Halloween plans a fright for neighbors

It was going to be a Halloween party like no other: live music and invitations for adventurous souls willing to test the boundaries of costume and bare skin.

Then, like any good horror story, the ax fell.

The "Skinful Halloween" bash that tempted guests to go "as nude as you dare" in the name of charity has been called off just days before the party was to start.

Organizer Brian King called the effort a monumental headache that simply got out of hand, while area James Island residents are relieved that a potentially R-rated theme party of beer, bands and overnight camping won't unfold nearby.

The event was scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. Saturday on the grounds of an isolated old farm at the end of Joe Rivers Road, off Fort Johnson Road, in residential James Island.

King had been holding smaller Halloween bashes for the past 10 years out of his home in nearby Riverland Terrace. But this year, he wanted to go bigger, throwing a $25 per person fundraiser to benefit AIDS orphans in Ghana.

King notified Charleston County officials of his plans, then proceeded to book five music bands and rent an assortment of tents to house the party and contain the noise. Tickets were to be sold at the gate.

He said it took $26,000 to get the effort going.

But last week, when residents and officials from the town of James Island heard what King was doing, it triggered an uproar akin to a pack of pitchfork-toting villagers chasing Frankenstein's monster.

The "nude as you dare" tag was one concern, but so was the advertised shuttle service from the Buffalo South parking lot on Folly Road into their quiet residential streets.

"They're asking people to wear as few clothes as they can," said Dell Wood neighborhood resident Maryann Gigis. "We shouldn't have something like this in our little neighborhood."

Roy DeHaven, a planning department official for the town of James Island, said the party's theme didn't conform to any James Island regulations, including the prohibition on burlesque shows in residential areas. There was no way the town would issue any permit for the event, he said Monday.

King said the last thing he wanted to do was make anyone angry. He called the party off at the farm site but is making an effort to find an alternate location to revive it.

"If I would have ever known this would have been that much of a disturbance and inconvenience to that neighborhood, I would never have tried this there," he said.

The risque nature of the party's advertising was more of an adult joke than anything that residents should be concerned about, King added. Most of his previous party guests were in the 30- to 50-year-old range.

"All of that stuff has been blown out of proportion," he said. "It's not an orgy. It could not have been as crazy as everyone thinks."

Reach Schuyler Kropf at skropf@postandcourier.com or 937-5551.