Thursday, July 2, 2009

Evangeline's...UPDATE!

Just yesterday, I had the privilege of learning that the Costume Mansion will be opening its doors, not on August 1st as it usually does, but this Thursday, July 16th! Apparently, the owner has decided to try opening the Halloween store a few weeks earlier this year to "see how it goes". I am hoping it goes very well, so that the owner decides to do it this early every year. It just gives me more time to save up and buy more Halloween goodies to decorate my house with! I hope to post pics of the Mansion soon, as I will certainly be paying it an early visit! Oh, joy!!! ;)





On August 1st, Evangeline's Costume Mansion will once again open its doors to the public to prepare for the Halloween season. Evangeline's is the best Halloween/costume shop in Sacramento (and possibly in all of northern CA). Located in an huge old, three-story building, the lower half of the store is open year-round, and you can find all sorts of crazy gags, gothic jewelry, games, incense, posters, and tons of other weird and wacky stuff. But it is the upstairs part, the Costume Mansion, that it is best known for. The upstairs section houses the wonderfully spooky Costume Mansion, which sells not only any costume you can practically think of, and is also decorated in all things Halloween and ghoulish. Naturally, it is my favorite part of the store, and it always bums me out that it's only open for this part of the year. They will allow you to take a special trip up there with an escort if you're in need of a certain costume or accessory, but is otherwise open only August through October. August 1st, to be exact, which means that I now have less than a month to go until my favorite store opens its doors! I always look forward to going there just to see the decorations, if nothing else. As you ascend the stairs, you gradually notice that the lighting is becoming dimmer, and then you realize the rooms are lit mostly by candelabras and wall sconces with flickering LED candles. There is a faint musty smell, and you truly feel like you are walking into an old, delipidated Victorian mansion. The walls, and even parts of the ceiling, are strewn with gigantic bats, spiders, spider webs, mummies, zombies and so on, while skeletons and other creatures of the night are propped up in corners, or glaring down at you as you pass underneath archways. There are different rooms, or different parts of rooms, with certain themes or types of costumes. One room has different styles of Egyptian, Greek, and Renaissance costumes; and then there is the Old West room ranging from saloon girl costumes, Can-Can dresses, and Wyatt Earp. They have a huge selection of wigs, too, and I love to go and try on all the different colors. Between all the make-up, costumes, lighting and other decorations, I could easily spend a fortune here. Oh, and did I mention that there is also a large elevator that you can choose to ride up in, if you'd rather not make the long climb up the stairs? Even the elevator is spooky! The inside has mirrors, and is dimly lit. The outside is black, and the walls leading up to the Mansion are also macabre looking. It is the Halloween lover's dream come true. You can find almost anything you need for a great Halloween party, or a night of trick-or-treating. I am so glad it opens in early August. It's wonderful for the Halloween enthusiast to have such an awesome place to begin his or her Halloween shopping early!

http://www.evangelines.com/

5 comments:

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Ooohh....that sounds fabulous! I would love a place like that. Nothing even close here in Florida. But I did find a similar place in Salem. We go there every Autumn and I found it on-line last time we went. It was great. I could stay in there and play dress up for days! I am going to check out your link now. Thanks for sharing! :o)

Tisha Leigh said...

I'm going to try to take pictures of it the next time I go there. The inside is awesome! Only a few more weeks 'til I can go back and start my Halloween shopping! You're lucky you've been to Salem! I'd love to go there someday.

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

You would LOVE Salem! I cannot say enough wonderful things about that place. If it weren't so cold there...I could easily live there and be happy. During October...it's Halloween Town literally! We skipped out on it last year...but we are going back up this October. We meet up with friends of ours from Rhode Island and hang out in town a few days before heading up into Vermont or to Sleepy Hollow NY. One day you really must make the decision to go there...but go during October...you'll never forget it!

Also...please post any pics if you take them...I'd love to see the place! :o)

Tisha Leigh said...

Yeah, I've seen some shows on Salem as far as hauntings and witches, but not so much about Halloween. Another fantastic place to celebrate Halloween (possibly the best place, IMO) is New Orleans! I love that place. I was lucky to be there a few years ago for Halloween, and am dying to go back. Halloween is like a mini Mardi Gras. It's huge there! It's a very unusual mysterious city to begin with, and it has a dark feel to it, which is, I suppose, why I love it. It only makes sense that Halloween would be a big deal there. I will definitely take pics of Evangeline's!

The Gill-Man said...

Oh! Sounds like my kinda place! Definitely post up in pics you take!!!