I feel this past Halloween weekend, I fulfilled a dream of mine. I have had this dream ever since I saw the iconic Halloween cult classic film, Hocus Pocus. Ever since I saw the Sanderson Sisters bewitch the adults of Salem with their fabulous rendition of "I've Put a Spell on You", I have dreamed of one day dressing up as the Sanderson Sisters for Halloween. I remember sharing this dream with other gay male friends of mine but for one reason or another - usually because a) how would we even begin to construct such memorable costumes and b) no one wanted to be Mary Sanderson aka , the fat one - the plan did not pan out. 

This year, my friend and fellow Hocus Pocus enthusiast, Franz asked if I would help him achieve his dream of going as the Sanderson Sisters for Halloween. I gay gasped at the thought and then died when he told me he would take care of all of the costumes - all I had to provide was shoes. I was chosen to be the hilarious Mary Sanderson; she goes around barking and wanting to eat all the time, it works. The costumes were absolutely flawless. By sheer coincidence, I happened to be hosting the QSU drag show. We were able to perform the number as part of the show. I think people shat their pants when they us emerge and perfectly execute the number. I even sang the number with Mary's droopy lip. By the end of the night my face hurt.

After the drag show, we had made plans to go to the Silver Legacy's Erotic Ball, with aspirations of entering the costume contest and winning. I was unaware that it was an "Erotic Ball" upon entertaining, but learned quickly, when I was surrounded by attractive scantly-clad individuals. Everyone wanted to take their photo with us; it was fabulously ridiculous. I felt as if I was some celebrity getting stopped every few moments to take photos with fans. I had no idea that this movie had such a following with people; or at least it was a memorable enough movie that 18 some odd years later people still get the reference. We also played our roles perfectly; we had the mannerisms, facial expressions and tone of voice down. There was only one unfortunate incident that happened. We were having a drink at a restaurant and this rather drunk women who I guess was going as ... a lingerie model ... a lingerie model spilling out of her outfit approached us. She had no idea who we were but, unfortunate for us, bound and determined to figure out who we were. For a while she thought that we were from The Witches and our friend Aaron - who was not in costume - was the fat rat. No matter how much we tried to play off her ineptitude and tell her we were not from Witches, she would not believe us.

When it was time to declare the winner, we learned that we had made the cut for best tandem costume. We awaited in line with the rest of the competition - which included sexy Adam and Eve, sexy Avatar aliens, sexy little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf. Crap, I thought there is no way that three drag queens in heavy layers of rags and fabric can compete with a sculpted Adonis wearing a g-string with some fur for a costume. When they presented us to the audience, the crowd went absolutely nuts, ushering in as the clear winners. AHHHHH!! Are you kidding me?!?!?!  It was the perfect end to an amazing evening. 

The next day we hiked up our skirts and did the Zombie Crawl. The hightlight of which was going and standing on the vents outside of the Elderado and pretending that we were actually flying through the air. What ... I'm just saying ... wouldn't you?

I'm thrilled that I am able to scratch this off my gay bucket list ;) 

The other night I was at my friend Franz's house doing a photo shoot. At the end of the shoot - where I played an elderly grandmother creepily offering mustard greens to the camera - I went up to Franz's room to see the entire set of pictures on a larger screen. As I walked into Franz's room, something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. As I turned I saw an original movie poster from the gay iconic film Hocus Pocus staring the stunningly talented and fellow ginger Bette Midler. I about gay gasped myself into next week as I stood in awe and reverence for the poster. I wanted to steal the framed artifact right from wall and rush home with it. Then I realized that my friend Franz probably had the same love and fervor for the movie as I did and would hunt me down to get the poster back. 

What is about Hocus Pocus and gay men? What is about an early 90s Disney movie about 3 witch sisters bumbling along in the 20th century that is so appealing for gay men? Is it because, in some respects, the Sanderson Sisters look and act like a group of 17th century drag queens ripe with musical numbers, big hair and ridiculous costumes? Or, much like our apparent fascination with vampirism, is it the age-old search for eternal youth and beauty through mystical means story again? I am not entirely sure but I feel as though every gay man I know is absolutely in love with the movie.  I am waiting for them to turn it into a Broadway Musical ... any day now. I mean if they were able to turn Shrek into a musical, why can't they turn Hocus pocus into one?