Foxxy Cleopatra’s Halloween diary

Halloween came and went but the memories of this trick or treating season – which my friends and I spent scaring ourselves stiff in Knott’s Scary Farm, cooing at adorable kids in their niftiest Halloween costumes, and just partying to our hearts’ content in the City of Angels – will be with us for a long time. Soon enough, these experiences will turn into "ghosts" from our past. Thank God for journals and diaries...

October 3

Halloween is just around the corner. And what better way to start October and feel the Halloween scare than a trip to Knott’s Scary Farm? So off we went to the opening day of the yearly Halloween Haunt.

During Friday and Saturday nights of October, Knott’s Scary Farm is transformed into an eerie place. The rides are scarier than usual because of the additional effects of skeletons, and ghostly illusions. Haunted mazes are scattered throughout the park. Enter at your own risk. But even if you decide to stay out of these zones, you will not be able to run away from the different creepy characters roaming around to scare visitors away.

It’s dark. The lights are off, and the smoke machine is turned on from the time the gates open at 7 p.m. until closing time at 2 a.m.

The highlight of the night was the lampoon of popular Hollywood icons – The Hanging "Curse of the Black Pearl Necklace." In this show, artists impersonate pop culture icons, from the lip-locking of Madonna and Britney at the VMA awards, to characters in films like The Matrix, X-men, etc. Snippets from different movies are given comical twists and threaded together to create one big uproarious show. It’s like watching a live edition of Scary Movie. It’s supposed to be scary but the effect is more hilarious.

At the end of the 30-minute show, an artist is hanged. Poor Ben Affleck suffered that fate this year.

October 29

Pumpkin carving day is another popular Halloween tradition. Donna, a friend from Denver, Colorado wrote: "I never thought that you could carve it in any other way than the classic Jack-O-Lanterns. It was exciting trying to learn how to carve pumpkins, trying to be creative with the faces that you put in and lighting up the finished product. A guy from Bulgaria even made a Japanese pumpkin. It looked like a samurai."

October 31, afternoon-early evening

What’s interesting about this whole trick or treating experience is seeing the kids in their costumes. Babies were in outfits such as pea pods, lady bugs and bees. There was even one dressed as Piglet. Of course, you get the usual fairies and princesses. But the other parents really got creative with the kids’ outfits.

October 31, late

evening-early morning

Foxxy Cleopatra was ready to hit Hollywood together with friends Little Bo Pip (Farrah Fonacier), Gimli (George Cheng), the Scary Movie Guy (Roy Funtanilla), the Doctor (Jason Go), and the Sensei (Jay Quion). Unfortunately, it rained.

On the one hand, it was good for the firefighters working on the brush fires that hit Southern California. On the other hand, it was bad for Halloween bar-hopping in Hollywood. It was bad for the annual Halloween parade at the Santa Monica Boulevard.

But people expected the showers. One thing good about California is you can predict the weather. As early as Monday, forecasters were already predicting the rain on Friday.

It was chilly. Traffic on the 101 freeway going to Hollywood was messed up. So we had to change the itinerary for the night. A club in Los Angeles sounded like a good backup.

November 1

Halloween is over. But there’s still room for one more costume party. Foxxy Cleopatra with friends Bumble Bee (Madelaine Cordova) and She-Devil (CJ) mingled with interesting personalities in the cold, open air studio where the 10th year of the Bash was held. It’s an exclusive costume party for filmmakers and makeup artists in Hollywood. What can one come up with the perfect combination of prosthetics know-how, talent, and makeup experience? Endless possibilities.