Halloween, Seattle-Style

The lovely city of Seattle just survived another Halloween season, with three different queer parties lighting up the night before, during, and after the holiday.

The first event: Thursday night's Bump, featuring BenDeLaCreme and Lady Bunny and a slew of sexy, weird, and jaw-dropping costumes (plus a fundraiser for Gay City Health Project).

The night got off to a giddy start, with at least three Finns from Adventure Time in various stages of undress prowling the dance floor. There was also a Beast getting cuddly with Aladdin, DJ Nark in a skull and bones ensemble, and Terry Miller with a friend bulging in super-sexy Clockwork Orange costumes. Also a hit: Wayne and Garth with a hint of gender-bending, a slim Divine, twin Elton Johns, and what appeared to be Divine makeup on a paper bag over a drag queen's head. Possibly a reference to the Unknown Comic?

But everyone was upstaged by two unbelievably amazing costumes: a huge purple squid and a four-legged Star Wars AT-AT. OK, they might not have been the most practical outfits — getting through doors and up stairs clearly presented some challenges. But the squid's Silly String spray was a huge crowd-pleaser, as were the blinking blaster cannons on the Imperial vehicle.

Lady Bunny took the stage at midnight to twirl around and lip-synch to jokes of a certain vintage. BenDLC joined her to lead a costume contest that pitted squid against AT-AT. The crowd was nearly almost perfectly split between the two costumes, but in the end, the Empire vanquished the sea life, winning a $1,000 prize for his trouble.

The very next night was Halloween, and the legendary Dickslap party took over Seattle's Eagle, featuring a guest appearance by Kenny Brain of Big Brother Canada.

DJs Nark and Spaceotter kept the partiers dancing as one crafty costume after another wandered through the tight halls of the bar. There was a "gay agenda" costume on the patio, with a bat, an Eeyore, and two Mario Brothers close at hand.

Late in the evening, Tina Tokyo (dressed as a cosmetic-surgeried American dream) and Zak the Barber (as a gladiatorial warrior) snuck off to the bathroom to watch the party aside a urinal trough. Almost immediately, they were interrupted by a bachelorette who squatted over a trough and demanded "Is this the women's room?" Tina replied, "That's a urinal," at which point the squatting bachelorette relocated to a sink. There's a certain consistency the world over to bathrooms at bars called the Eagle.

That party marked the official end of Halloween, but the celebration continued with Insert Coin packing the Eagle once again the next night. Revelers unafraid to wear a costume on November 1 were treated to go-gos, a costume contest, and retro console games courtesy of Queer Geek.

Winning the costume contest were a cute Ness, a gender-bent Tifa, and a boy dressed as a Dreamcast, all of whom got to take home awesome comics from Northwest Press.

As always, Tyler Rush turned heads with his perky bottom bouncing in the go-go cage, but on this night he was dressed as a mischievous Deadpool. DJ Krot crept through the crowd all night as a bloodthirsty vampire, and Cicci Binaca spooked the crowd with a bloodthirsty drag show.

And with that, the city concludes its dalliance with spirits and enters Thanksgiving season, replacing monsters and obscure cultural references with turkeys and inaccurate depictions of early colonizers. Let the magic of the season live on in our hearts until next year.

See more photos from all threee events on the following pages >>>

Below: Bump

Below: Halloween at Dickslap at the Eagle

Below: The Insert Coin party at the Eagle