horror.”
Campbell says there’s an element of camp to a lot of horror films, especially those from the 70s and 80s. He calls Friday the 13th Part VI “the first film in the franchise that was actually considered any good.”
“The first five of those movies were basically the same movie, beat for beat,” he said.
It’s not the first time Spring Lane has hosted an event of this kind. In 2025, the theater screened the Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as a Q&A with actor Allen Danziger. That’s in addition to their weekly “Wayback Wednesday” screenings of older films.
“When Allen was here last year, there were just so many great questions,” Campbell said. “Some of these people were kids — it was really amazing to see.”
Campbell said the Texas Chainsaw Massacre was such a success that he immediately started looking for opportunities to do more. His friendship with singer Britton Buchanan, who appeared on NBC’s The Voice in 2018, led to the chance to meet McLoughlin.
“Britton was friends with Tom, and I was able to meet him in February,” Campbell explained. “He was an awesome dude — just a kind, gentle soul.”
As with all of Spring Lane’s special screenings, management will raffle off a poster of the film. Anyone attending will be eligible. Seating is limited and will be on a first come, first served basis.