it’s funny that there are exactly 2 days a year when i like to visit St. John’s, and they are both in october. just a few weeks ago i was there for the Blessing of the Beasts, and then this weekend was the annual Halloween Extravaganza & Procession of the Ghouls. i first went to this event back in 1992 (yikes!) and back then it was at midnight, which i thought was pretty cool. now they do a 7 and a 10, and my gaggle and i opted for the later. it’s pretty amazing to walk into a Gothic cathedral late at night, filled with smoke and candle-light and skeletons playing cello, and then watch a 1920 silent movie (this year it was The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, which had lovely and very surreal hand-crafted sets; see above and more here) accompanied by the organist, and then watch as all sorts of ghouls, spirits and goblins pop out from the altar and cavort amongst the pews… really, i can’t recommend it enough. wish my pics came out better, but it was pretty dark in there. you can see much better ones here.
