Werewolves of Hampden . . . and other creatures spotted last night
Costumed trick-or-treaters flocked to the always spooktastic Hampden Halloweenfest and came away with candy, trinkets and possibly a few recurring nightmares
Above: I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand . . . walking through the streets of Hampden. Ahoo! (Jennifer Bishop)
Starting back in the late 1970s, photographer Jennifer Bishop took to roaming the streets of Baltimore looking for the eerie, the odd, the soulful or the strange, with her arresting finds regularly appearing in the late lamented Baltimore City Paper.
No wonder she’s drawn to the Hampden Halloweenfest.
The macabre moments that Bishop loves to capture happen there every year in a concentrated couple of October hours on a city street closed to cars and teeming with jolly weirdos eager to display their creative costumes and secret inner selves.
Last night there were fortune tellers, early aviators, a pelvis-shaking Elvis, at least two Loraxes, lightsaber-wielding Darth Vaders, a walking bag of Doritos, families sporting silver coneheads, princesses adorned in sparkly electrified gowns, a serious-looking fellow with nunchuks, and a tiny white-gloved, sharp-stepping Michael Jackson – to name just a few.
With thanks to Bishop for sharing and to the organizers (Kiwanis Club of Hampden-Midtown Baltimore and Hampden Village Merchants Association) for putting the event on, we present some of the images she brought back.
