Woodward Nightmare Cruise Proposed on Short Notice for Halloween Weekend

The first Woodward Nightmare Cruise for ugly cars is planned next Saturday night as a pre-Halloween event inspired by a Facebook discussion this past week.

One commenter, Alan Madeleine of Ferndale, created a poster and Facebook page for an 8 p.m.-midnight Nightmare Cruise on Oct. 29, on Woodward Avenue in Huntington Woods, Berkley, Royal Oak and Ferndale.

Cruisers in less-than-pristine vehicles – "hoopties and beaters" – are invited to roll from Eight Mile Road to 13 Mile Road. "Let's see what the interest is," Madeleine said Saturday afternoon, adding: "Make sure your car is road-legal, though."

He'll drive a 1998 Toyota Corolla with 91,000 miles, bought this year at Second Chance Auto Sales on West Eight Mile. "It has a rusted blue body and mismatched black hood," Madeleine said during a phone interview.

At this point, it's an idea in search of a flash mob-style crowd – though the enthusiasm is high-octane. Sally Schroeder of Berkley posted that she and her children "will put some monsters in the car and drive down in our funny little Fiat."

An offhand suggestion by Susan Whitall, a Detroit News culture and entertainment writer posting on her own page, took off faster than a vintage muscle car.

"They should have a Nightmare Cruise the night before (Woodward Dream Cruise) with all these dreaded cars for charity or something," the journalist mused Wednesday amid comments about the Pacer, Gremlin, Matador, Dart, Duster and other best-forgotten vehicles.

Madeleine saw potential for a timelier stunt. "The idea for a Nightmare Cruise is actually brilliant – if you promoted that right, say Halloween weekend, hmm," he responded. "It's a terrific idea. Trademark it immediately."

No one has gone that far, but word began spreading online within 24 hours of Whitall's brainstorm. "It's all Alan, not me," she confirms.

Madeleine, 54, is a professional actor appearing Nov. 4-27 in a West Bloomfield adaptation The Odd Couple.

He and Whitall originally met at Creem, a legendary national music magazine based in Birmingham where she was a writer and top editor from 1976-83 and he wrote reviews and says he served as an associate editor in 1978-79.

Back then he drove a 1972 Mercury Monterey Brougham that "handled around corners like a battleship." Whitall, a Birmingham native, is the , a critically praised biography of late Detroit singer Little Willie John that was published last June in London and New York.   

If the turnout is encouraging, Madeleine says he may seek sponsors and do more promotion next year. "Wouldn't it be funny if that's what you ended up being remembered for," he joked to Whitall online.