Two weekends ago we went to a Halloween-themed flea market at Now That’s Class in Cleveland. It’s in an area of Cleveland that runs together with Lakewood and it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. The culture and the neighborhood reflect this congregation of space. Earlier this year we made our first visit to this space to see the Screaming Females. It’s small and while extremely interesting, space is tight. The venue is great for concerts – not so great for browsing a flea market selection.

After we parked the car we spotted a Resident Evil-themed crossover. It was even complete enough to blood splatter the rear bumper. Outside were booths carrying a large range of custom flasks, another was selling gothic dresses, and a third was selling masks and custom artwork repurposed from Goodwill paintings. Walking into the dark space we were greeted by someone handing out free reusable totes. Xie and Carebear each took a bag, I opted to pass. These bags are still sitting on the rear window deck of my car. Inside we made it through psychics giving readings in the side booths. They all looked the part and the patrons seemed deeply invested in their futures. The next couple of booths sells baked goods with Halloween themes. We pushed through the crowd that was shopping and consuming their favorite libations to get to the next room which held the stage.

Waiting our turn as people made it through the short tight hallway felt like being in a sea of people. You would think that a band was playing and you were vying for the chance to get to the front of the stage. In different areas, you found pockets of freedom from the crowd. These were spots you get to stretch your arms and not hit anyone, but not much more space than that. These spots actually were few and far between.

We went around the room counterclockwise. The first booth was handmade decorations. There was a coffin-shaped end table that caught Xie’s eye. It was roughly made and had a glass top. Beneath the glass were pictures of different horror icons (Freddy, Jason, Pennywise, etc.). They wanted 70.00 for the table and we were considering it. We wanted to continue browsing first before committing to anything. The next booth was a guy in a gorilla mask selling B-Movies. I’m not sure if these were films he made himself or if they were something to MST3k.

The next booth had homemade gothic jewelry. There were some interesting pieces, but nothing that jumped out as a purchase. The last booth in the half-circle mostly focused on buttons and a couple of other things. Since the early ’90s have ended, I’m not a big button wearer. I think the last time I wore a significant amount of buttons was on my varsity jacket. We are over twenty years away from that being worn more than once here are there for the hell of it. Needless to say, we didn’t buy anything there. But, they did have a few interesting buttons for those that keep them in fashion rotation.

The next booth we ran across was a taxidermy booth. They had to have at least 50 small animals or skeletons on display. I know there is a subset of people that enjoy this, but I don’t get it. I have no idea about prices or what items like those are even worth. They did not seem to be doing a quick turnover of inventory. Even in this crowd, it seemed to have limited appeal.

On the stage was a vendor selling masks, posters, and old magazines. You would think that the most common type of magazines would be Fangoria or Starlog. Magazines that specialize in horror or special effects would do well for you. There were rows and rows of Playboys though. They were in long cartons and a mass collection from someone long ago. I guess from growing up and being a regular visitor at Jamie’s Flea Market for comic books, I should be used to this sight. It just felt a bit out of place in the limited room that made up this flea market.

I made a comment to Xie that I wasn’t going to climb up on the stage. I believe I said I was too old to bother. The guy running a lower booth (I don’t know if it was the same vendor or not since it ran together) said he understood. We weren’t as young as we once were. For me though, it was mostly because nothing looked that appealing to dig through. This guy then proceeded to try to sell me 1/8 of a coffin. It literally was the end of a coffin cut off. I politely declined, but he did offer to help me carry it out. Time to move along.

At this point, we were back waiting for a space to make it out through the narrow hallway again. To make matters worse there was a narrow stairwell in the middle of the hallway with more vendors downstairs. It was a lesson in patience to wait for a break in the hallway and then a break in people coming up the stairs to make it down.

There were about 5-6 vendors downstairs. We continued our flow of counter-clockwise through the room. The first vendor had Halloween-based crafts. There was knitting and painting porcelain. The big thing was about 2-3 creepy dolls. Xie has wanted to get into creepy doll collecting for a while now. Most of the time we almost purchase them, they are just old and gothic dolls that have something off about them. These dolls however were repainted and dyed up to be even creepier. We asked for the price (40.00 each) and admired them. We then moved to the next booth.

We were torn at this point. Coffin table or Creepy Doll, we had no reason to buy both. Xie decides to go with the purchase of the creepy doll. We went back to the booth and looked at the three. When we purchased her they gave us a decent black tote bag with a skull screen printed on it. It was a nice bonus to the purchase. We finally had a creepy doll in the house to call our own.

Since we had a purchase none of the remaining vendors in the basement stood out so much. There was a guy selling VHS tapes and the Star Wars collection caught my eye – but I already own the same collection. We managed to slowly make our way out of the place. If it hadn’t been so crowded we might have stopped for a drink. The crowd however was a bit much to try to stand around and hang out. On another note though, I did see someone actually taking that 1/8 coffin out to their car. I guess that guy finally did make his sale.

We have shown it off to a few people. Some love it, some don’t see the point, and others thought we paid too much. Everyone has a unique feel and identity they get from it. No one has hated it, but I’m sure there are people out there with a fear of creepy dolls. We are lucky that our son is not afraid of the doll. He is still at the age where things that go bump in the night could be a major monster trying to devour the family. However, he states he likes the doll. It has been placed on a shelf overlooking our dinner table. It sits next to Xie’s Cabbage Kid she bought a few years ago. Who knows maybe the Cabbage Patch Kid will eventually adopt the goth creepy look also.