# All things Halloween **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 7, 2005, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119 "2005-10-07T00:00:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/21 "2005-10-10T14:37:10Z")
Is Halloween a proper holiday in the US - i.e. are the banks open? I have always hated the idea of celebrating Halloween because it detracts from my birthday. And bloody kids over here have started “trick-or-treating” - whatever that is supposed to be\*. Luckily I live in a first floor flat (that’s a 2nd floor flat to Americans) so I can ignore them if they ring my bell. I’ll probably be down the boozer anyway. Incidentally, the Irish for Halloween is **Oiche Shamhna** , pronounced something like “ee-huh how-na” (yes: Irish is written oddly). It’s the day before Samhain, which just means November. - I do know what it means, but I don’t really want to. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/22 "2005-10-10T14:55:04Z")
> [@seosamh](#): > > Is Halloween a proper holiday in the US - i.e. are the banks open? > > I have always hated the idea of celebrating Halloween because it detracts from my birthday. And bloody kids over here have started “trick-or-treating” - whatever that is supposed to be\*. Luckily I live in a first floor flat (that’s a 2nd floor flat to Americans) so I can ignore them if they ring my bell. I’ll probably be down the boozer anyway. > > Incidentally, the Irish for Halloween is **Oiche Shamhna** , pronounced something like “ee-huh how-na” (yes: Irish is written oddly). It’s the day before Samhain, which just means November. We don’t really have bank holidays like you; I have no idea if banks close on holidays or not. But everybody goes to school and work on Halloween–frequently a school will have a costume parade during the day or something. It’s not a day off. Is your birthday the same as mine then? I’ve always loved having a Halloween birthday–cake and candy all at once! It did make birthday parties tricky, but all in all it’s a good deal IMO. But hang on, the book my daughter and I just read about Ireland showed kids trick-or-treating like it was a tradition! Isn’t it common there, or did our book _lie_ to us?!? ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/23 "2005-10-10T17:48:03Z")
U.S. banks are open on Halloween, though they discourage customers from wearing masks on the premises. 🙂 The first Halloween my husband and I spent together was the day he brought me home from the hospital after I nearly died of viral pneumonia. We rented some “scary” movies (_Them!_, _The Tingler_, and _Poltergeist_) and I made sure to rest and take my antibiotics. Now every year we celebrate my not dying by watching generally un-scary horror movies and eating snacks. We don’t get any trick-or-treaters in our apartment complex, so we just eat candy on our own. I usually wear some half-assed costume to work, but I don’t put too much effort into that anymore. When we have kids I imagine I’ll get back into the swing of things! ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/24 "2005-10-10T18:35:44Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > We don’t really have bank holidays like you; I have no idea if banks close on holidays or not. They do close for holidays like Memorial Day, Labor Day, or Thanksgiving. > [@](#): > > But everybody goes to school and work on Halloween–frequently a school will have a costume parade during the day or something. It’s not a day off. Some of us wear our costumes to work on Halloween. I was kind of bummed that Halloween fell on a weekend last year, because it meant I didn’t get to do that. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/25 "2005-10-10T20:01:11Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > The “brain” shrimp dip- does anyone have an idea for something that might work that isn’t so… fishy? Maybe a cheese? Tomato? Anything? Most people aren’t big on the seafood, so an alternative would be awesome. What about a taco dip mixed with refried beans? Basically taco seasoning, cream cheese, softened, and a can of refried beans. Might be more brown than grey, but iit’d work. > [@](#): > > My other thing: I’m trying to find a costume. I have had a great idea for the last few years, but I am not entirely sure how to execute it. What I am thinking is: get a standard pilgrim outfit from the Halloween store, find someone who can sew to “skank it up” some (maybe lift the front hem to above the knee, make a low cut neckline that I can wear a corset under, etc), then sew a bright, red A on the front. This is a great idea in theory, but I simply am not sure how to get it done. Something like [this?](http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p15174928?sourceid=3) A fabric store will have an applique A you can stitch on. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/26 "2005-10-10T20:18:56Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > What about a taco dip mixed with refried beans? Basically taco seasoning, cream cheese, softened, and a can of refried beans. Might be more brown than grey, but iit’d work. Heh. I’ve made a concoction very similar to this many times and thought, “This looks disgusting but tastes delicious!” I guess it’s perfect as a substitute for “brain dip.” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/27 "2005-10-10T20:50:37Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Something like [this?](http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p15174928?sourceid=3) A fabric store will have an applique A you can stitch on. Yeah, but it will be a boring A–unless your fabric store is exceptionally cool. If a fancy blackletter A is wanted, I’d trace a good one and then get some fusible web at the fabric store (they can show you what it is, and it comes with instructions). Basically it’s a sheet of meltable glue that you put on the back of your red fabric, cut the shape out, and iron it down. Simple as can be! ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/28 "2005-10-10T21:36:31Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > If a fancy blackletter A is wanted, I’d trace a good one and then get some fusible web at the fabric store (they can show you what it is, and it comes with instructions). Basically it’s a sheet of meltable glue that you put on the back of your red fabric, cut the shape out, and iron it down. Simple as can be! Similar idea, but an iron-on transfer might work, too. You could print out an “A” in a blackletter font and iron it to the front of the dress. BTW, **dangermom** , that quilt is awesome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Giant\_Spongess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/94ad74/32.png) [@Giant\_Spongess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giant_Spongess)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/29 "2005-10-10T21:46:41Z")
Another Halloween food! I had a “dirt cup” today–chocolate pudding, crushed oreos, and gummi worms. Man, that brought me back. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/30 "2005-10-10T22:03:27Z")
> [@GrahamWellington](#): > > I’d love to get a great Halloween music CD if I knew of one. Several years ago I visited a Halloween website that had the coolest music, a “swooooshing” type of sound using stringed instruments (I think), and the effect was like the very air was haunted. I tried to relocate the site in order to email them to learn which CD it was, but I had no luck finding it. Last year I bought a CD with nothing but scary howls and screams and wind rushing in the background - I found it at a 99 Cent store (or the Dollar Store). Check there…they might have them out already. I had it playing on Halloween and had the speakers pointed out through the screen windows in the upstairs, darkenend bedroom. It gave the house a nice creepy feel for the people passing by. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/31 "2005-10-10T22:54:03Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > What about a taco dip mixed with refried beans? Basically taco seasoning, cream cheese, softened, and a can of refried beans. Might be more brown than grey, but iit’d work. > Something like [this?](http://www.shop.com/op/aprod-p15174928?sourceid=3) A fabric store will have an applique A you can stitch on. Ah yes! I like the bean dip idea! That will be perfect, actually. The pilgrim outfit is lovely, but not on [me](http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0UQCFAnIYnOqo*Q5ALVOQJw5552v!M9tsuWV9SYlS4F17yThT9ixkGEQOOSYlv!AqO36MXYDsileSppYV6*mZqYqmdSsA8j8AVPtDVD*sT314F1nO!P95s9KGw8HmiXuR/Picture%200012.jpg?dc=4675536662089111444) (In other words, I’d rather not scare small children with my large, pale, gut that has never seen the light of day ;)). If I followed through, I would probably do something like take a normal pilgrim dress, slut up the chest area, and wear a super push up. Sewing an A would be the easy part. Then again, in the book, didn’t it say that she dressed differently from all of the women? I could probably get away with a victorian looking dress. Thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2005, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/32 "2005-10-10T23:29:08Z")
> [@dangermom](#): > > Is your birthday the same as mine then? I’ve always loved having a Halloween birthday–cake and candy all at once! It did make birthday parties tricky, but all in all it’s a good deal IMO. > > But hang on, the book my daughter and I just read about Ireland showed kids trick-or-treating like it was a tradition! Isn’t it common there, or did our book _lie_ to us?!? Yes: I was born on October 31st, 46 years ago. I am a child of the 50’s - just. Irish kids trick-or-treating is a modern phenomenon, in imitation of what goes on in the US. The traditional thing on Halloween in Ireland is for the family to have a barm brack (in Irish _báirín breac_), a sort of rich fruitcake. Occasionally, a “gold” ring is placed within, in the same way as the British put a 3d bit into the Christmas pudding. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/33 "2005-10-11T01:33:53Z")
I’ve seen some creative costumes over the last couple of years. One of my students came wearing a giant yellow smiley-face mask, blue jeans, red flannel shirt and a backpack with skillet and canteen and bedroll. She was a happy camper. And one of the guys at work came in wearing a crown and a whole bunch of zippers hanging from his arms and legs. He was the Lord of the Flies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/34 "2005-10-11T08:03:59Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > And one of the guys at work came in wearing a crown and a whole bunch of zippers hanging from his arms and legs. He was the Lord of the Flies. 😃 That is sheer brilliance. My best costume was The Angel of the House: June Cleaver hair and pearls and basic angel outfit with a toilet brush and a pair of Playtex rubber gloves tucked into the belt. I got trashed on Stag beer and got into a deep-throating contest (using beer bottles) with a drag queen. She won. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/35 "2005-10-11T14:40:10Z")
Ahhh, Halloween, bestest of all holidays. Seriously, I love Halloween. Costumes, candy, the works. I’m trying to convince some people I know to hold their party on the Friday before Halloween. so I can attend, rasther than the Thursday before. I still don’t know what I’m going to do for a costume. Last year I just “borrowed” some scrubs, a hair cap, and a mask and smeared fake blood all over them. I also found out that it is quite possible to drink beer _through_ a surgical mask. 😃 The year before that I was Captain N: The Gamemaster. This year I was thinknig a couple of choices: 1. An “old-timey” photographer, circa the Great Depression. I would just need a grey fedora, a white card to write “Press” on to stuff into it, those frilly black arm band thigs I seem to think people back then wore, and an old-style camera. My plan is to (camera collecters and afficiandos look away) rip out the insides and somehow put my digital camera in there, and get the original button from the old camera to work on my digital one. I would go around saying, “What a scoop!” and snap a picture. 😛 2. One of “The Warriors,” you know…the cult-classic film from the late 70’s? I’d have to look into what I need, but at the very least, i know I need a leather vest. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/36 "2005-10-11T15:12:47Z")
My best costume was probably when I was a gene fragment. I wore a black catsuit and made a lattice of colored ribbons that spiraled out along my arms and legs. It was cool. ---
**Author:** ![Tamarin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tamarin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamarin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/37 "2005-10-11T17:21:24Z")
This year I am going to a Halloween party where the guests have been asked to write an obituary and then come dressed related to how they died. I’ve decided to be a box of cereal with a knife sticking out of it…killed by a cereal killer. I haven’t decided what brand of cereal to be yet, and I haven’t started the obituary. Anyone have any good ideas? ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/38 "2005-10-11T17:44:59Z")
Life Cereal? ---
**Author:** ![ladybug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@ladybug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladybug)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/39 "2005-10-11T22:58:48Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > I’ve seen some creative costumes over the last couple of years. One of my students came wearing a giant yellow smiley-face mask, blue jeans, red flannel shirt and a backpack with skillet and canteen and bedroll. She was a happy camper. > > And one of the guys at work came in wearing a crown and a whole bunch of zippers hanging from his arms and legs. He was the Lord of the Flies. 😃 These are both going on my suggestion list for my coworkers. 🙂 I can’t wait for Halloween. Last year I was one of a handful of employees on my floor who dressed up (the second floor always puts us to shame). This year more than half the people in my quad alone plan to wear costumes! And I still have time to work on my supervisor. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2005, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119/40 "2005-10-12T02:29:19Z")
If you like the punny costumes for your supervisor, you might like what I did for my boy last year. A jeans and a light-blue sweatshirt with attached cottony “clouds” and a yellow “sun” half-obscured by the clouds. He carried a squirt bottle and was Partially Sunny with a Chance of Rain. The same yellow fabric I used for his sun I used to put a yellow circle on the belly of a white shirt, $5 for a devil kit (headbanded horns, long red tail and plastic pitchfork) and I was a deviled egg. Since it’s for the boss, who lays down the law, how about a lawsuit? Normal jacket and pants/skirt with button down blouse, with a bunch of ‘Thou shalt not…’ things printed out and attached to the jacket? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-things-halloween/325119.md?page=3)