Elvira
To me, one person means Halloween. That’s Elvira. She alone emcompasses this holiday. The Queen of Halloween, Mistress of the dark. The Greater Philadelphia Tourism and Marketing Coorporation really got a huge coup when they got her to come to Philadelphia and host a bunch of parties ON Halloween! Her holiday! She came into Philadelphia on the Thursday before Halloween and stopped by the studio for an interview. Here she is, her alter-ego Cassandra Peterson, the actress who plays Elvira looking like — well, looking nothing like Elvira:
And here she is with me the next day, make-up and all, dressed up as Elvira. What a transformation.
Unfortunately, I don’t think the city of Philadelphia could fully appreciate that Elvira had graced our city with her presence on Halloween because I think many of them were too drunk to come out and celebrate on Halloween after attending the Phillies World Series Championship parade all day. Yes, many people were out and about, but not nearly as many people who would have been out had the Phillies parade and Halloween been on two separate days. Oh well. Not everyone can be a soldier like me.
Dressing up is not just for kids
I was exhausted and amidst all the overtime I had been putting in for work, did not have time to find a proper Halloween costume. So instead, I “dressed up” literally. I wore a dress. Hence, I dressed up to go out. So on Halloween, we hit a bunch of parties. There was a big group of us riding around the city with Elvira. Here we are on a pit stop at the Philadelphia Art Museum Halloween party. That’s “Amy Winehouse” on the grand hallway steps.
And here’s Melony and I with Amy Winehouse and Edward Scissorhands.
We had a fantastic time on the Elvira bus, blasting through the city. We started at the Edgar Allen Poe House for some “scary poetry,” then it was on to the Art Museum, Eastern State Penitentary for a cocktail reception at Al Capone’s jail cell, a hotel room pre-party at the Hyatt and the final grand Halloween party at the Bellevue.
These guys (below) were great. At Eastern State Penitentary, they do a Halloween event called “Terror Behind the Walls.” Well, when we went there for our cocktail party, we basicly crashed the tour line. Those in line are waiting to go inside for a scare and there are actors who are dressed up with bloody faces and stuff who walk around and scare them. These guys just joined the party. They really got into it, startling kids and freaking them out. I have to admit, it was kind of funny.
Yes, that’s the REAL Elvira in the background….
Andrew dressed up as “laundry.”
Melony, myself and Andrew.
Creative costumed guests (the tall guy is on stilts) at the Eastern State Penitentary cocktail party.
