I seem to have accumulated some scary pictures and this seemed like the perfect time to put them together as a sort of Halloween card to the city. This is a post for those of you who just want to see the pictures, so I’ll have very little to say.
I found Hulk on the Square a couple of weeks ago. He’s actually pretty scary looking, but he seems to have a good sense of humor. Of course he may be very related to Spiderman, Purple Guy or any of the other current cast of characters.
Then there was this other creature and its dog. Does anyone know if this is some specific creature? I had the feeling he was from a movie or video game of which I am unaware. Definitely creepy on a dark street in the city, when those eyes start glowing its enough to give a body a chill. I’m not sure what the dog is supposed to be. He almost looks like something out of Mad Max. The creature lumbers along completely using his wooden appendages. It seems like a pretty tough gig for a few dollars to me.
Then, of course, there were zombies last weekend on Market Square. This was not the Zombie Walk (which I missed because I was so busy keeping Urban Girl from seeing the group and freaking out), but rather a world-wide event in which the participants danced simultaneously to Michal Jackson’s “Thriller.” It’s an effort to set a world’s record, I think. Inside of Knoxville reader Wendy Seaward played the part of the zombie bride. Since it didn’t coincide with the Zombie Walk, the numbers were not as big as previous years.
I’ve thought a good bit about our current cultural obsession with zombies. And vampires, for that matter. The fascination eludes me. I can only assume it’s a way of whistling at the dark. Of denial of our mortality by embracing it. We’re an interesting species like that.
Finally, the Halloween edition of Tennessee Shines brought out some scary characters. Norwegian Wood played the role of house band. Alexia Pantanizopoulos as a witch, Ayca Yayman as (maybe?) Little Bo Peep and Tres Daugherty as a cowpoke churned out the Beatles tunes.
King Super rocked the house, but I’ll cover that elsewhere since they weren’t scary and this is a post about Scary Knoxville. Joining the cast, however, was poet and erstwhile leader of the Melungeons, Rus Harper. Now if I had to name one scary person in Knoxville, like a Mr. Scary Person of the year, Rus Harper would be it. You may just have to see the Melungeons in concert to appreciate the full extent of his awesome scariness.
On this night, without the Melungeons, he read poetry. Poetry about cats. Not scary? You weren’t there. Look into those scary eyes. The man may be possessed. He’s Knoxville’s answer to Ozzy Ozborne, only Ozzy would cry if Russ wanted him to. You try reading poetry about kittens and being scary at the same time. It’s not easy, but Russ can do it.
Have a great Halloween, be safe and remember there is a kids party beside the Glencoe, tonight (see the weekly schedule for details). And if you are out and about and you see Russ Harper coming in your direction, run. Run fast.
