A Halloween haunting of Itaewon

William Humphreys, a.k.a. the Grim Reaper, found Waldo in Itaewon, Seoul, on Halloween last Friday. By Moon Gwang-lip

William Humphreys, a 31-year-old Briton, was among several Grim Reapers who haunted the streets on an evening louder and more peculiar than usual in Itaewon, Seoul, last Friday.

It was Halloween, and all the ghosts and ghouls came out to celebrate.

Humphreys had come in all the way from Asan, South Chungcheong Province. The English teacher made the trek to the big city to show off his handcrafted costume.

“Halloween is an opportunity for me to show that I can do something,” said Humphreys, brandishing his scythe.

“I made this. It’s not that amazing, but it’s something I can do,” he said.

Many restaurants, bars and clubs in Itaewon held special Halloween events, and the festive mood flowed out onto the streets, where a mixed bag of creatures crept and crawled.

Ham Kyung-jun, a college student, was on his way to a club with two friends, all clad in goblin masks.

“I love Halloween,” Ham said through the latex.

“There’s nothing like Halloween in Korea,” he said. “It’s great to be able to become a totally different thing and have fun with all kinds of different people.”

Ham Kyung-jun, center, and his two friends were dressed to stress in Itaewon last Friday. By Moon Gwang-lip

Park Jeong-soo, 41, is a street vendor who usually sells accessories near an exit of the Itaewon subway station. On Friday, he had switched his usual wares for Halloween masks. They were selling like hotcakes.

“I’ve sold lots of masks, almost half to foreigners and half to Koreans,” Park said. “I’ve sold masks here for several Halloweens, but they’re selling best tonight.”

Ahn Dong-seop, a small business owner in Seoul, bought a mask of U.S. President George W. Bush from Park.

Asked why he chose it, he shrugged, saying, “I didn’t have much choice. There aren’t that many left.”

But less popular than the Bush masks, however, were masks of Lee Myung-bak, the incumbent Korean president, whose appeal has gone into a tailspin over the past few months.

Park said he had slashed the prices on the Lee masks, but still had no takers.

“It looks like I made a terrible choice tonight,” he said.

The odd Korean passed by costumed or masked, but Humphreys said that they were the exception to the rule. The majority of Koreans came as spectators, he said.

“Korean people just come and watch, mostly just watch,” he said.

“But Korean culture has a lot of interesting folk [characters]. So they could dress up like them. Anything is O.K.”

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]