Halloween is one of those holidays where place is important. Just like Times Square is practially synonymous with New Years Eve, or New Orleans with Mardi Gras, or Las Vegas with sketchy business trips, Madison just goes balls to the wall on All Hallow's Eve. It's the third largest annual party in the country, after Times Square and Marti Gras, and considering that Madison is only a fraction of the size of New Orleans or New York, we should totally get bonus points.
Sure, there are other Halloween parties around the country, and other colleges that have celebrations, but none have the history of riots, tear gas and pepperspray, the tripling of the city's population in a four block radius, and the threat of martial law if/when the party gets out of hand.
The creativity just pours out when it comes time for Halloween. I know people who started planning their costume this summer. Even straight guys get into the fun.
Sure, we may have our fair share of slutty nurses, but we also have people dressed as abortionists, complete with bloody dolls skewered on wire hangers. We have fey pirates, but we also had a dead Steve Irwin, complete with stingray (Crikeys! Too soon, mate!) We have guys dressed as nuns, but how many people dressed in a priest costume, with a cabbage patch doll attached to the front of his belt, with the name Rep. Mark Foley, ca 1965? Who else would think to dress up as a Magritte painting, with a grey suit, a bowler hat and a green apple drawn with face paint? How many Duffman did you see? Guys in drag is always a standard, but how many guys dress as Joan Rivers? Or Dora the Explorer? Or Betty Page?
As for me, originally I planned on going as a Monster in a Wheelchair (youtube) but when the wheel fell off when my friend brought it up from her basement, I was forced to improvise.
Fortunately, most of my friends went as a group costume, and being alcoholics in a party town, we all went as a shot. We had a Grey Goose, a dirty girl scout (and we spent the afternoon making penis-shaped cookies), a red Bull with vodka, a jello shot, and a pearl necklace.
So what did I end up dressing as?
A Red-Headed Slut.
(More Halloween stories to come tomorrow.)
