If you hate gay Halloween, then the last place you wanted to be was at the Cursed Amulet, a costume party hosted by Problemista and Fantasmas star Julio Torres, on Thursday. Produced by Disco Nap and held at Elsewhere in Brooklyn, Torres’s event proved to be an exceedingly kooky and spooky way to spend Halloween. While Heidi Klum was uptown at the Hard Rock Hotel dressed as a photorealistic ET at her famous Halloween party, Torres was taking over Brooklyn in a bizarre costume all his own.
“I am a rat getting married,” Torres told Vanity Fair. “I am a rat on her special day. She’s a rat who’s done searching.” The groom, he excitedly told me, was a big roll of toilet paper, which he carried with him for most of the night. Standing beside him was Barbie star Hari Nef, with fleshy horns attached to her head. “I’m horny,” she quipped. “Dress for the job you want.”
Jeremy O. Harris and Whitney PeakArin Sang-urai
Brooklyn’s finest came out to party with Torres and his cohosts, including Oh, Mary’s James Scully, playwright Jeremy O. Harris, and Ziwe, dressed as a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. “I love Julio, I love his work,” said Ziwe, on cohosting the party. “Whenever Julio calls me, I pick up the phone and I say yes.”
James Scully and guestArin Sang-urai
Greta TitelmanArin Sang-urai
Torres’s friend and frequent collaborator Greta Titelman showed up as a Playboy bunny—a costume some might associate with straight culture. “I’ve always wanted to be a Playboy bunny, and I thought, Where can I be safe and be a Playboy bunny?” Titelman said. “Where will I not get harassed? It is Julio Torres’s Halloween party, babe.” Comedian and The Lost City star Patti Harrison had one of the scariest costumes of the night, dressed as Michael Jackson in 2002 when he dangled his infant son, Blanket, over a hotel balcony in Paris. “I feel…dropped-in,” she said. “I feel more natural this way. My dysphoria is gone.”
Patti HarrisonArin Sang-urai
In the words of Stefon, this party truly had everything. Upstairs, nightlife mainstay Kevin Carpet was rolled up, on the floor, and ready to be walked on. The costumes, of course, did not disappoint. Dicks: The Musical star Aaron Jackson was serving sexy No-Face from the film Spirited Away, while his Dicks costar Josh Sharp was a contestant on the beloved Nickelodeon competition show Legends of the Hidden Temple. Multiple Challengers trios mingled with Wicked Elphabas and Glindas and in some cases making out with a few angel-winged Olivers from Saltburn (fully clothed, mind you).
Over the course of the night, performers and DJs, including Charlene and Ty Sunderland, took the stage and spun well past 2 a.m. for the costumed crowd. At midnight a costume competition began, hosted by Fire Island and Fantasmas star Tomás Matos. Against stiff competition from the likes of a stoplight and a table with shrimp cocktail, a winner emerged in the form of a photorealistic, humongous cockroach. “A giant cockroach was the scariest I could think of,” said the winner, shortly before the competition. But not even award-winning vermin could kill the vibes at the Cursed Amulet. Long live gay Halloween.
