random thoughts – Day 1,300 – (Sunday) – haunted night

The Townsend Haunted Trail, originally scheduled for Saturday, was moved to tonight. That gave us time for an extra dress rehearsal this morning. When the date was changed, I was very glad Monday is a holiday.

Back at home after rehearsal, there was time for a couple costume tweaks. While looking for long johns to go under my skeleton leggings, I found a forgotten white turtleneck, which was swapped into the layering mix. It saved me worrying about putting makeup on my neck and helped with warmth. There was a tie-on bustle of black netting with red trim, and a Victorian style choker. Bracelets went over skeleton imprinted elbow length gloves. Driving to the event with white and gray face makeup and blacked out eyes had me feeling self-conscious, but thankfully it was sunny and sunglasses hid that. 

When a police cruiser pulled out behind me and stayed there for far too long on Route 113, I was imagining being pulled over and trying to explain why I didn't look like my license photo, but the skeleton tights, a waist cincher, and a tiny Victorian hat would help support the story. Luckily, the cruiser turned onto a side street after what felt like forever, during which I imagined the officer scrutinizing my every move for an excuse to pull me over on the road where the speed limit changes about a hundred times. Paranoia is stressful. 

Feeling ghostly.

At the Haunted Trail event, nine of us convened at our designated meeting spot dressed in costumes of our own choosing and ghostly, undead, zombiefied makeup. We danced to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” every 20 minutes or so, and it was fun. Kids were dancing along, and a couple told me I was their “favorite one.” Awwww, thanks kids. During one performance on a part where we walk forward and end up close to some of the audience, a girl said to her friend, “Oh she's looking right at us.” I locked eyes with her a bit longer. That was pretty fun.

During our third performance, a group of teenage girls jumped in and flash mobbed us, which was a blast. When we retired to our “spot” for between performances, as the DJ played other Halloween themed music, we received numerous requests for photos. 

As the night wore on, during our breaks the older young'uns got really busy on the dance area and made music requests of the DJ. They requested “Watch Me (Whip Nae Nae),” “Cotton Eye Joe,” and “Macarena.” We were right behind the DJ and could hear the kids “Please! we promise there are no swears!”

At our 8:30 and final performance, after doing “Thriller,” we added Justin Timberlake’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling” and we got to break the zombie ghoul character and smile and loosen up. The whole night was a really good time.