18 Days 'Til Halloween: Costume Witch Hunt Is Sunset Strip Tease

Come Halloween, it's as if the 5 Members of West Hollywood's City Council are transformed into a coven of carnival barker wizards, because it seems to be a memorialized tradition that Universal Pictures pays for the privilege of promoting a double feature, a "Halloween"movie sequel, now in a tenth release, as a billboard that also is an unmistakable reminder about America's biggest costume party de jour in WEHO on October 31.

Taking a stroll along one of America's most famous memory lanes, is forward motion in tandem, as Sunset Strip rolls its way toward creative dreams still to come. One is able to window shop at Wild Fox, whose costumes seem more haute than the average variety of store bought disguise, pretty in pink and more modern than the bridal ware Elsa Lancaster wore, when wedding Frankenstein's monster, or just bedding him as a roll in the hay, as Madeline Kahn had done in Mel Brooks', Young Frankenstein. Today's monster's main squeeze seems to be all about benefits, with or without friendship or matrimony, as implied by the tee's phrase, "Be Creepy With Me." To this layman it seems unencumbered by contractual obligation- hard to imagine any judge giving serious consideration to the viability of a lawsuit, not even at the highest level of pop-up kangaroo justice.

Some people claim there's a zombie invasion every day of the week but State Social House has upped the ante with $500 in cash & prizes for the best zombie costume on Halloween. One would assume it comes with the garden variety buffet- all the body parts you can eat but better safe than sorry, you should inquire for yourselves, just in case.

At Aahs!, it's a trifecta of streamlined Halloween ghouls: Putin, Jung-Un and President Trump as generic brands only...while it presents a conflict of interest with all three of their best self-interests, it's likely a nod to consumers whose net worth and/or other high end values, have been swallowed or swigged, in big gulps. They come in a variety of choices, whether you're carrying one of them, or they're carrying one or the other, they come as masks or inflatable versions, for the academic reveler, who prefers an extra layer of verisimilitude.

For kids, there's a vast range of choices, including Marvel super heroes; for adults who choose to give kid-like chase and catch Pikachu with a net, Pokemon costumes are up to date and pegged to the new age platform, not the more dated trading card shark, who nets old school profits with the art of the deal... keep in mind Halloween Carnaval in WEHO is a virtual packed house- like a figurative can of sardines.

Not sure if the Star Trek outfit was stocked in the costume section by mistake or if it's meant to appeal to non-Trekkies as a disguise...obviously it would work both ways. Keep in mind, however, West Hollywood Halloween Carnaval may be an exploration of a "strange new world" for you, as every destination had been for the Starship Enterprise, whether you boldly go, or just come as you are, but it seems way beyond unlikely, the final part of the mission statement applies to anyone in West Hollywood. To "go where no man has gone before" is one of the main reasons West Hollywood residents stop going anywhere else, and pitch their tents here.