CHAPEL HILL - Mischief was afoot last night as costumed coeds poured into Chapel Hill's Franklin Street, engaging in bacchanalian carousing, lubricated with a liberal deluge of drinks.
Captain Jack Sparrow escorted an inebriated nun while a group dressed as the Duke lacrosse team, accompanied by scantily-clad girls, headed inside frat houses.
These costumed revelers were joined by as many as 75,000 Halloween partygoers in Chapel Hill while policemen-the real kind-looked for signs of trouble.
The October festivities, dubbed the "biggest party in the state," have grown larger every year since their inception in the 1980s.
Though the event has some merchants smacking their lips in werewolf-like anticipation, others bray and complain about post-party costs and repairs. And with a crowd this size, a few policemen had to take to their horses to keep some semblance of peace.
Some undergraduates also complained that bars, like Spanky's, were too strict in enforcing drinking age laws.
A throng of pirates cried, "Where's the rum?" but most students seemed to find their entertainment just fine, and with Alcohol Law Enforcement agents noticeably absent, it was a celebration largely without fear of fielding questions about drinking.
For Duke students who had heard urban legends about "Chapel Thrill," the traditional Halloween sweet tooth was satiated by ample eye candy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's hospitable frat row.
"I really wanted to come because it's my first year here and they say you have to come at least once," freshman Emily Robertson said. "It's still early in the night, but it definitely looks like it will live up to it's reputation."
The Franklin Street experience is an education in drifting with the crowd and following friends and rumor, haunting Chapel Hill until the wee hours.
Its crowds, its bawdiness and its scene are not for everyone, but on Halloween, it at least feels like everyone is there.
"I came because all my friends were coming and I heard it was fun," freshman Sterling Cross said. "It's crowded, but it isn't as crazy as everyone says it is."
With the exception of a few minor scuffles and an assortment of confiscated tridents, beer bongs and shepherds' staffs, the holiday on Franklin seemed to go off without a hitch.
And although some opted for a more low-key Halloween in their dorms or at George's Garage, dozens of cabs full of Dukies pulled up to the University's rival school.
Hoping to engage in a devilish free-for-all, many were pleased by their off-campus experience.
"Going to C-Hill is probably the most ballinest thing you can do for Halloween," freshman Corbin Page said.
In the morning, the masks will come off, the crowds will thin and the costumed party-goers who bring forth their inner monsters will tuck their disguises away.
But perhaps as those who went to Franklin Street last night climb aboard packed C-1s, they'll be reminded of roaming the streets of Chapel Hill with werewolves, fairies and drunken nurses.?
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