When we left off, James, Chad and I had gone back to our room early Saturday afternoon to down some "beverages," watch some classic Scooby Doo, and to get ready for the evening's big event - the Masquerade Party.
2016 was my sixth time attending MHC, and with each year that I attend, I am able to whittle down the prep time it takes to get into my costume. This year, I was able to get completely into character in just under an hour and a half. Of course, James and Chad are both smarter than I and were able to get into their costumes in an astonishing SEVEN MINUTES. Oh well, I had more makeup to apply then they did...
Upon heading out the door and over to the elevator, we immediately ran into Ken Sheldon, who graciously took our photos!
Photos by Ken Sheldon.
When we got to the party, I immediately set about taking photos of all the incredible costumes and makeups. The MHC Masquerade Party is the highlight of the convention weekend and this year did not disappoint.
For the first time in all the years I have been going, I was outside in the lobby taking pictures and talking with friends and I actually missed the Body Art Fashion Show. Oops! Luckily, I was able to track a few of the models down and got a few pictures before heading in for the rest of the costume contests and then to get our groove on.
Here, in no particular order are some of the amazing costumes that were on display.
Our annual group photo, taken and sponsored by PromoSocial. (l to r: Chad, James, me)
Stacey Rager and family (and some hooligans...)
Christopher Weeks from Spyder's Realm, who flew in all the way from Vancouver, BC, Canada. Damn!
"Hauntzilla" Melissa Winton from Haunt Shirts. How the hell did she get angel wings??
I laugh every time I see this. JWAL Twistedseed as "Dirty Cop." He just made you feel so "icky"...
1. Wear a costume.
2. Hand out treats.
3. Never blow out a jack-o-lantern.
4. Always check your candy.
The belle of the ball herself (and winner of the Scariest Zombie contest AND Best Kids' Costume), Miss Alexis Skye!!
A few of the models from the Body Art Fashion Show. A big draw every year, for obvious reasons!
(Here's your photo, Chad. Dirty old man...)
The welder tears up the dance floor!
After a long night of socializing, imbibing and generally getting crazy, we finished it all off with a nightcap at the hotel bar with a big group of friends (many of whom had already gotten out of their costumes. But not me!!).
Luckily, I downed enough water and Gatorade before passing out so that I was up and (relatively) ready to go early Sunday morning to check out William Ramsay's free class on skeleton corpsing. It was pretty much a how-to on Allen Hopps' "plastic dropcloth and a heatgun" method that I had used in the past, but it was still nice to get up and get moving early.
After the class, I met up with James and Chad. We took one last lap around the tradeshow floor, made our final purchases, said our goodbyes and departed for home.
Without a doubt, it was another successful and incredibly fun weekend. I picked up a few necessities for the upcoming haunt season and I have been fully recharged to jump back into this year's monstrous prop projects.
A huge thanks to my roomies, James and Chad, as I had an absolute blast the entire weekend. Only with you two could I get away with acting like such a dork and have so damn much fun doing it!
And thank you for checking out my recap, but now I gotta go. Only 137 days until Halloween, and I'm supercharged with creative energy. Look for me in the garage from now until the end of October!!
