Comic and collectable toy shop Astro-Zombies in Nob Hill is hosting an awesome “Nightmare After Christmas” event this Saturday, Jan. 9. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., cult actor Sid Haig will be at the store meeting his fans and signing autographs. You can buy photos, figures and DVDs at the store and get them signed for free. If you bring your own stuff, there is a small fee. Recent cult film converts will recognize Haig from his work on Rob Zombie’s films—appearing as the creepy killer Captain Spaulding in House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil’s Rejects and doing some fine cameo work in the Halloween remake. Quentin Tarantino is also a fan, having cast Haig in both Jackie Brown and Kill Bill: Vol. 2. Longtime watchers of the weird have seen him in dozens of TV shows (including a fun run as the villainous Dragos on “Jason of Star Command”) and a string of memorable ’70s exploitation flicks with director Jack Hill (Spider Baby, The Big Doll House, The Big Bird Cage, Coffy, Foxy Brown). Astro-Zombies promises this is just the first of many special in-store appearances slated for 2010. Astro-Zombies is located at 3100 Central SE.

Torchwood: Children of Earth—BBC America has become a far more reliable source for fine science fiction than SyFy Channel. Look no further than the invigorated and chart-topping run of “Doctor Who.” (R.I.P. David Tennant, we’ll miss you something awful.) The only reason I’m not putting the good Doctor on “The Best” list is because the “Doctor Who” spin-off “Torchwood” gave us this unforgettable mini-series in 2009. It posited an alien invasion of Earth—but in a way I’ve never seen before. This invasion wasn’t some explosion-filled War of the Worlds story, but rather a frighteningly realistic diplomatic scenario in which Earthly politicians willingly struck a Faustian bargain with some creeeepy alien overlords.