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Halloween is one of the best days of the year! What other day do you
get to dress up like a princess, a vampire or a vampire-princess
and run round the neighborhood banging on doors for tricks and
treats? No other time of the year do parents encourage their kids
to gorge
themselves on candy given to them by strange people, often also
dressed up in crazy costumes. It’s high concept!
When I was little, Halloween was a big event. We would plan our costumes
for months. My mom isn’t the best seamstress but she could whip
up the greatest costumes ever. Over the years I was the Queen of Hearts
with her poison tarts, a snow flake princess, Smurfette, the bride
of Frankenstein and a 50’s girl, just to name a few. It was always
fun to pretend to be someone else for a day at school and observe the
results. It seemed even the popular kids got along great with the not-so-popular
kids on Halloween because everybody was somebody different. Nothing
was what it appeared to be.
It was the same at home. As soon as my sister and I had our costumes
nailed down, we could focus on decorating! We always wanted our house
to also join in the act. We’d spend hours tying cornstalks to
trees and making men and women out of leaves and old clothes. They
were super scary! We’d set the spooks out on lawn chairs and
tie ‘em to the porch. At least you knew they weren’t going
anywhere…
The finishing touch was always the jack-o-lanterns. They were not so
scary, though. I always made mine have eyelashes and a happy face!
My poor little sister would want to do the same but I’d never
let her. She had to make a sad ugly
mean scary one! It was never an option to have two happy cute jack-o-lanterns
in my mind. Once when
Chris, Keith and I still lived in Chicago, we had a lil’ jack-o-lantern
party. Unfortunately we were short a few pumpkins. I carved the cute
little pumpkin while Chris and Keith were left carving… green
peppers! Some things never change.
I still enjoy Halloween now almost as much as I did as a kid. For me,
it’s one of the great social events of the year. The costumes
and decorations are just as important but trick-or-treating has been
replaced with the Halloween party. I have been to my share. Back in
Chicago, my friends Cheri and Omar were famous for their Halloween
parties. Every year they just got bigger and better. The best costume
of the night would win a free tattoo by Omar so it was also fiercely
competitive. Halloween is a very serious business!
The first year I attended their party I was Jem from
Jem and the Holograms. I arrived with not only the Holograms but the
Misfits too, our rival
band. Group costumes are the best! I rented several Jem videos and
made my friends study them to be sure we were all in character. We
even made flyers to pass out promoting our performance at the party.
With my pink hair, crazy outfit and a echo microphone, I was truly
truly outrageous!
Several years later, the party had a circus theme. Cheri and Omar were
the ringmasters and the cast of characters was endless. Our friends
Lora and Tara were Siamese twins. They wore wedding dresses sewn together
for most of the party. At the end of the night, right before the costume
judging, they cut themselves apart. It was very dramatic with fake
blood and everything! They were runner-ups, though. They should have
won first place but, for the first time, the ringmasters let the audience
judge and a non-circus themed costume ending up winning! The audience
has never been able to judge again.
I was actually the entertainment for the party that year. Cheri was
dreaming about having fire-eaters perform at the party when I mentioned
that I used to twirl fire batons in high school. Needless to say, Mom
was digging in the attic for those batons! I arrived at the party as "Flame" and
my friend Leslie, who was also a majorette back in the day, was "Flicker".
We were a big hit! And our moves only got better as the night wore
on. By the end of the party we had definitely transformed into "Flame" and "Flicker".
Thankfully, nothing else did!
Another year Chris, Keith and I dressed up as Louis, LeStat and Claudia
from Interview with a Vampire.
We were in character all night long! It was so fun being a vampire
girl for
a night. I had even found a
doll that was wearing my exact dress. We looked great together. Accessories
are very important.
I had so much fun at the party, though, that I accidentally left her
behind. Years later
I found my Claudia doll at
the home of a friend of a friend. Her face had been painted like Gene
Simmon’s from KISS! I guess she had been to a few other Halloween
parties since we had last seen each other…
This year all of us at fredflare.com decided
to take advantage of the spooktivites happening in and around NYC to
get us in the Halloween
spirit. Our first event of the season was a ghostly tour of the West
Village called "Pubs and Poltergeists". It guaranteed that
we would see spirits of one kind or another. We started our tour at
Chumley’s on Bedford Street, supposedly one of the most haunted
taverns in the city. Chumley’s is an old Greenwich Village speakeasy
with original booths, original fireplace and a super secret entrance.
Apparently, the joint is still inhabited by its original owner, Henrietta
Chumley. The story goes that she loved to drink there all night long
and still does! She hates change so they try to keep the place in its
original condition to keep her happy. One time they replaced the old
jukebox with a CD version. Henrietta was pissed!
Our next stop was the most haunted restaurant in NYC: One if by Land,
Two if by Sea. It is believed to be inhabited by the ghosts of Theodoshia
Burr and her father Aaron Burr, famous for his duel with Alexander
Hamilton. The story goes something like this: on New Year’s Eve
in 1812 the beautiful Theodosia Burr, the wife of a wealthy governor
in South Carolina and the daughter of Aaron Burr, sailed from her plantation
north to New York to visit her father at this restaurant. But Theodosia’s
ship was attacked by pirates off of Cape Hatteras and she died. Legend
has it that she eventually made it to the restaurant anyway and still
lives there today with Dad. Our tour guide Marilyn claims to even have
been pushed down the stairs by her one night while she was having dinner
with friends. She assured us she had drank only one glass of wine but
we had our suspicions…
All in all, the tour was spooktacular! We went to lots of other haunted
places but Chumley’s and One if by Land, Two if by Sea were the
best stops. Chris and I ended our spooky tour that night with a quick
photo shoot at Jekyll and Hyde’s and dinner at the Cowgirl Hall
of Fame. It’s not haunted there but we love it!
Our next spooktivity was a Manhattan Murder Mysteries tour. This was
a walking tour
mostly in and around Central Park where we stood at
crime scenes of mob rub-outs from
the 1930’s through the 1970’s
and learned about several unsolved murder mysteries. We
also went to
the Dakota where John Lennon was shot and saw the tree where the Preppy
Murder took place. There weren’t any ghosts on this tour, just
murder and mystery.
Nancy would have loved it!
Although Halloween is almost here, I still have lots of spooktivites
left before I get ready for our Halloween party. Below are some fun
ideas I’ve scared up for you. So grab a handful of candy, put
on your favorite witch’s hat and start exploring the spooktacular
things about Halloween… if you’re not too scared! Send
me an email at lulu@fredflare.com and
let me know what you scared up. Add your mailing address and I’ll
send you a super spooky gift. Happy Halloween everyone!
Boo at the Zoo – Central
Park and Bronx zoos
See creepy, crawly and batty animals of all kinds! They have tons of
Halloween activities and celebrations starting Saturday, October 25th.
718-817-8700
Crypt Crawl - Cathedral of St John the Divine 112th Street at Amsterdam
Avenue
You can tour the Cathedral’s crypt and learn about the origins
of All Saints Day by candlelight. Starts November 1st. 212-316-7540
Greenwich Village Tour – 8th
St and 5th Avenue
Another walking tour, this time with ghosts, graveyards, hanging trees
and murders conducted by a NYC historian. October 26th at 1pm. 212-242-5762
Cemetery Halloween Tour- Greenwood Cemetery 25th St at 5th Ave in Brooklyn
A complete walking tour of murder, mayhem, spirits, and ghosts through
one of New York’s most historic cemeteries. You can visit notable
gravesites and walk through the Victorian-era’s "City of
the Dead". Starts Saturday October 25th through Halloween. 212-439-1090
Halloween Classics – Museum
of Television and Radio 25 W 52nd Street
Screenings of Halloween episodes from The Simpsons, The Munsters and,
our favorite, the screening of "It’s the Great Pumpkin,
Charlie Brown!" Starts October 24th through Halloween. 212-621-6800
Fright Fest - Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson, NJ
This is the Northeast’s largest Halloween bash! There are lots
of ghouls, scary rides, thrills by day and chills by night! Fright
Fest is Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays October 3rd through November
2nd. 732-928-1821
30th Annual New York’s Village
Halloween Parade – 6th Ave from Spring to 22nd St
This year’s theme is the Trickster Parade. It starts October 31st at 7pm.
There are dancers, puppets, performance artists, and 42 bands. Anyone in a costume
can march. There’s even a costume contest! If you don’t want to dress
up, you can volunteer to carry one of the giant puppets in the parade.
10/15/03
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