Halloween in Eugene (Run Screaming!)

Katie D.

November 1, 2009 - 11:25 AM

Halloween in a college town is always a bit of a spectacle. The party atmosphere kicks it up into super-high gear, and the students pour out into the streets dressed to the nines (or hardly dressed at all) for some serious party time.

It's been one of my favorite holidays for years. Back when I was a kid in Colorado, Halloween was often the first big snow of the year, and the costumes all had to be custom refit at the last moment to accommodate snow pants and multiple layers. I loved tromping around and pre-mapping the neighborhood for maximum candy acquisition.

More recently, Halloween has meant big parties and a festive atmosphere in the city. It's goofy to be in Eugene during Halloween weekend. It's a theatrical community anyway: a place where you might find people wearing capes or devil horns on any old day of the week. A day of costumes can mean some extravagant and artistic efforts.

The last three years have been some of the best Halloweens of my life, with great time spent with friends and massive celebration that midterms are mostly accomplished.

This year was a little different. I went to the Saturday Market to see the fabulous local band Susurri perform. There were fabulously dressed people lurking around the Market, and the music was great as usual. I went straight from downtown to my friends' house for an early party, so I missed the dress up aspect of the evening, but had a wonderful time.

Heading home late in the evening was the real adventure. There's some school spirit around this town, and the football team apparently did something particularly heroic yesterday. My friends live right by the stadium, and the sports atmosphere that oozed into their living room was quite sufficient for me. So transportation home was amusing on two levels: the drunk sports fans mixed with the drunk Halloween partiers.

I don't want this to sound sarcastic. It really was a fascinating experience to be present and witnessing the other bus riders. People were still chanting sports cheers and there was a high level of falling over happening as the bus took us back to the campus area. I heard some odd conversations, as well. I love to listen to people! You could write an entire sociological study or a bestselling novel based solely on those eavesdropped late-night Halloween conversations. I also nearly witnessed a common humorous event in works of fiction: we came very near to a bus-wide barf-o-ramma last night. You know, the Stand by Me kind of wave of vomiting when one person goes and the whole assembly follows. The young woman in question did manage to hold herself together until the minute after she exited the bus. I don't know whether I should be disappointed at the missed life experience, or relieved that I didn't get puked on by forty-odd fellow bus riders.

November first is a day of smashed pumpkins and hangovers in Eugene. It is a return to reality, a day of essay writing and midterms study. It is also a day of reviewing great pictures from the night before, and recounting stories that will last at least until the next major costume event.

Happy Halloween, readers. I hope you got a taste of our unique Eugene screamin' Halloween.