By Lydia McAllister
The Vampire Ball was held at the Court of Deluna event space in downtown Pensacola on Saturday Oct. 4. The spacious location and extravagant decorations encouraged the attendees to embrace the fantastic experience of a vampiric ball. The venue had an entrance gate that accepted in the macabre guests and invited them into the main ballroom which had a bar, dancefloor, and dazzling sections for photos. Beyond this main room were two others, each with their own DJ, and space for dancing amid the respective ghoulish theme of the rooms. Back out to the courtyard led these rooms to where the vendors and live music laid for their enjoyment and past even the band was sprawling patio furniture for guests to rest their feet from the dancing before starting the magnificent cycle of spaces again.
The Vampire Ball hosted many performers, local businesses, and artists around the venue, one of these businesses was Perfect Day Books who present themselves as a “nomadic bookstore on wheels” (via their instagram). The owners, Hannah Burns and Karis Ederer first attended The Vampire Ball as patrons last year and returned as vendors because of Hannah’s special interest in Vampire media. Hannah had “so many vampire books,” and by glancing around the mobile bookstore, it was clear that the selection of books they carried had been especially curated for this event. The bookstore carries new and used books, like the obvious and beloved Twilight book series as well as Carmilla and many more books about the supernatural and occult, as well as many LGBTQ+ stories and books that have been banned for their content. The owners expressed a passion in supporting new writers entering the publishing industry and spoke about how they also sold Zines. Perfect Day Books is not a stationary business but they do have a booth at Jitterbug Beverage Co. and can be found on Instagram.
Additionally, at this romantic and dark event, the party goers all committed to the theme. One such attendee is Taylor Foxhall who was dressed as a demonic nun. Taylor is a Pensacola State College student who loves the occult and is also a drag performer known as Vixen Valentine. Vixen recently performed at Jitterbug Beverage Co.’s Twilight drag night as Alice from the book series. All around the event, people like Taylor were sharing their love for both specific characters and stories with vampirism and appreciating the chance to dance through the night in costumes surrounded by such a mirage of eerie aesthetic cohesion.
Our own editor-in-chief Arren mentioned how this experience reminded them of their love for vampire media like Netflix’s Castlevania, AMC’s Interview With A Vampire, and the recent vampiric movie of the summer, Sinners. Arren has known about this event for roughly a month and when
asked about their expectations for this long awaited event, they said it exceeded expectations with the extent of the venue and the prevalent feeling of fun. Justice, another member of The Corsair writing team, expressed how they “really love the oddities and inclusivity” seen in both the performers and crowd at the Vampire Ball.
Now that we are in the season for nightmarish fun, it is good to see so many indulge in a chilling event. Look for upcoming events at the Court of Deluna via their Instagram to indulge in your wildest dreams.
