It was all about the mask, or masque in Edgar Allan Poe terms, for "The Party & the Pendulum: A Poe Masquerade," the third-annual costume party thrown by the Young Defenders of the Maryland Historical Society.
The majority of 20 and 30-somethings who turned out at the Society for the $75-a-ticket bash got into the spirit, sporting a wide variety of masks.
"It adds mystery," Mackenzie Pfeiffer, a Community College of Baltimore County student, said about the appeal of the accessory.
"There's actually another person here with my mask, but we've made amends and become friends," Ashley Augustine, a Young Defenders committee member, said about her mask that sprouted cutout wings rising a good foot above her head.
William Dowling, Maryland steeplechase trainer, went all out with a black Batman mask, top hat, and a faux crow sitting on his shoulder.
"It's not a crow, it's a Raven," he insisted with a laugh. "I'm a Ravens fan. So, his name is Ray Lewis."
Chandler Denison, Young Defenders chair, took on a man-in-the-moon persona in a crescent-shaped mask. Meanwhile, his Young Defenders committee colleague Katie Leishear was simply over the moon with the evening's turnout of some 350 guests.
"We sold out three weeks ago," she said gleefully.
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