Haunt pursuit

With the advent of October come brightly colored leaves, warm sweaters, and a farewell to summer leisure. But for the gay community, it also brings one of the most popular holidays of the year, Halloween. Gay culture in particular revels in creative costume, from simple cross-dressing to elaborate garb worthy of Hollywood itself. Indeed, some people believe that today's popularity of Halloween among adults was started by gay culture itself.

For the nudist or exhibitionist, Halloween also provides an opportunity to appear in public in less clothing than society would normally demand, to see how much skin one can show or how provocative one can be. For adults, Halloween candy has been replaced with eye candy.

A few years back I experimented with something of a gladiator look. Antiquarians will point out the anachronisms, including, for example, a Spartan helmet instead of one befitting a Roman gladiator. But of course I was more interested in making history than teaching it.

With the aid of friend and photographer Andrew Caldwell, I showed off my minimal costume in his studio, on the street, and at a couple of gay bars, winning the "sexiest costume" prize at one of them. Seattle drag queen Sylvia O'Stayformore (dressed in a flawless Star Trek uniform) presented me with the prize package.

It's all recorded in this month's photo set Load Warrior, now available in our photos department. Check it out. Then drop us a line below telling us what your sexiest costume was — or will be.