On Halloween, Ayala Museum keeps its doors open for Midnight Museum. Moving artifacts not guaranteed.

MANILA, Philippines - When you were a kid, your mother probably dragged you to department stores to shop. Bored, you went around looking for something to entertain yourself with. And lo and behold, you found the toy section and stumbled upon a doll that looked a lot like your terror teacher. You had seen enough movies like Life Size, Child’s Play and Toy Story to make you wonder if it comes to life after midnight.

Ben Stiller’s Night at the Museum made a pretty convincing case that dolls aren’t the only things that come to life when we look away. It gave us unrealistic expectations about what goes on behind museum doors after closing. Sometimes, we can’t help but wonder: Do the statues, dioramas and paintings really come to life at midnight?

On Oct. 31, from 8 p.m. to 12 midnight, Ayala Museum will keep its doors open for a night of sci-fi films and spooky theater. Channel your inner Cady Heron and come in your best costume (Young STAR will be giving an award to the best costume of the night). Be creative and go crazy. Nobody wants to see you dolled up as Karen Smith dressed up as a mouse anyway (duh).

The evening will kick off with Japanese director Shinkai Makoto’s Voices of a Distant Star and will be followed by a performance by theater company Sipat Lawin Ensemble called Apparition. This interactive play breaks the barrier between the theatrical and the realistic; you’ll never know, the audience member beside you might just be a cast member. And the best part? The performance moves from one section of the museum to another so you will get an unconventional tour of it too.

This week, Young STAR caught up with Apparition director JK Anicoche, 28, and production manager Alon Segarra, 28, of Sipat Lawin Ensemble to talk about midnight hours, a few Halloween costume ideas, and creepy stories to keep us up at night.

YOUNG STAR: What’s the most interesting thing that happened to you at midnight?

ALON SEGARRA: It’s not exactly at midnight but the witching hour (12 midnight to two in the morning). I was alone in my condo in Taft when I heard someone knock on the door. I peeked through the peeking hole and I saw this guy who I think I knew but then he left. I didn’t open the door because I was scared. After few hours, I heard a chain being dragged in the hallway. And I kept singing With or Without You just to block it out.

JK ANICOCHE: I was in Japan as an exchange student. I was 17 at that time. The train stopped at 12 midnight dun sa small villages in Osaka. Hindi na ako aabot sa connecting train ko but it was just a few kilometers so malapit lang. So I walked. Pag-lakad ko, may sementeryo so sabi ko kung mumultuhin ako ng mga Japanese, hindi ko naman sila maiintindihan. Kahit mag-dasal ako, they wouldn’t understand din. (Laughs)

What’s on your Halloween movie marathon list?

JK: Ring Zero for me because Sadako is in the theater. She’s not in television. And we work in the theater and so kung may Sadako, it’s too real. Anything that is too real is scary.

ALON: Maybe Funny Games. It’s more of a psychological thriller. It’s gory and scary. It’s scary kasi it can happen in real life. In the film, (there’s one part) na biglang nag-pause yung film. And then you think na titigil na yung movie doon but in the end, nag-rewind or fast forward siya.

Young STAR will be giving an award to the person who has the best costume in Midnight Museum. What would you like to see people dress up as?

JK: I’d like to see a costume that has scent. It should have scent, it should have texture and movement and it alters the body. And it’s a possibility. Because we’re scared of possibilities. We’re not scared of truthful things that can possibly happen.

ALON: Maybe weird if you dress up in a princess costume. (Laughs) Or like yung ganda-ganda lang. (I want to see) people getting out of their comfort zones. Or if mayaman ka, dress up like someone in the streets.

JK: Anything that has a social commentary would be interesting. Or even like aswang.

ALON: Or maybe dress up as politicians.

JK: I think that’s the worst. A buwaya, a pork, and a pig in one. (Laughs) Photos by Maine Manalansan