Halloween in West Hollywood

I was blown away as were several costumers hanging onto cement street dividers with inside out umbrellas, ties blowing in the wind (even though it wasn’t windy), and fallen leaves plastered to their pant legs. A mad swirl of color and sound threatened sensory overload as heads swiveled right, left, backward and forward, up and down, not knowing where to look first.

The Wicked Which of the West flew in for the evening and Sleeping Beauty’s Fairy Godmothers showed up in full costume, blue, green and pink with pointed hats and magic wands looking exactly as Disney pictured them except, unfortunately, they must not have had very much time to prepare for the ball, as they forgot to shave off their full beards. They were also much taller than I had imagined. Beards seemed to be the "in" thing this year as one bride showed off her gown and full beard and another young lady flipped things around by donning facial hair that wasn’t quite as authentic.

Snap, Crackle & Pop were there relaxing in a bowl of milk not showing their age at all. Michael Jackson showed up as did several other celebrities including Jack, Hugh Heffner, Ugly Betty, Amy Winehouse and Mr. T. Former President Clinton posed with a bruised and bloody Affordable Healthcare and Abe Lincoln enjoyed a stroll through the crowd. Tom Cruse showed up… several times… but he seemed to have forgotten his pants. Even Facebook, Myspace and Twitter showed up.

A Mario convention seemed to have descended on Hollywood as he popped up everywhere however Luigi was conspicuously absent. The Star Trek conventioneers were out numbered and lost in the crowd. Extras from horror movies mingled with Vegas showgirls who competed with Mardi Gras partiers.

Batman was there as was Robin (out of the closet and with a date). Dorothy came wearing her ruby slippers but stayed for the party instead of clicking heels homeward. Captain Hook and Peter Pan made an appearance as did Captain Jack Sparrow although Tick Tock the crocodile was no where to be seen or heard. Alice came through the looking glass with the Mad Hatter at her side and a couple of Tim Burton’s nightmares strode boldly down the street as Santa showed up with a pumpkin bag bringing up twisted thoughts of the Great Pumpkin meeting Jack Skellington poor Linus would freak.

Winged creatures flew in, in abundance from fairies to butterflies. There were Fuzzy’s, centaurs, a giraffe, a skunk, a cow and many other representatives of the animal kingdom not to mention the dogs who came in costume taking their owners for a stroll. A giant Man ‘o War jelly fish floated over the crowd with a diver swimming beneath while a blue alien wearing an orange and yellow half dress freaked out the crowd. There were a lot of bananas and a bunch of purple grapes celebrating after a hard day’s shoot.

Every era appeared to be represented from a beautiful ancient Egyptian goddess to four sequin covered disco maniacs from the 70s not to mention one wearing a polyester suit. A flapper who looked as if she’d popped in on a time machine looked right at home as the “Godmother” walked by (Al Pachino eat your heart out). Fred Flintstone and his neighbors joined us from Bedrock and Vikings sailed in to conquer.

There were many very tall women, some authentic and some not so authentic. (I would love to know who did their makeup as they looked quite beautiful and in some cases very classy.) Women wearing full body paint and not much else definitely left no question as to their authenticity and the artistry of their body work. Medusa joined the crowd with writhing, hissing hair as a snake charmer lured a cobra from its basket.

There was a definite police presence, however which officers were real and which were revelers could prove quite puzzling at times as the handcuffs seemed authentic in both cases. McGruff the Crime Dog and Ms. Sherlock Holmes were there just in case a mystery needed solving. Although some plastic masked participants in the crowd would have freaked out bank tellers if they walked in off the street, the one arrest witnessed was a handcuffed man looking down in sheepish embarrassment as he sat on a curb surrounded by police. Those very few who seemed a bit worse for wear had concerned friends helping them home and watching out for them.

The crowd of onlookers were as varied as the revelers. There were family groups with small children and grown men in diapers with pacifiers. Elderly couples with faces reflecting either the glazed look of trapped animals or grinning from ear to ear in awed amazement watched the crowd. A group of white men in designer jeans and white polos held up picket signs ranging from “What would Jesus say” to “We still haven’t seen the birth certificate”. The crowd flowed on with polite disinterest like an ever changing, evolving flood dividing around unmoving, inflexible rocks, isolated in the middle, as the stream surged past leaving them behind. A man in full dress uniform walked beside his buddy in a wheel chair and a heavily accented voice shouted at full volume “I LOVE AMERICA!”

There were stationary DJs spinning music as the crowd danced and a roving party with dry ice fog and laser lights making its way down the street. Magic acts  were on hand to thrill and amaze as comedians made the crowd laugh. Hot dog venders made a killing and the line at Starbucks was the most entertaining I’ve ever been in. The City of West Hollywood  pulled out all the stops for the thousands of adventurous costumed revelers who attended. The best view was enjoyed by those looking down from office terraces overlooking all the action. Stretching from West Hollywood all the way to Beverly Hills the experience was visually intoxicating. An overwhelming feeling of playful happiness pervaded the crowd as adults paraded like children up and down the boulevard.

If the West Hollywood Halloween Parade  wasn’t your style you could always go to the Whisky a Go Go where they had a séance to try and raise Jimmy Hendriks spirit from the dead but I, for one, was extremely glad I went. The experience was unforgettable.