NEWARK — Writer, artist, and videographer Wheeler Antabanez brings an evening of unusual short films to the Newark Public Library on October 20, 2026, featuring a series of videos exploring some of the more macabre and hard-to-reach corners of Essex County.

The program opens with "River of Death," which begins as a film about the 2012 lower Passaic River cleanup at the Diamond Alkali site in Newark but quickly takes a dark turn when Wheeler and his wife notice Police Detectives on the work barge extracting a dead body from the river.

The program then shifts from the polluted waters of the Passaic to a behind-the-scenes look at Antabanez's Polaroid adventures, photographing locations including the Livingston Mall, South Orange Pumping Station and Rosedale Cemetery, before descending into the wreckage of the abandoned Orange Memorial Hospital.

From the depths of Orange Memorial Hospital, the program returns to Newark for the story of Proctor's Palace, the massive double-decker theater on Market Street that has stood abandoned since 1968.

In the feature presentation "Fred Gall vs. the Phantom of the Opera," Antabanez and professional skateboarder Fred Gall venture into the wreckage of Proctor's Palace Theater in search of unusual places to film skateboarding. Their exploration eventually leads them to the rooftop, where Gall discovers what may be one of Newark's most historic skate spots.Their adventure comes to an abrupt end when the pair encounters an angry "Phantom" wielding a set of 24-inch bolt cutters, 

The program will start at 6:00 PM in Centennial Hall, followed by a question-and-answer session.  Copies of Wheeler's Polaroid book, "WHEELEROIDZ Vol. 2" will be available to be purchased and signed.

Newark Public Library Event Link

https://npl.libcal.com/event/17756190