Bittersweet Friends

Happy Halloween! It was supposed to rain today, but to my surprise and delight, the sun has been out all day. I took the opportunity to get outside as quickly as possible,  as my eyes have been turning mole-like from all the dreary darkness lately. I imagined that people watching today of all days, would be impressive – being Halloween and all. But there was nothing! Out of almost 3 hours spent out and about, I think I saw 3 costumes. And two of those were questionable as to whether or not they were actually costumes, or just merely just flamboyant hipsters sporting fedoras and striped prison pants. I was hoping for zombies, fake blood, eyepatches. There weren’t even any girls dressed up as slutty cops or nurses to chuckle at. Overall, pretty disappointing.

I do however love the sudden splashes of orange that dot the landscape during October.  Last night I went to a small get-together with friends, where we drank wine and carved pumpkins while watching the original Nightmare on Elm Street. I don’t remember that movie being so ridiculous the first time I saw it. It borderlines more comedy than horror – although I must confess, it’s usage of 80′s synthesizer sound effects may have been the scariest thing I’ve witnessed in weeks.

I don’t really have Halloween plans tonight, which make me feel a little bummed out. What it is about the “fun” holidays that make being single feel extra lonely? Carving pumpkins, dying Easter eggs or beating pinatas senseless are just so much better when you have a sidekick. I’m trying not to dwell on it too much, but sometimes it still gets the better of me. This city makes it so difficult to meet people. I’m thoroughly convinced that there are 50 single girls to every one single boy. And that single boy is hiding under a rock right now, playing WOW in his mom’s basement. In all seriousness, though – how does a girl compete when there are so many attractive, talented, wonderful, intelligent single girls out there? It’s like being lost in a sea of  faces… the invisibility of it all so much worse than anything.  Today it’s made me feel pretty empty inside, and although I would rather be out in public enjoying the Halloween festivities, it’s making me feel more alone being around people then when I’m at home solo. I’m not entirely sure what I will feel like doing later tonight – maybe I will be inspired to venture downtown to the art gallery steps to check out the action, (sneaky wine-bottle concealed under my coat) but more likely than not I will just stay in and eat popcorn and Strongbow dinner, praying desperately for some horror-movie marathon on TV.

Speaking of horror movies, I’ve been fortunate enough to take in a few movies recently… both Where the Wild Things Are and Paranormal Activity in the last week. I had high hopes for Paranormal Activity, what with all the “THIS IS THE SCARIEST MOVE EVER MADE!!!!!!” hype on the internet and people mentioning “I had a friend who said he didn’t really need to sleep  for the next couple of weeks, anyway”. I could hardly turn down the opportunity to see a horror film THAT good – so I shelled out the $13 to see it in the theatre. My first mistake however, was going on a Friday night – to the Scotia theater downtown, arguably the busiest theater in all of Vancouver. In retrospect, I can’t believe I would have considered this as being a good idea, but I’m so accustomed to seeing movies alone, in cheap and crappy old theaters with decrepit balconies that usually contain only 5 other patrons, that I imagined it wouldn’t be that busy. But this movie was PACKED.
Full of teenagers.
Any sort of suspension of disbelief that could have happened during this movie was immediately quashed by the adolescent high-pitched screeching of girls throughout the audience, faces pressed tightly into the shoulders of their dates. Each time I found myself getting drawn into the heightened creepiness of the movie, the girl beside me would GASP and jump 1 foot out of her seat, squealing “OHMYGOD!!!” Seriously? This was during the scene that involved the understandably bone chilling and terrifying sequence of a door. OPENING… TWO INCHES. Yes, I said it – a door moved slightly open, and the audience of teenage girls went APESHIT. Which mostly just made me laugh out loud, destroying any feeling of dread that might have been building. I would imagine that if I was at home, in the dark, watching this movie with headphones on, it would have scared the living shit out of me. However, under these conditions, Johnny Depp’s hair from Nightmare on Elm Street was far more frightening than being in that theatre. Which is disappointing because unlike many horror movies, this film really is mostly scary in it’s frantic, inital unknown– and once you know what will happen, it’s unlikely that you will ever experience the same fright once you know what will happen. Curse you, teenage girls! But I imagine it was those very girls who gave it the headline of being the SCARIEST MOVIE EVER MADE… EVER. SERIOUSLY. Jesus, if a door opening has you peeing your pants I can only imagine what would happen if someone busted out a chainsaw…

… which reminds me – I also was fortunate enough to get to see Evil Dead the Musical recently! It was amazing, and hilarious. And there was copious amounts of blood. SPRAYING FROM THE CEILING! And singing! And sex! And self-arm-amputation! It was so great, I really can’t recommend it enough, despite it’s pricey ticket cost, it is really worth every penny.

Have a terrifyingly awesome Halloween, everyone! Watch out for the eardrum rupturing shrieking teenage girls who have desended upon the city… let’s just hope they have been considerate enough to do it while wearing costumes. And remember, the tiny nature of those little chocolate bars makes any caloric intake virtually nil, so feel free to eat at least 36 of them in a sitting.