Halloween Block Party at Church and Wellesley

It was a costume extravaganza at the Halloween Block Party held in the heart of the Church  Wellesley Village on Halloween night.  Witches, goblins, comic book superheroes, pop culture references from celebrities, movies, TV, video games, all roamed up and down the streets as thematic songs like Michael Jackson's Thriller blared.

Although this event was held in the gay district and had its fill of men dressed up as women, it was attended by people of all ages and sexual orientations.  Young and old, gay and straight, and even pets were having a great time decked out in some of the most inventive and elaborate getups I've ever seen.

As someone who likes to take lots of photos, I'm usually trying to sneak a photo of someone or something that I see on the street so that I am not so obviously intrusive.  What was so great about this night was that everyone out there wanted to be noticed and admired.  As soon as they saw you approach with the camera, the participants posed and preened and acted in character of their costume.

Our favourite costume was the guy with the Bill Clinton rubber mask, his pants down to his ankles and the plastic blowup Monica doll attached to his crotch, giving everyone the thumbs up as he passed by.  We loved the couple dressed as a roller coaster ride who threw their hands up in the air to simulate the thrill of the descent.  They had the most realistic looking fake bodies so that you had to look twice to see their real feet.  Also great was the doppelganger of an aging Elizabeth Taylor in a wheelchair holding a perfume bottle, and the recreation of a Roy Litchenstein iconic comic character.

Other creative costumes included the light post with help wanted and lost posters pasted to it and the boxes of Kleenex.  I wasn't able to capture the picture before they walked by, but we were passed by all the characters of the Wizard of Oz including Dorothy, Toto, Tinman, Scarecrow and Cowardly Lion.  We even got into the spirit of things to a small degree when we spotted the people promoting Elton John's new ballet "Love Lies Bleeding" by handing out Elton John glasses.  What a fun night! This is definitely something to do again next year.