I have always loved Halloween, perhaps because my parents kept the standard very high for baby costumes. When I was four, I dressed as Amelia Earhart complete with tiny leather bomber jacket. Now, of course, Halloween is more appealing as “Gay Christmas,” to reference THIS article from Them. My one Halloween so far at the Art School was a perfect alignment of self-expression and an incredibly talented group of creative people. A time for subcultures, the adrenaline rush of fear and horror in the safety of a construct, the macabre, the acceptance of loud and outrageous costumes as everyday wear for one day–it's no wonder “Spooky Season” is much loved at GSA, let alone Glasgow as a whole. And that’s not to mention the parties. 

Halloween offers us the opportunity to play with gender expression in a safe, low-stakes, impermanent way, which I can’t deny helped me understand myself as a non-binary trans person. Now, the holiday is a toss-up between gender euphoria and dysphoria for me, but this doesn’t diminish the love I have for it. In this Halloween soire, I wanted to pay homage to the original “horror” movies from the early twentieth century, which laid the groundwork for the creature flicks of the 1980s, campy extravaganzas that they are. I landed on “Creature Feature.” You can read more about monster movies and queer theory in It Came From the Closet, which I know they have in the GSA Library because I requested it. 

We have a great line-up of DJs, some new to GSASA and some returning, including Glabra, whose set last year I loved so much I insisted they join us from Amsterdam. Freya and KJ are back to dance as well, and Niki Zaupa is once again doing the projections in the Assembly Hall. Bring your most monstrous affect and all your monster-fucker friends, and come on Halloween Night, where all creatures, from the tiniest gnat to Godzilla themself, are welcome.

Buy your tickets for our event now.

By RS Dennis, Vice President

Image: Hope Holmes