Ghost Snakes and Zombie Dancing at the 2008 Village Halloween Parade

November 1, 2008 at 12:47 PM | by Victor Ozols | 0 Comments

New York has a parade for just about every holiday save Arbor Day, but the one that seems to suit the city best is the annual Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. This year, a confluence of factors made the parade a bit weirder than usual, creating a timely diversion from regular life so that people such as your correspondent could get out of their heads for a while and appreciate the lengths many New Yorkers go through just to entertain. For starters (and to paraphrase a classic rap track), this year Halloween fell on a weekend, making a traditional party night even more of one. Add to that a highly-charged election with easily-caricatured candidates, an economy in free fall, and the 25th anniversary of Michael Jackson's Thriller, and you've got the makings of a major Halloween spectacle. Being slightly past whoo-hoo! age, we avoided the six-deep crowd on the sidewalk and enjoyed the parade from a friend's apartment overlooking Sixth Avenue, and while it made for lousy photographs, the elevated perspective highlighted the effort and energy that goes into New York's freakiest mass happening of the year.

The parade officially started at 7:00 p.m., but didn't really get rolling through the Village until 8:00, when it was led by a phalanx of ghosts floating above the street and glowing in the light of the streetlamps. Ghost snakes (top photo) and skeletal monsters (below) appeared shortly after, deftly manipulated by handlers who made their every grasp toward the crowd lifelike and creepy.

Several dramatic ensembles emerged shortly after, including an impressive group of Michael Jackson impersonators and about fifty zombie dancers who did a spot-on rendition of the Thriller dance (zombie-perspective video here). Zombie hands, everybody! The best part came when the song ended and the dancers all immediately rushed the crowd on both sides of the street, leaving several people visibly taken aback. It was a quality performance, and it looked like they were having a blast.

My favorite all-time parade ensemble was a carnival pie-eating contest from several years ago, but a group of Richard Simmonses from this year came close. The crowd roared as about twenty guys in striped shorts, tank tops, and afros did his high-energy disco-exercise routine in the middle of the street. You've got to love this city.

The entertainment went on and on, including marching bands, political satire, a pixelated Pacman, and one wedding. We read that about seven sponsors pulled out of the parade for financial reasons, but the few who remained put up a valiant effort, including the trio of sparkly Minis from Zipcar.

We managed to get home on the subway without getting slashed, and hit the sack after indulging in some Milk Duds and Whoppers. In all, it was another inspiring Halloween Parade in New York, and we look forward to watching the freaks come out again next year. For a bunch of quality photos of the event, take a stroll through the Greenwich Village Halloween 2008 Flickr pool.

[Photos: Victor Ozols]

Related Stories:
· New York's Village Halloween Parade [official site]
· 2 Million Pack Greenwich Village for 35th Halloween Parade [NY Daily News]
· Halloween Coverage [Jaunted]

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