By Andrew Wilson
To celebrate the Halloween season, the City of College Park hosted Rave at the Grave at Duvall Field on Rhode Island Avenue on Saturday.
The 21+ event featured alcohol, s’mores, costumes. Uncle Jesse, a cover band based in Arlington, Virginia, performed. The event gave College Park residents a chance to get into the Halloween spirit, dance and show off their creativity in their costumes.
The attendees took time for activities, food, socializing with other community members and sang along to Uncle Jesse’s renditions of popular 90s and 2000s hits, such as Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA,” Panic! At The Disco’s “I Write Sins Not Tragedies,” The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside” and Rascal Flatts’ “Life Is a Highway.”
Alan Hew, a District 1 College Park city council member, attended the event dressed in a K-Pop-inspired outfit to represent Asian culture.
“It’s hard to find known costumes that are Asian,” Hew said. “There are too many stereotypes for Asian characters.”
Jude Wang, Hew’s wife and College Park resident, dressed up as the Purple Line. The Purple Line is a 16.2-mile light rail line with 21 stations that are currently under construction. She felt inspired after she got a glimpse of the train’s construction and came to the event decked out in purple.
“Alan and I were at the thrift store in Langley Park on University Boulevard, and we were driving down where the Purple Line construction had been,” Wang said. “It occurred to me that I have a purple skirt and top; I could be the Purple Line.”
Edwin Cabezas, a Howard Community College 2026 alum, attended the event as Reaper from Blizzard Entertainment’s video game, Overwatch. The character’s black design and edgy motto inspired Cabezas.
“I think his design is really cool. I like the edgy, badass dynamic of his design,” Cabezas said.
Kate Meadows, a mental health therapist, dressed as Pennywise for the event. Sage Richards, Berwyn Heights Woods’ Flowers and Gifts employee, dressed up as Georgie Denbrough. Both characters are from Stephen King’s horror novel, “It.”
The event served as an opportunity to share their love of King’s universe, the Derryverse, referenced by fans who interconnect different stories of King’s writing in the town of Derry.
“We live really close to the event, and I saw it on Facebook, so I can have a reason to wear my Pennywise costume,” Meadows said.
Richards said the pair is “obsessed” with the Derryverse right now.
Marco Castro, a College Park resident, came to the event dressed as Jack Skellington from the 1993 stop-motion film, “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” with a Santa Claus twist.
“What inspired it was the mix of Halloween and Christmas, and I always thought maybe you could make Christmas scary,” Castro said. “I grew up watching that movie. It’s a really good movie, and I like the character Jack Skellington.”
Neil Lund, a University of Maryland government and politics professor, said he made his sandworm costume from scratch with the help of his mother. Frank Herbert’s science fiction franchise, Dune, inspired Lund’s sandworm costume.
“I made this costume a couple of years ago when Dune: Part One came out,” Lund said. “I also wanted to learn how to sew, and I picked it up since then. I do have to give credit to my mother because she showed me how to use a sewing machine.”
Laura Reams, a UMD criminology and criminal justice alum, faced a rainy situation with her polka-dot raincoat, custom-made umbrella made of cotton and lights to serve as thunder clouds and a rainbow at the end of the storm. The inspiration came to her as she scrolled on social media.
“I ordered the supplies, and it took me about an hour and a half to put it together,” Reams said. “I was inspired when I was scrolling through TikTok, looking at costumes, and wanted to put something together that was fun.”
The event ended smoothly, and visitors waved their goodbyes, feeling ready for Halloween.
Featured Image: Skeleton propped on the Duvall Field landmark on Oct. 23. Photo by Andrew Wilson.