The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens are known for many things -- expansive grounds, extensive rose gardens, the occasional stinky Corpse Flower -- but several fans cite the one night in October that the San Marino plot stayed open past sundown. Purpose? So that Drama After Dark could bring the chilling words of Poe and Edward Gorey alive in the darkness.
That longtime favorite is not happening at the Huntington this year, but lo and behold and wowza and hooray: The Los Angeles Zoo will serve as the scary setting for Drama After Dark, on Friday, Oct. 24. Forsooth and forswear, those Victorian-costumed actors shall take to the zoo's pathways and nooks and Poe it up, for the delight of humans and beasties alike.
But the zoo's 18-and-over Night of the Living Zoo party isn't just about cobwebby prose; a costume contest, neo-rockabilly tunes from So-Cal Rocket Dynamics, DJ Johnny Hawkes dj-ing, and other goodies await.
As for the animals' end of the eerie doings? Look for feedings of "fearsome" residents of the zoo and keeper talks enlightening visitors to the animal park's more notorious -- read big-teethed and many-legged -- residents.
Food, drink, and moresuch shall be for sale. ("Moresuch" is a Poe-ish word, and we do encourage you to speak the same way, while attending the bash.)
Best, too, that you know the costume categories, before plotting your outfit. Scariest and Most Original are on the docket, as they are at many Halloween gatherings, but so is Best Animal. Can you dress like a koala? A cobra? Go for it. Out-animal every other reveler.
Tickets are $46, include two drinks, and, you betcha, the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Association gets the love.
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No, seriously, what animal are you going as? Or will you dress Victorian, in honor of Drama After Dark? Could you go as a Victorian animal? A koala in a waistcoat? A bear in a bustle? This monstery night may prove to be the perfect mash-up opportunity.
