LAist is part of Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), a member-supported public media network. Hear our news on-air at our partner site:
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
It wouldn't be Halloween without at least one costume that gets us up in arms and declaring it "too soon."
After the news broke of the driver whose body was ejected onto a freeway sign on Friday morning, one Angeleno immediately found inspiration. "I read the headline and presumed it was an intensely macabre prank. It shocked me immediately," the costume wearer, who only wants to be identified as Chris, told LAist. "I immediately thought it encompassed a great costume concept: disturbing, relevant, and unique."
Although he was aware many would consider it to be in poor taste, he wore it two Halloween parties and got different responses. "The first was an industry function, and those who understood the reference were appalled and sickened, however, it was more of a 'I hate myself for laughing' reflex," he explains. "At a house party, I was confronted by several people who felt it was an insensitive gesture. I beat those people up."
This wasn't his first flirtation with a Halloween costume in supposed poor taste. "Years ago, when JFK Jr. died, I made an airplane propeller out of styrofoam, and lodged it into my abdomen, splattering my face in fake blood," says Chris.
"Most of my friends thought it to be in bad taste, though they agreed I'm equally as handsome."