Halloween was one week ago today, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t suffering from a little post-holiday depression. October is always a whirlwind of Halloween festivities. This year I attended Theatre Bizarre, Creepy Cheapy (an amazing annual costume party where Detroit musicians put on costumed covers of their favorite bands), a haunted forest in Detroit, High and Haunted Tea with a tea leaf reading from a psychic medium at The Whitney, and a night of tribute bands at The Loving Touch on Halloween night in which Vince Neil spilled a drink all over my skirt *swoons*. But perhaps the most fun event of the season was my annual Halloween party, co-hosted with my partner in crime, Mish. We’ve held the party at Exodos bar in Greektown for the past seven years, but this year we tried out a new venue – The Berkley Front.

I made a mug shot style photo backdrop out of a flat white sheet, black electrical tape, and vinyl sticky numbers. We placed a table of photo-booth props next to the backdrop (severed limbs, mustaches, a megaphone, etc.) and encouraged everyone to take pictures and hashtag their photos #cleotilda13.

Sidebar – Cleotilda is the name of a terrifying Halloween prop that we display at our party every year. Bearing the likeness of a young dead girl in a soiled nightgown, her eyes light up green and she snarls at anyone who comes near. This year, our good friend Annie dressed as Cleotilda, winning best costume of the night for the second year in a row!

Here are some shots from my phone that night.

We handed out prizes for the best costumes, we Thrillered, we Time Warped, and we danced until we were dead.

We returned the following day to pick up our decorations and found this note from the bar.

I couldn’t agree more! Thank you so much to The Berkley Front for being awesome.

PS: Eleanor wasn’t able to attend the party, but she insisted on dressing up. Here she is as Sexy Satan and a Cobra Kai.

Only 358 days until Halloween!

xoxo

Artwork Via

Theatre bizarre, the infamous (and illegal) underground carnival created by John Dunivant and Ken Poirier, was originally constructed on a plot of land near Michigan State Fair Grounds. Shut down by the City of Detroit in 2010, Theatre Bizarre now calls Masonic Temple it’s permanent home. With the help of his army of minions, John Dunivant, the mastermind behind this event, transforms all seven floors of the temple into an immersive world of unfettered decadence for one night a year. A devoted crew of artists and volunteers spend weeks painstakingly bedecking the temple with props, banners, hand painted signs, and even replace every light bulb in the building with an amber colored bulb to reflect the autumnal palette of John’s vision. Hundreds of musical acts, sideshow performers, burlesque dancers, fire breathers, and tightrope walkers come together to put on a show like no other. It’s beautiful, it’s indulgent, and to those of us who have been a part of this event for so many years, it’s very, very special.

For more information about Theatre Bizarre, it’s history, and even a tour, go here.

This year, Mike D and I decided to dress as Henry Spencer and The Lady in the Radiator from the David Lynch film Eraserhead. The story centers around Henry Spencer, who is left to care for his grossly deformed child in a desolate industrial landscape. Throughout the film, Spencer experiences hallucinations featuring The Lady in the Radiator.

It’s an incredibly bizarre and surreal film, and I absolutely love it.

I created the puffy cheeks and mutant baby from a combination of Styrofoam, paper mache and gauze fabric.

Below is the “real” baby from the film for comparison.

And, voila!

We were recognized by a handful of people (which is always nice) and we were even asked to have our picture taken a few times! Costume success!

Here are some photos from my phone throughout the night.

To give you a little taste of the event, here are two 7 second videos I shot with my phone.

Basically it’s the greatest party on earth.

Thank you so much to Theatre Bizarre and all of the hardworking artists and crew members who work tirelessly to put this amazing night together.

Until next year!

xoxo