THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 30, 1994 TAG: 9410280283
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY TOM HOLDEN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 242 lines
SOME FACTS JUST aren't possible to uncover.
Like the number of grim hangovers out there this morning. Or the number of aspirin choked back to ease the pain of too much celebrating. Or the final count of Draculas, Elviras, Fred Flintsones and Captain Kirks that stomped through this weekend's Halloween parties.
Chances are, the numbers are big. Monstrously so.
Monday is Halloween, but for the holiday's most fervent celebrants the party is already over. Sure the children will get their candy. And the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers are all the rage with the younger set. But let's face it, the real nuts for this holiday are adults.
It might be nice to know how many monster masks are piled in bedrooms across the city, or how many normally mild-mannered people have stains of clown white and ghoulish blood red on their faces as they plod their way into church, or at least consider the thought.
Halloween increasingly seems to be a party that adults can't resist. From the beginning, it's been a part of fall, first as a childhood grabfest of candy, and now as a time to celebrate the alter ego.
Consider Dawn Stevens and Linda Graham who spent their lunch hour last week at the Party City discount store in Collins Square shopping center searching for the right mix of wigs, makeup and other seasonal oddities to ensure their weekend would be memorable.
By day, both are respected employees of a Virginia Beach commercial real estate company, but Saturday night they were to become, respectively, Serena the Bad Witch, a character from the popular 1960s television show ``Bewitched,'' and Elvira, the witch who lately is famous for beer ads.
Asked why Serena the Bad Witch and Stevens had a quick answer.
``I guess I've always admired her,'' she said, holding a long, black fake wig that would help in the transformation.
``Halloween is a night I can go out and, with a long black wig and enough makeup, no one will know who I am.''
And that is the point. Anonymity. Strangers among friends. The chance to become obscure. Just ask Graham, who stood by Stevens with her own wig selection.
``I'm going as Elvira's younger sister, and I want no one to recognize me,'' she said.
It should not have been hard to recognize Michael B. Halley, a marketing specialist with WFAX radio, a classic hits station, at the Virginia Air & Space Museum's party Saturday night.
Squeezed into his preferred costume - a Star Trek uniform - Halley had no mask to hide behind, but that didn't seem to matter. He was proud to wear the uniform, even if he was a bit big for it. When he emerged from the dressing room, he sheepishly said, ``Captain Kirk was never in this kind of shape.''
Of the dozens of customers who stood nearby, no one seemed to care - least of all Halley.
``It's just not a kid's thing anymore,'' he said. ``It's an adult's holiday. It's the one day of the year when you can be whomever you want to be. You can get crazy. Party. It's just a whole lot of fun.''
It's also good business.
This year, as never before, Halloween party stores stocked up with all manner of scar making kits, blood creams and face masks made horrible by chain saws, knives and gore.
``I think it's a sign of the time,'' said Jane Kazleman, the owner of the party store, which sells merchandise for all celebrations. ``People need an escape. Somehow, when people are dressed up, they're relaxed a little bit. They have a mask they can hide behind. In a way, it's like going to Disney World for a day. People can be an actor for a day.''
Each year at Lynnhaven and Pembroke malls, proprietor Deepak G. Nachnani, takes out a 30-day lease and opens Harygul's Halloween House, a specialty store that sells nothing but Halloween stuff.
``We usually don't know if this works financially until the last day of the lease,'' Nachnani said. ``But the potential is there.''
And the potential, he added, is in adult costumes.
``We can't survive on kid's costumes alone. We make our money from the adults who are just as enthusiastic as the children. I'm selling $80 capes and Darth Vader helmets.''
Twice he has sold out of black and purple satin capes - each costing $90.
``At first we thought we'd go for the cheaper costumes and make a little money doing it, but we're finding that people want to spend a little more money and look good for the party.
``And, of course, they can always resell their capes and masks. A lot of people do that, too,'' he said.
People eager for a good time go a step further than buying a nifty costume. They also indulge in props, from rubber rats that are squirming in the vice grip of a sprung trap to rubber pizzas with all the trimmings: a bloody ear, a mangled finger.
Not content to be left on the sidelines, Lake Taylor Hospital was hosting a party for the disabled that brought out the creative talents of any number of people, said Carol Bowen, who was to attend dressed in her version of the fairy tale ``Princess and the Pea.''
``When I was a kid, I had to stay home and give out the candy,'' said Bowen, who has spina bifida, a congenital defect of the tube that surrounds the spinal cord. ``I could not participate, but assistive technology has done a lot to let people like me get out and go.''
One friend was to dress as Cleopatra, with the wheelchair being the royal chariot. Another friend was the Energizer Bunny; still another an electric chair.
So infectious has the Halloween bug become for adults that an unlikely turn of events has taken place: sometimes children provide the entertainment, as a dance troupe from Beth's School of Dance did for this year's Vietnam Veteran's Haunted Forest at the Norfolk Botanical Gardens.
The annual party at the gardens raises money for the Vietnam Veterans of America's charity and scholarship work. But it also provides a little fun for the older teenagers who aren't allowed to knock on doors for candy. And it helps the Botanical Gardens, which is in the early stages of a renaissance.
This ensemble of award-winning dancers is under the direction of Beth Cotterell, a hyperenergetic dancer and choreographer who also wrote the story boards for the dancer's production, called ``The Beetle Juice Rock 'n' Roll Review.''
Using characters from the movie ``Beetle Juice,'' Cotterell's students dance their way through selections from the movie soundtrack.
``People love to role play,'' said Cotterell, dressed in an Elvira costume. ``I like to see adults become the Lion King or some kind of monster. How often do people get to do something like that? You know, I think imagination is more important than knowledge.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photos by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Beth Cotterell's Showtime Dancers were to perform ``The Beetle Juice
Rock 'n' Roll Review'' at the Botanical Gardens over the weekend.
Linda Graham, left, and Dawn Stevens spent their lunch hour last
week at Party City, searching for the right mix of wigs, makeup and
other seasonal oddities to ensure their weekend would be memorable.
``We can't survive on kid's costumes alone,'' says Deepak G.
Nachnani, proprietor of Harygul's Halloween House at Pembroke Mall.
``We make our money from the adults who are just as enthusiastic as
the children. I'm selling $80 capes and Darth Vader helmets.''
As seen through a pig's mask, Halloween party stores, like Party
City discount store in Collins Square shopping center, have stocked
up with all manner of scar making kits, blood creams and face masks
made horrible by chain saws, knives and gore.
LEFT: People eager for a good time go a step further than buying a
nifty costume. They also indulge in props like a rubber pizza with
all the trimmings, a bloody ear, a mangled finger, eyes and teeth.
RIGHT: Michael B. Halley, a marketing specialist with WFAX radio,
was to attend the Virginia Air & Space Museum's party in a tightly
packed Star Trek uniform. ``Captain Kirk was never in this kind of
shape,'' he said.
Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
[Photo appeared on Page 14]
Feeling under the weather?
Connie Miller of Norfolk tries on a mask at Party City discount
store in Collins Square shopping center last week. Overgrown kids
from all over for the city were headed to weekend Halloween parties.
On Monday, the real kids hit the streets in search of sweets.
HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS
[The following listing appeared on pages 14 and 15.]
HALLOWEEN RULES: In Virginia Beach trick or treaters must be 12
or younger. Hours are 6 to 8 p.m.
SAFETY TIPS: Use hypo-allergenic make-up to paint ``masks'' on
faces. Ordinary Halloween masks may block part of a child's view or
slip out of place.
Give children battery-operated lights to carry and light their
way.
Adults accompanying children and children on the treat trek need
to carry lights and both should be decked out in retro-reflective
materials. Insist children stay on sidewalks or lawns and cross
streets only at lighted corners.
Prepare for Halloween visitors by clearing the yard of anything a
child might trip over; filling any holes in the yard; repairing
steps and loose railings; and turning on porch and yard lights.
Anyone driving Halloween night needs to make certain windshields,
headlights and mirrors are clean; slow down; and be extra vigilant.
HAUNTED HAYRIDE: A haunted hayride at Oceana Naval Air Station
picnic area will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. today.
The cost is $3 with military ID and $4 without military ID. Call
433-3276 or 427-4769. Persons with disabilities and requiring any
auxiliary services or other accommodations, call 426-5855 TDD.
HAUNTED SAFE HOUSE: Century 21 will sponsor a ``Haunted Safe
House'' at 3630 S. Plaza Trail from 6 to 9 p.m. today. Children 10
and under are invited. Costumes are encouraged. Admission is $1
which will benefit Easter Seal.
Call 340-7356 or 340-0430.
HAUNTED HOLLOWS AND FORESTS: ``Phantom's Hollow,'' hosted by the
Naval Base Recreation Department at the Fleet Recreation Park on
Hampton Boulevard, will be open through Monday beginning each night
at dusk. The cost is $3 and all tickets will be sold in advance.
Call 445-9172.
``Vietnam Vets Haunted Forest,'' at Norfolk Botanical Gardens
will run today from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Tickets are $4.50 per person
and are available at Twin ``B'' Auto Parts at: 7917 Halprin Drive,
3401 Chesapeake Blvd. and 7724 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk; 3322 Western
Branch Blvd., Chesapeake, and 4865 Shore Drive, 756 First Colonial
Road and 5314 Kemps River Drive. Call 498-2541.
Haunted Forest: The Chesapeake Jaycees Haunted Forest will be
open through Monday at 7:30 p.m. at Crossways Boulevard and Eden Way
North behind Montgomery Ward on Greenbrier Parkway. The cost is $10
for a family of four, $4 for adults, $3 for children 5 to 12 and
free for children under 4. Call 548-8936.
TRICK OR TREATING: Lynnhaven Mall will host trick or treating in
the mall from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday. Children under 12 who are
accompanied by an adults are invited.
Trick or treat at Greenbrier Mall from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday
beginning at the Customer Service Center.
Pembroke Mall Safe Trick-or-Treating, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Monday. An
adult and children costume contest will follow.
Military Circle trick-or-treating, 6 to 8 p.m. Monday for
children 12 and under accompanied by an adult Monday.
HALLOWEEN FUNFEST: Halloween Open House will be held from 7 to 9
p.m. on Monday at the Plaza Volunteer Fire and Rescue Squad, Station
16, South Plaza Trail and Rosemont Road. Children to the age of 13
are invited to participate in a costume judging, games and special
tricks and treats. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
A Family Pumpkin Party will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. on Monday at
London Bridge Baptist Church, 2460 Potters Road. Admission is $1 per
person or $4 per family. There will be games, candy, prizes and
more. Do not wear any scary costumes.
HAUNTED HOUSES: Wicked Walk 1994: The Virginia Beach Jaycees will
present the ``Wicked Walk'' through Monday at Holland Commerce
Center, 468 S. Independence Blvd. The times will be 7 to 10 p.m.
today and 7 to 11 p.m. Halloween. Tickets are $3.50. Children under
12, $3. Adults $3 with the contribution of one canned food item.
Chamber of Horrors: The Norfolk Jaycees ``Chamber of Horrors,''
at Southern Shopping Center, will be open today from 6 to 10 p.m.
and Monday from 6 to 11 p.m. The cost is $4 for adults (13 and up)
and $3 for children 12 and under. Parents may bring their
trick-or-treaters on Halloween night for free candy. Call 459-1023.
The Haunted Fun House, 25th Street and Atlantic Avenue, features
live actors and the ghostly graveyard noon to midnight today and 6
p.m. to midnight Monday. The cost is $3. Call 422-1742.
The Haunted Mansion, 20th Street and Atlantic Avenue, 6 p.m. to
midnight through Monday. . Admission is $2.95. Call 428-FEAR.
Royal London Wax Museum, 16th Street and Atlantic Avenue, noon to
midnight through Monday. Admission is $3.95 for adults. $2.96 for
children 6 to 12 and free for children under 5. Call 491-MUSM.
Rockin' Rosie's Fun House, 1910 Atlantic Ave., 6 p.m. to midnight
through Monday. The cost is $2.95. Call 425-LAFF.
by CNB