People love the Ghostbusters. Nevermind if you liked the movie, and let's all forget about how lackluster Ghostbusters II was (despite how great it was when you were a kid), and let's look at the actual concept of ghosts and ghostbusting. It's "I see dead people" taken to the next level. Imagine for a minute how much better a movie Ghost would have been if the Ghostbusters showed up during that pottery wheel scene? How about lassoing Ghost Dad in a positron beam? Putting Casper away in the containment unit would sure be nice, wouldn't it? And yes, even Jesus is no longer a threat when accosted by the boys in gray. How do I know that the Ghostbusters are loved by people of all ages and blood-alcohol content levels? Because for one magical evening, I was one.
I always endeavor to do things on a grandiose scale, be it a birthday party, or a simple trip to Denny's. This Halloween was no exception. Some of you may or may not be familiar with the Halloween Christmas photo play, which compiled photos from last years Halloween outing. But as luck would have it, the evening produced better photographs than it did actual excitement. This year's Halloween, however, promises to set the standard for all Halloween's to come. In short, it'll be difficult to surpass. But let's on with it, shall we?
Production for our costumes went into action weeks before Halloween. Procuring the appropriate suits, patches, and necessities to build believable proton packs took some time and money (almost 100 bucks per costume) but proved to pay off in dividends, as you'll soon read. Dr. Cox Robotika, Vomit God, Desservo and myself labored with power tools, hot glue, contact cement, electrical tape and a lot of love to complete our costumes in time for our first appearance at a party the Friday before All Hallow's Eve. Once we'd all finished our packs, we suited up together for the first time, and GOD DAMN...we looked awesome. Needless to say, our costumes, combined with that Ghostbustin' attitude we adopted, stole the show. It's one thing to dress up as something, but another to live the part. As we discovered, that made all the difference. Another party on Saturday night, and the same thing resulted; people reacted to our costumes, and to us, in an overwhelmingly positive way. We even danced to Raspberry Beret. "..and if it was warm, she wouldn't wear much more."
After Saturday's party, we saddled up in our makeshift Ecto-1 (a 1986 Jeep, in poor repair) and headed downtown. We were greeted with one of three responses: "Hey, Ghostbusters!", "Who ya gonna call?", or "Hey, astronauts!" People loved it, and some tried to sing the song. Few succeeded.
The night of triumph and glory came on the night of October 31st. Middle of the week or no, this was Halloween and we were going to rock and roll. Earlier in the day, Vomit God and myself ended up in a mall in North County for a work-related meeting, where in the Taco Bell an elderly lady looked at us in horror, and backed away. Another old lady asked me if I was dressed like that on account of the terrorist attacks, noting my fearsome looking proton pack.
"No, lady, we're Ghostbusters...by the way, see ya real soon." Old people. They just don't get it. Before we left the mall, we did pop into Hot Topic and demand that any and all Goth's be turned over to us. They didn't get it, either.
Fast forward to later that evening: Once again, the Ghostbusters are together in the Ecto-1 (this time, Desservo's mom's mini-van) and heading to downtown San Diego for a night of bustin'. The whole town was packed, both Frightmare on Market Street and the Haunted Hotel were up and running, as well as a huge Halloween party/costume contest in the center of town. As we wander the streets with our entourage, which included Madonna, Miss Halloween (Hot Alicia), crazy peacoat guy (Kaiser!), and non other than Jesus himself, we were greeted with the standard fare of praise and drunken adoration by all denizens that we passed by. Every time we turned around, someone else wanted their picture taken with us. After attempts at cleaning up the Haunted Hotel and the all night pizza place, it was time for some bustin'. At the end of one of the busiest sections of the city, the four of us start charging through the street between the clogged traffic, blasters pulled, shouting, "Ghostbusters, coming through! Official ghostbusting business, step aside!"
What happened next, we could not have predicted, nor dreamed of. The crowd on both sides of the street erupts in cheering, clapping and shouting. The cars start honking at us, and everyone is shouting, "GHOSTBUSTERS! YEAH!" This continued for two city blocks, as we continued to jog through the congested avenue looking for spooks. It was the first true taste of celebrity we'd ever experienced. We made at least two more similar runs that night, to the same response from the surrounding mob. Even one of the bicycle taxi guys rode up to us, with the Ghostbuster theme playing on the stereo, to which we promptly began to dance. (Never let it be said the Ghostbusters don't dance.) God knows (and we asked him) that if we'd been of age, we could have stormed into that costume contest and won that sucker hands down. Hell, the next day we were even featured on San Diego's premiere local website, sandiegoinsider.com.
In a time of insecurity and uncertainty, there was one thing people could depend on, one force they could look to that was getting the job done, and that was the Ghostbusters doin' what they do best; bustin'.
Thank you to Dr. Desmond, Dr. Alcala, Dr. Concha, and of course our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ for the best Halloween to date.
"Back to hell, Jesus!"
The views expressed in this article may not be the views of the author. If you were offended or have any complaints about the content, please do not hesitate to cry me a river.
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