By james art Pedestrian traffic was backed up in Trinity Park at the intersection of Monmouth Avenue and Watts Street. A PAW Patrol princess and trooper thrilled the crowd, swarming with the star of Halloween: an anthropomorphic Blue Heeler dog.
“Blue!” said the four-foot-tall Spider-Man, pointing up at the blue puppy with a yellow nose.
As trick-or-treaters trotted along leaf-covered sidewalks, bags of candy bouncing alongside them, few characters drew as much attention as Bluey, star of an eponymous TV show and celebrity for the under-fives.
Also walking around on this warm, cloudless evening? Taylor Swift (“Red” era), Taylor Swift (“Love” era), two green Crocs (one also wears orange Crocs on her feet), a potato (baked), and a Petit Basset Griffon Vendéen named Henry dressed as a taco (solid shell, no guac).
Watts Street was covered in cobwebs and tombstones. Even scarier: reminders of next week’s presidential election. A Harris-Waltz sign hung on a chain around a skeleton’s neck. Two Bull City Votes volunteers wore half red, half blue T-shirts. Swing States — Yay!
On the path leading to a red brick house, the Mandalorian tripped over his foot, scattering Skittles and Twix bars on the ground. Princess Leia rushed to his aid, her sponge cakes tilting as she picked up the lost pieces. They had never seen Star Wars, according to their mother, but were still determined to wear the costumes.
The mob broke away from Watts and entered Monmouth Avenue to find a fish market in the Salmon Apartment building guarded by a shark. “One, two, three,” the shark said before launching an inflatable trout into the air. The fish grazed Captain Hook’s outstretched arms before falling onto the stone walkway below. Hook lifted the fish off the ground as his parents cheered.
Pirates were popular. As well as dinosaurs (one dilophosaurus, one brontosaurus, nine tyrannosaurs), food (one peanut butter and jelly sandwich, one slab of bacon, two chocolate chip cookies), and online game characters (two from Minecraft, one from Roblox, two from Among Us).
The characters from Among Us, dressed in large inflatable suits, barely made it through the crowd in front of a yellow-lined colonial. In the front yard, a duo of comic-clad girls performed an aerial silk routine to Taylor Swift’s “No Body, No Crime.” It was a solemn performance. Los watched from the front row.
He was the only moose of the evening. Also one-of-a-kind: The Grinch, Marshmallow, Jake from State Farm, Flo from Progressive Insurance, and Sophia Chitlik—who’s running for the North Carolina State Senate—appears as herself. The candidate was handing out buttons and encouraging passers-by to vote.
For the children, the fear of Tuesday was irrelevant. There were doors to knock on, costumes to twirl in, and candies to collect.
Stopped on Minerva Avenue, the Grim Reaper rummaged furiously through his plastic orange basket of pumpkins for a snack.
“Do you want me to hold the knife for you?” asked the reaper’s father.
Above: Talib Carpenter, aka The Mandalorian, takes in the Halloween scene at Trinity Park. Photo by Abigail Bromberger — The 9th Street Journal