It's one of many times of the year that, regardless of what I am actually doing for it, I find a little magical. There's something in the air, I can taste it. Tastes like rotting flesh. Mmmm.
On Saturday a friend and I went to Fright Night at Movie World in Queensland. This coming weekend there's the conclusion of the city's week-long Carnival Macabre, and Vampiric immersive theatre and ball. Tonight I'm attending a casual little Halloween celebration, then there's a stage performance of Rocky Horror in the city. Thanks to the event falling mid-week, Halloween has become a week-long Festivus.
This was the second time we've gone to Fright Night at Movie World, and though it was more crowded than ever, we had an amazing time of it. We dressed as zombified doctors in medical scrubs spattered with blood, white face paint, and blood dripping from our eyes and mouths. We made these costumes last year (well, I ordered the scrubs and my friend who is talented at blood spatter decorated them), and decided to reuse them this year as they worked so well.
Best. Costume. Ever.
The theme this year was The Walking Dead, so the place was crawling (literally) with actors dressed as zombies. Mocking laughter in queues turned to shrieks when they turned and lunged at people over barricades, snarling and hissing as they groped for fresh meat. Our costumes led people to be unsure whether we were part of the cast, or fellow punters, and we made this even more difficult by remaining in character any time we weren't part of a queue, and certainly whenever we went past the camera on rides. This was particularly satisfying at one point in the evening when a zombie paused in the dark alley, his head turning to follow a woman walking past, who freaked out when she noticed him. He turned back from his efforts to find my friend by his head staring at him vacant-eyed and snarling, her teeth hovering near his throat.
Have you ever seen a zombie jump from a fright? You haven't lived until you do.
The night opened with us being let into the main street lined with the bodies of dead girls. We gathered in the roped-off sides of the street as various characters from horror movies wandered into the street; Ghostface, Leatherface, Jason, Freddy, Dracula, that creepy chick from The Ring, Sweeney Todd and many more. Notably no JigSaw this year, which is a shame - the sight of him slowly cycling down the street in the middle of the night last year was quite disturbing A few zombies shuffled through the audience, to the girlish screams of some nearby teenagers, then "Thriller Night" started blasting over the speakers.
It was at this point that the dead girl lying near my feet grabbed my leg and lurched to her feet. Zombies and serial killers shuffled their way into formation and the boogied to the beat. I must say, seeing killers from a dozen horror films doing the Thriller dance in unison is something of a sight.
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| Thriller night. |
As part of the Halloween festivities, several warehouses are converted into giant mazes. Last year I was mocked for ducking when a man wrapped in barbed wire lunged at me over a fence. Yes! I ducked! And I'd do it again! I'd say that's a perfectly sane reaction! My favourite maze last year was the Zombie Apocalypse, which was also the most simple of the mazes. It consisted of a series of wire mesh fences, bright flashing lights and lots of smoke - the result was extremely disorienting. Add three witless teenage girls clinging to my shoulders and screaming in my ears, and it's a wonder I ever made it out of that maze with my sanity intact. (Some would argue that I didn't...) The maze often left you with two options as to which route to take; choose the wrong one and you would be confronted by a zombie who forced you back to the correct path.
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| A zombie trying to make friends |
My favourites of the zombies were the twin girls in blue dresses carrying a bedraggled teddy bear, and Zombie Jesus; a guy with long brown hair and a beard who shuffled towards us and then leapt. Suddenly he was hanging spread-eagled on the fence right by us as the wires of the fence quivered dramatically. I don't know how he did that, but it was damned impressive.
Other notable mazes included the aforementioned Saw maze, and Arkham Asylum, which was filled with the various villains of the franchise. My favourite there was Poison Ivy, who stood poised on a dais in the centre of the room wrapped in ivy, completed motionless as our group made its way around her, only to pounce on the rear members of the group who shrieked rather satisfyingly.
This year the Zombie Apocalypse was replaced by the Film Vault. A similar setup, but this time we were haunted by horror film villains. It all went pear-shaped when the leader of the group took a wrong turn down an alley to be met with Ghostface. Three of the fourteen year olds at the rear of the group fled in a panic, leaving one behind. We turned around, and I allowed the kid to move in front of me after he tried to climb me in his haste to put some distance between him and Ghostface. This left me glancing nervously over my shoulder now and then as Ghostface continued to follow us down the corridor.
Bringing up the rear meant the nape of my neck itched for the rest of the maze, as I was followed by Freddy Kreuger and Jason. I was amused when the leader of the group pushed his way through some rubber curtains and I heard, "are you freaking kidding me?" When I made my way through, I understood why. Crawling towards me along the floor on my right was the girl from The Ring. I quickly dodged left, to be met by her twin shuffling towards me. A very quick dodge around the corner and I was met by a couple of zombies. Yep, definitely feeling the adrenalin by that point.
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| Zombie Amy Winehouse My favourite costume sighting of the night! |
The new Walking Dead maze was similarly interesting, as we wound our way through a hospital. Dead bodies lay in piles of gore, or dismembered on hospital beds, while zombified doctors and nurses tried to hunt us down.
The night finished, as it did last year, with a vampiric burlesque. Last year we had no idea what awaited us. We sat down to watch a burlesque group strut their stuff, as they pulled men out of the audience and treated them to a lap dance. They slowly unbuttoned the men's shirts, and then -
They started to feed.
Enter Van Helsing, and a bloody battle ensued, with him the ultimate victor, the street littered with gored bodies. Uncle Fester came along at that point with a wagon and the cleanup began. As he drove along, he cried, "bring out your dead", much to the delight of the Python fans in the audience.
It will be interesting to see what Perth brings to the Halloween action, but meanwhile I need to decided whether or not to wear my mad zombie doctor costume to a Halloween party tonight at which there will be small children....
Oh, the temptation is strong in this one.
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| Happy Halloween! |
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