The Ritz's First October in Years Puts Malvern's Halloween on Main Street
The Historic Ritz Theatre at 213 S. Main Street was dark for years. This October it has ghost tours, a monster-movie series and a Zombie Crawl that ends in its auditorium. This is the first Halloween season since Arkansas State University Three Rivers, which owns and operates the building, finished restoring it and brought audiences back. As a result, most of the downtown October calendar now happens inside one building or within walking distance of it.
The Ritz first opened in 1938. Fire destroyed it in February 1948, and the theater reopened that October in the building that stands today. The most recent restoration took several phases. Phase V was funded by a $1.3 million grant from the Arkansas Natural and Cultural Resources Council and included a conference-center addition. Former ASU Three Rivers Chancellor Steve Rook described the plans to the Malvern Daily Record. They included a refurbished Allen/Nix Auditorium and a link to the neighboring 217 Main Street property, which adds lobby, concession, restroom, green-room and meeting space.
The college chose its first post-restoration film carefully. On Saturday, Feb. 7, the Ritz screened Unearthing the Dream, a documentary about the desegregation of Malvern's school system in 1968. The evening also included the naming of the theater's balcony. The balcony was once segregated. The Henson-Benson Foundation donated $20,000, and the balcony now carries the foundation's name. During the renovation, the foundation also argued for restoring the balcony to its historic configuration instead of removing it.
"We wanted to make sure that for years, people like my grandchildren would know how we were once separated, and what it took for things to be like they are today."
Marion Gibson, board president of the Henson-Benson Foundation, speaking to the Malvern Daily Record
Two days later, on Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, Josh Farley's "Magic Across America Tour" came to the Ritz. The Malvern Daily Record reported it as the restored theater's first live show. Since then, the college has built a regular schedule. Ritz Reels, its branded movie-night series, has shown Greater and High School Musical. A July live podcast promised local cryptids, true crime and a haunted story connected to the renovated building. On Sept. 26, a one-day Camp Curtain Call brought youth theater to the stage for ages 6 to 18. October builds on all of that.
These dates come from the event listings on the Malvern/Hot Spring County Chamber of Commerce calendar.
| Date | Event | Time | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sat., Oct. 10 | Ritz Reels: Hotel Transylvania | Doors 5:30 p.m., movie 6:45 p.m. | See listing |
| Mon., Oct. 19 | Ghost Tours | 6 p.m. | $15 |
| Mon., Oct. 26 | Ghost Tours | 6 p.m. | $15 |
| Fri., Oct. 30 | Hocus Pocus with costume contest | Contest 6 p.m., movie 6:45 p.m. | See listing |
| Sat., Oct. 31 | 1st Annual Zombie Crawl and Night of the Living Dead | Confirm with the theater | $5 crawl only, $10 crawl and movie |
The Ghost Tours are the event that most depends on the building itself. The Chamber promotes them as "Haunting History. Shadowy Stories." The listing warns that tickets are limited. No published account says which stories the guides tell, so you'll only hear them on the tour. Both tours fall on Monday evenings, a quiet night downtown, so if you plan to go, buy tickets early.
The two family films are spread out on purpose. Hotel Transylvania opens the month on a Saturday. Hocus Pocus runs the night before Halloween, with the costume contest starting 45 minutes before the movie. That makes the Friday screening a good test run for a costume before Saturday.
The Zombie Crawl is new this year, and it covers the most ground of any event on the calendar. The listing says it starts at J.A. Funk Funeral Home, moves down Main Street and ends at the Ritz with the 1968 Night of the Living Dead and a costume contest. You can pay $5 for the crawl alone or $10 for the crawl and the movie.
The schedule needs one caution. The Chamber's October calendar and the event's date field both list Saturday, Oct. 31. The time block on the same page says Monday, Oct. 19, at 6 p.m., which matches the first Ghost Tour listing exactly. Halloween night is the better-supported date. The event's listed contact is the Ritz Theatre Malvern Facebook page, so check the start time there before you put on makeup.
The Ritz isn't the only October event downtown, but most of the others are on the same street within a few days of the theater's schedule.
Thursday the 22nd, Saturday the 24th, Friday the 30th and Saturday the 31st each have something on Main Street or nearby. The Ritz has events on or near three of those four nights.
Two businesses that opened downtown this spring are useful for planning an evening. Brick City Pizza held its grand opening and ribbon cutting on April 3 at 908 Dyer Street. Owner David Michael Cole calls the Dyer Street location a reopening of the family business he started on the former Pizza for Less site. His site also mentions The Brick Yard, a new dine-in space next door. It doesn't give an opening date, so call ahead before you plan around it.
If you're putting together a costume at the last minute, The BroHaus Boytique & Embroidery held its ribbon cutting on April 14 at 221 S. Main Street. That's a short walk up the street from the Ritz at 213 S. Main.
If you'd rather spend part of October outdoors, Lake Catherine State Park offers guided horseback rides at 10 a.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Thanksgiving, along with its waterfall trail. A morning ride and an evening screening fit in the same weekend.
The Chamber's November calendar doesn't list any Ritz events yet, and it doesn't show a downtown holiday kickoff. The leadership at the theater's owner has also changed. Steve Rook left ASU Three Rivers effective July 1, 2026, and the ASU System named Shane Broadway interim chancellor. The Ritz Reels page on the ASU Three Rivers site is the best place to watch for the next screenings once October's schedule ends.
The Ghost Tour on Monday, Oct. 19, is the event with limited tickets, so it's the one to book first.
Rita Smith and the Bluebird team keep track of what's changing in Malvern's downtown, from the restored Ritz to the new businesses along Main and Dyer. If you have questions about a downtown Malvern property or the blocks around it, contact us. We're glad to talk about it.
When we assist you with buying or selling, we evaluate the property and your goal as if they were our own. It’s really that simple – doing business the way it used to be done.
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