Being as we're throwing our first Pacific Northwest, Scott&Connie-style, "All Hallows Eve Bash," Connie and I have been discussing whether we should, for the sake of those that have no idea what we're up to, be less secretive about what our Halloween Party is.
Several of our friends have heard the stories of our old Minneapolis Halloween parties. We've even helped out with the setup of parties for friends, locally, over the last couple of years, so there's some that have had a taste of how much effort we'll put into these things. Back in Mpls., we had enough people anticipating our parties, that we were able to really keep the theme (or story) a surprise for when everyone showed up, but since this is all new to most everyone we're inviting, here's a bit of background, and, as a teaser, a preview of where we're headed:
Back in Minneapolis, we wanted to have a Halloween party that was staged as if it were in a haunted house. We've taken community party rooms, our house, or our friends houses, and transformed them, inside and out, into interactive haunted spaces -- these parties were quite the events.
The designs in the past were mostly your traditional, theatrical, goth spaces; abandoned or neglected Victorian rooms with hidden dungeons, caves, graveyards, crypts, and a smattering of vignettes in homage to images from our favorite classic horror films -- we built false walls, put in hidden doors, and did things that would, as much as possible, make these otherwise familiar homes into confusing, unrecognizable new spaces.
Over the years, we've had to part with all our old props -- now we've spent the last couple weeks planning and collecting materials -- craigslist, dumpster-diving, begging, stealing, etc. Some very generous friends are
donating additional props to the cause, and we've started the
"build-in" of a totally new party in earnest.
This year we're departing from our traditional goth themes and are inviting all our friends to our haunted version of a hidden pirate hideaway, somewhere in the archipelago of the Caribbean -- it could be old Hispaniola, Haiti, or Tortuga or somewhere entirely different -- but wherever it is, be warned, there be dragons.
A couple of recent milestones: Last weekend, along with 10 gallons of ESB, I brewed up a batch of our Sleepy-Hollow Pumpkin Spiced Porter, and yesterday we raised the 25 foot mast and rigging for the pirate ship which will be parked in the wharf :) To those of you attending: You're welcome to play along with the piratical theme, but please feel free to costume yourself however you wish! It's a Halloween party -- be what you want! But now you know, our house is going to have it's pirate costume on :)
Stay tuned here or to my twitter feed to keep up with our updates :)
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