It may not be close to midnight, but something evil will be lurking in the dark. Come Halloween night, the undead will creep their way to Maritime Heritage Park's amphitheater to moonwalk the night away.

Organized by Liam Elio, 27, of Bellingham, last year’s Thriller dance single-handedly shut down the intersection of Holly Street and Railroad Avenue when a crowd of approximately 1,000 cheering fans came to see 48 “zombified” performers claim the streets of downtown.

A year later, the King of Pop is dead, but the dance, bigger and better than ever, lives on.   

 “We haven’t really promoted it much this year,” Elio said. “But I’m amazed by people's addiction to Thriller. It has kind of promoted itself.”

This year, the event is proving to be one of the largest—and most anticipated—activities of the 2009 Halloween season.

“The success of the first dance was a complete surprise,” said Elio, who organized the first performance with a group of friends only days prior to the event.

Elio said he was inspired to bring the dance to life after traveling to Europe in 2007. While traversing the streets of Dublin, Ireland, on Halloween night, Elio was stopped by a group of 20 zombies walking down the street.

This year, within five hours of Jackson’s death hitting the news circuit, a group of 20 of last year's zombies made their way to downtown Bellingham to perform Thriller once again.
Following the June 25 performance, a plan to perform this Halloween began to solidify. But Elio said they did not know if they were going to do it for sure until the end of September.   
Concerned about the crowd that accumulated downtown last year, the Bellingham Police Department contacted the group early this month and asked them to relocate the Halloween performance to a more suitable location.

Lt. Scott Snider said the police department is always willing to work with groups seeking to use Bellingham streets for performances, but last year’s group had not acquired the proper permit to use Holly Street on Halloween night.

“The group and the dance itself? I think it’s fantastic,” Snider said. “I have seen them perform and that’s not the issue here at all.”

Snider said police were also concerned about the involvement of alcohol, the anonymity of costumes and the act of closing one of the city’s main streets for an extended period of time.  

 “I have had nothing but a good experience with the cops in this town,” Elio said. “They are just concerned about it becoming some kind of mob. Something bad is bound to happen with a bunch of drunk people and zombies walking around.”

To appease police, Elio and his troupe of zombie dancers have agreed to perform at two separate locations on Halloween night.

The first performance will be at 9 p.m. in the gravel parking lot next to the Fairhaven Village Green. The second will be at at 9:45 p.m. at the Maritime Heritage Park amphitheater near downtown.

Elio and a group of 30 zombie friends, including the King of Pop himself, portrayed by Matt Smiley, 25, have been meeting every Tuesday in the parking lot next to the Depot Market to practice.

Elio said the new locations are expected to improve both sound and visibility for the event.

“Last year, we literally had the song playing on my friend’s P.A. system in the back of a van behind Starbucks,” Elio said.

This year, Boogie Universal ARTS Collective, an organization that creates events seeking to showcase the Bellingham community, is providing a sound system. Also, the later performance will take place on the elevated staircase of the park’s amphitheater, so spectators on the grass will be able to see all the dancers.  

Elio and fellow zombie Della Plaster, 33, were asked to teach a “Thriller” class, which they have done every Friday in October at the Bellingham Tennis Club and Fairhaven Fitness.

The fitness center suggested a $50 donation per person for the four-week session, with all proceeds going to the Blue Skies for Children charity of Whatcom and Skagit counties.
Western alumna Lisa Crosier, 39, and friend Alice-Marie Carr, 40, both members of the class, said they are anxiously awaiting Saturday’s performances.  

“We grew up in the 80s, so it was a childhood dance,” Carr said. “It’s exciting to finally learn it.”

The women have been attending the class with their daughters, Abby Carr and Anna Crosier, both 11.

A dress rehearsal was held Tuesday evening from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Maritime Heritage Park. This was the first time the Fairhaven and downtown groups had performed together.

“This is a pretty good turnout [for the rehearsal] right now,” Elio said. “By nine-ish there should be about 60 people. And I’m happy with that. I think that number will fit [at the park] nicely.”  

Jen Redmond, 25, who was the coffee lady on Western’s Vendors Row last year, said she got involved because she used to live with Elio and Smiley.

“Whether I wanted to be or not, I was involved,” Redmond said. “But I wanted to be.”

Redmond said she threw away her zombie-bride dress while cleaning out her closet after last year’s performance. When she heard of Jackson’s untimely death, she ran to Value Village and bought a new white lace wedding dress and veil.

While Smiley said his lips are sealed as to whether or not a tribute to Jackson will be incorporated into this year’s show, Elio hinted, “there might be a little something at the end of the performance.”

The park, which was reserved by Elio from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., will feature performances by local band The Lumpkins and DJ Velveteen in addition to the dance.

 

The man who plays Michael

In the past year, Matt Smiley, 25, has taken his role as Michael Jackson to the next level. Not only does he dress the part, he has become the “Man in the Mirror.”

The Western Front: When was the first time you dressed up as Michael Jackson?
Matt Smiley: Halloween last year. I didn’t want to be Michael at first—I just wanted to participate. But Liam asked if I would do it, and it kind of just progressed from there. 

WF: I understand that you have since performed the number several times in the last year. How many times?
Smiley: We have probably done about 10 organized performances. But after every Tuesday practice a group of us like to go to The Beaver [Inn] in full costume and hang out. You get a couple of drinks in us, and we will do the whole dance over and over.

WF: What is your favorite dance move from the Thriller dance?
Smiley: There is this one part where we do a 180-[degree] turn, and our backs are facing the audience, and one of our hands is in the air. And Mike J does this motion, like an air guitar, and swings his hips into this small move.

WF: Which has been your favorite Thriller performance up until this point?
Smiley: There was one time last year, a few days after Halloween, when I was walking with another zombie named Jen. So we were walking past The Copper Hog in full costume, and there was only one group of people in the entire restaurant and they are sitting at the table against the front window. And we just stood there and stared at them. And they stared at us. And we stared back. Then Jen and I counted—1, 2, 3, 4—and did the whole dance right in front of the window. And they went crazy.

WF: Are you a Jackson fan?
Smiley: I think he’s pretty cool. As we all know, he has had some questionable practices in his life. But I respect him musically. He is unquestionably a really talented guy.

WF: Do you think that there will be a lot of people dressed as Jackson for Halloween this year?
Smiley: For my ego’s sake, I hope not.  It’s the one cool thing I do that makes me stick out. But they will know and I will know who the real impersonator is.

WF: How did people react when a group of you spontaneously performed the day of Jackson’s death?
Smiley: It was really weird. People would come up to me while I was dressed up as him and say, ‘I’m really sorry about what happened to you today,’ and I wanted to be like, ‘you know that I am just a guy dressed up like Michael Jackson. I’m not actually him!’

WF: Do you ever wear your Jackson outfit just for the fun of it?
Smiley: Yeah. If you’re Michael Jackson, you might as well milk it.

WF: Is this going to be an annual event?
Smiley: I want to keep doing it. I would love to do it for a couple of more years and then pass it on. And then when I am older, and if I am still living in Bellingham, I want to be able to come downtown and watch other people perform it. I hope it becomes some kind of Bellingham tradition. But I wish they would give us the intersection [of Holly Street and Railroad Avenue].

‘Zombifying’ your wardrobe:

advice from Liam Elio and Matt Smiley

-Cut up an old suit or formal dress with scissors.

-Use your outfit to clean your car engine… grease is the best!

-Don’t be afraid to spill food and drink on yourself.

-Roll around in dirt.

-After applying your zombie makeup, wipe excess on your outfit.

-Put your outfit in a pile and throw it in the back of your closet.

-Don’t wash it. Remember, no one ever saw a clean zombie!
 

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