Happy Halloween y’all!
Berlin isn’t very good at Halloween. I was ready to give up on it after my bad experience of 2009, but agreed to go with my girlfriend today to see her friends make a “Zombie Walk”. I’ve seen photos of the ones in New York, and they are totally awesome. Probably upwards of 50 zombies dragging their rotting asses around the city. http://blog.suckapants.com/2008/10/slow-learner-stubborn-optimist.html . It sounds great to me, but I had little hope of anyone even turning up for this event in Berlin. Germans just don’t like to dress up (I think it’s a sub-conscious reaction to how they LOVED to dress up back in the Nazi days!)
Anyway, I stuck a dirty old coat in my son’s pram, and we went to the designated meeting spot. There were three zombies. I really just couldn’t bare to go through with it after last years mental anguish, and told them I was just there to take care of my four month old son while my girlfriend shot photos. After half an hour sitting at the cafe a few more people arrived, and there were six zombies and a witch. We were two minutes walk from my studio so I popped by, grabbed the first mask I saw (one of my first “trash” masks) whacked a little black and white spray paint on it, and headed back. I didn’t want to paint my face like the others just in case my son got scared. I figured I could remove the mask if he freaked out, but not face paint. And besides, I’m the king of masks!
“Come on then, let’s do this” I said, donning mask and coat, and off we shuffled, eight freaks, a three year old in a Policeman’s uniform, and a baby in a pram (being pushed by me - responsible parent!) I led the parade, banging against shop windows, falling over boxes and cafe tables, and taking swipes at little kids and screaming “FLEISH!” at every kebab shop we passed. Little girls looked freaked out and Turkish shopkeepers looked annoyed. I even managed to scare a full-grown adult in a bar by hurling myself at the window!
Despite the small number of participants, it was great fun (and happily my son slept through the whole event!)
Once my girlfriend has the photos developed I’ll post some, and maybe, with the evidence, we can get a few more Berliners to pull the sticks out they asses and join in next year. A boy can dream…
