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/