Tom Joyce | The News
Nathaniel Southern of Mount Airy, aka Freddy Krueger, strikes a menacing pose during Saturday night’s Boo Bash at Old North State Winery.
Tom Joyce | The News
Matt Harris and Whitney Gwyn of Pilot Mountain stand out with their portrayal of two popular candy bars.
Tom Joyce | The News
Kini Snow shares a laugh with “Mr. T,” actually Adam Galloway of Mount Airy.
Tom Joyce | The News
A variety of costumes are on display during Saturday’s Boo Bash.
For the majority of the year, they might be the grocery store employees, bank tellers, teachers, carpenters, financial advisers or salesmen, but Halloween allows them to become someone or something else, if for just a brief time.
That was evident Saturday night when the third-annual Boo Bash was held at North State Winery, spearheaded by Mount Airy Museum of Regional History.
The event allowed people who normally blend into the woodwork in a variety of everyday occupations to attract attention by taking on the temporary look of pirates, witches, pharaohs and a host of other characters. In some cases, their costumes were designed to be comical, while others were downright scary.
Nathaniel Southern of Mount Airy fit the latter category with his portrayal of Freddy Krueger, the ghoulish character with the burned, disfigured face who was made popular by “The Nightmare on Elm Street” movie series.
In one sense, Southern was simply displaying a cool costume, but in another he was coming to grips with a boogeyman that had made an distinct impression on him during his youth. “He just always freaked me out when I was growing up,” Southern said of his selection of the Freddy Krueger outfit.
Meanwhile, Brad Johnson chose the striped suit of a prison inmate for his Halloween get-up at the Boo Bash, “because I had it left over from a Halloween party last weekend,” he explained.
“I just thought it looked like a good costume,” Johnson said of his original choice for the outfit he had bought at Party City in Winston-Salem.
Johnson, a power company employee, said he dresses up for Halloween “most of the time,” and in past years has portrayed characters such as The Grim Reaper as well as a pirate. He said he does so “just to have fun — just to do something different, out of the ordinary.”
Adam Galloway of Mount Airy chose to dress as Mr. T, who became an American icon through the 1980s television series “The A-Team.”
“I don’t know,” Galloway said of the reason for his costume choice, which seemed to make him a dead-ringer for the gruff character, including a Mohawk hairstyle. “It fits me,” said the Mount Airy man, who was heard to say Mr. T’s favorite expression from time to time Saturday night: “I pity the fool!”
Along with socializing in the winery and displaying their costumes, Boo Bash attendees went on ghost tours held throughout the evening which are sponsored by the museum.
Matt Edwards, the facility’s executive director — who was portraying a Scotsman, complete with kilt — said about 150 people were expected to attend Saturday’s Boo Bash throughout the evening.
“We’re pretty pleased with the turnout,” Edwards said as the musical group Evan and Dana, also dressed for the occasion, filled the room with song.
Two clever costumes also were displayed by a Pilot Mountain couple, Matt Harris and Whitney Gwyn. He was dressed as an Almond Joy candy bar and she as a Mounds bar.
“I needed something nobody else would do,” Gwyn explained of the unique costume choice.
Reach Tom Joyce at 719-1924 or tjoyce@heartlandpublications.com.
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