Sanguine Spider’s thread about candy corn got me thinking about Halloween. I want to have a great costume this year.
What cool costumes and pranks have you done for Halloween?
Susan and I went to a “Dead Celebrities Party” last year as JFK and Jackie O. I bought an old suit, shirt, and tie at the thrift store and about a dozen packages of fake blood. After pretty much dunking my head in the blood, we splattered the rest across Susan’s pink suit (complete with pill box hat). One of the attendees, who is a very large woman, wore early 1970s-style clothing and carried a chicken sandwich - she was Cass Elliot.
If you have a mannequin head handy…
I went as the worlds ugliest baby. With wire hangers and duct tape I rigged the head so it was behind my head. I went to goodwill and bought a hideously creepy life sized doll, and decapitated it. My neck hurt like hell when the night was over.
Mannequin heads are da bomb! Three costumes made with them:
The Pirate’s Victim. My last year of trick-or-treating was when I was thirteen. I wore a cheap trench-coat and stuffed the arms with clothes so they looked full, and put the “hands” in the coat’s pockets. I then got a mannequin head and dressed it in a sleazy old-man mask with sunglasses and a hat. For my costume, I put the coat on, with my head in the coat’s chest area, and held the mannequin head above my own; I basically looked like a creepy old man a foot taller than myself. My little brother dressed as a pirate. When we got to someone’s house, they’d turn around to get the candy bowl, and little bro would pull out his sword; when they turned back, he chopped my head off, leading to shrieks from nice old ladies. Great fun :).
The Turkey-Neck. In college, I did a similar costume, except this time I put the mannequin head on a stick and taped a turtle-neck sweater around the stick. I walked around my college campus on Hallowe’en night (I could barely see out between the buttons of the coat), “nodding” the mannequin head at passersby. They didn’t realize it was a fake head until it continued staring at them as they walked by, the head swiveling 180 degrees on its neck, sometimes craning a foot in the air. I’m convinced, from the screams I got, that some of my fellow students were partaking of the mushroom on Hallowe’en night.
Two-headed Giant. A couple years ago, I revisited the mannequin head for one more costume. This time, I wore the coat normally on the right side, but stuffed the left arm with clothes and taped it up to hold a cardboard shield with a skull and crossbones painted on it. I got two similar masks, one for my head and one for the mannequin head, and two pairs of chintzy glasses, one for each head. I put the mannequin head on a stick so I could manipulate it, dragged a big stick behind me as a club, and went around as a two-headed giant. I drank through a straw, and made sure each head got equal drinking time; I did everything I could to convince people to talk to the fake head (I hung my real head slack from my shoulders, nodded the fake head encouragingly as they talked, swiveled the fake head to watch people go by, etc.) It was great fun.
Another fun costume: go to a glasscutting shop and get them to cut a 12" square plastic mirror with rounded edges, with two eye holes and a mouth hole. Attach twine to the mirror so you can wear it as a mask. Otherwise wear all black. When people ask what you’re stupposed to be, stare directly at them and say, “You.” You can have all kinds of fun with this mask – it’s really unnerving to be having a conversation with a mirror, for one thing.
Daniel
I went as Boba Fett last year–which might not be too original, but I’m proud to say that I spent at least 100 hours working on the damn outfit. There’s dozens of websites out there devoted on how to build a movie-authentic costume, and without meaning to toot my own horn, I looked good.
This year, I’m going to be the God of Discarded Toys. I’m not sure how to implement the costume, although it’ll definitely involve a few trips to Salvation Army; any ideas on the appearance?
Daniel
A couple of years ago I went as that famous Magritte painting of a man in a derby with a green apple floating in front of his face. Really easy costume. Cheap plastic derby, realistic drawing of an apple large enough to cover my face and mounted on a stick, and for extra effect a picture of a fluffy cloud mounted on a stick and attached to the back of the hat. Only about a third of the people who saw me got it, though.
ok lurker here, checking in.
I just have to now share a pic of my hubby’s Jango Fett costume that we both made. Ughh. what a nightmare, but it was an awesome costume. yeah he’s a Star Wars Geek
umm yeah, we still had to tuck his pant legs in at that point and fix his collar, but its a good pic other than that. I’m most proud of those leather holsters. Took me forever to make them. I had never worked with leather before.
oh and as far as my best costume? Several years ago I went as a tampon.
I wore keds, that I had dyed red, red socks and white leggings that I had dyed red up to the knees. a white turtle neck, my face was painted white and my hair was pulled up high on my head (also painted white BTW) is a high braid <----- my string:D
I even had real tampons dangling from my earrings for fun.
yeah, Im gross. but who cares, it was fun
I made a Strawberry Shortcake (the doll, not the dessert) costume that I was pretty proud of a couple years ago. Bought a hot pink rayon dress at Goodwill. Painted green diamonds on a white apron and wore that over the dress. Drew green stripes on white tights, and wore those with brown Doc Martens.
Died my hair (normally blonde) with cherry Kool Aid. Wore a pink puffy shower cap with strawberry stickers stuck all over it. Drew some freckles and on my nose and bright red, smaller-than-real lips on my mouth. And finally, I bought the absolute cheapest knock-off brand of berry-scented body spray and liberally doused myself and my outfit with it. It rocked (but I did have to go to work for a couple of days with slightly pink hair).
I immediately thought of Franz the Toymaker (far left in photo), a Cleveland kiddie-TV host of yore. You could attach Matchbox cars, small stuffed animals, etc., to the straps of the lederhosen.
I can’t believe that I’m admitting this publicly, but in another lifetime I went as Dr. Frank-n-furter from Rocky Horror (it was actually for the Fasching festival in Germany and not Halloween but same idea). I have to say, though, that I looked great and it continues to be a constant source of amusement (for those who know) whenever the subject of costumes comes up.
Well, it wasn’t really an intentional prank, but…
About ten years ago, my family (including my aunt) set up a “haunted house” in our garage to help finance a trip to Disney World. It was, if I may say so, a pretty danged good haunted house, too. Anyway, since we were running the haunted house a few days before Halloween, we’d carved our Jack’o’Lanterns a little early that year…and by the time the 31st rolled around, the pumpkins, while still looking pretty good at night, were getting very “squishy.”
The next morning, we discovered that someone had attempted to steal or smash our pumpkins, sometime in the night. I say “attempted” because at that point, the jack’o’lanterns weren’t much more than pulpy liquid held inside an innocent looking skin…
One pumpkin seemed to have exploded when it had been picked up—they were on a windowsil, so they couldn’t have been “stomped”—and lay in a crumpled, oozing pile. Another pumpkin hadn’t even left that much…it had been reduced to a thin trail of pulp and liquid trailing from the window, and out onto the lawn—obviously, the would-be prankster’s escape route.
The other two pumpkins were completely untouched. And were given a hero’s funeral in the trash can.
No one ever tried to smash our pumpkins after that year. 
Hubby and I have a friend that used to throw kick-ass halloween parties. Everyone was expected to show up in costume.
As I am NOT a seamstress we went to the local costume shop. We both dressed as big yellow chickens. The costumes had headgear, the body part and leggings; therefore nobody recognized us until we lifted our headgear. We showed up on friend’s doorstep in our big chicken costumes toting buckets of KFC tenders. Probably a little lame, but we did win best costumed couple.
SanguineSpider was Morticia Addams and won second place in a contest (got two dinners at a local irish pub). It was super fun and KUDOS to grandma for making my awesome dress! I loves you, grangran!
If I can figure out how to post the pic, I will…
HEY HEY HEY! Frank-n-furter is cool! I love RPHS! Rocky Rocky, rah rah rah!
“Don’t dream it, BE it…”
I was also Magenta one year while working for a music store.
Let’s see.
I found a cheap dog mask right before a Halloween party. Add a dress shirt and a cheap, plastic bowler. Viola! I was one of the Dogs Playing Poker. The people who got it thought it was hysterical.
I bought a black Death-style robe with hood and one of those one-way masks and went trick-or-treating with my sister and the family. Add combat boots (put a couple inches on me)…well, I had parents bribing me to scare their children. “Here, take this Snickers, scare the green Power Ranger.” Hee hee hee!
I went as The Crow to see Rocky Horror Picture show with a bunch of friends. And had half the female cast hitting on me.
I worked as a mummy in a haunted house.
Good times, man. I miss going out on Halloween. Wonder if there’s anything going on around Atlanta.
No pranks, but in 1992 I went out as Elvis. I had really big hair and I dyed it black. Halloween was on a Saturday and rain was predicted. I had rented a white Elvis-type jumpsuit for about $65 and I didn’t want to risk the temporary hair dye to possibly ruin it, so I got it done with permanent dye.
Afterwards, I had to let my hair grow out long enough so that I could cut off the black part. The bad part was that my hair is brown. Yep, three weeks of black hair w/brown roots. Not pretty, but well worth it. Lots of people wanted to have their picture taken with me.
I have a pic, but nowhere to post it.
One Samhain, er…Halloween, we stayed home with some friends and shared a few beers and a lot of laughs with this little number…
I dressed as a scarecrow, hay and straw coming from my arms and legs and out of my shirt, pulled a ski mask over my head, and a hockey mask over my face. I then plopped down on a lawn chair, a bowl of candy in my lap, and waited for the hilarity to ensue. Which it did. Unsuspecting kids and parents wandered up to our semi circle at the fire pit, and went to grab their share of our candy offering. They'd reach in slowly, choosing with great care a piece that they hopefully didn't have, and I would let out a growl and jerk to life, and the kids would tear seven kinds of ass down the drive. What a bloody hoot!!
Some of the more street wise kids were wary, but the parents and the greater portion of the kids fell for it hook, line and sinker.
I sooo love Halloween!!
“BOO!” said the ghost.
buttonjockey308, that’s not cool. Some neighbor did that to me when I was about five or so. It was awful. I still don’t like scarecrows.
Of course, now I think it’s hilarious. But I didn’t think so then.
Anyway, I love making costumes. I’ve made my own since I was about 8 or 9. Last year, I made a pair of huge, black angel wings and wore them to school, all day long. They were made of chair caning, plywood, lace, a feather boa, a marabou boa, and about two bags of black feathers. Oh, and a huge amount of hot glue.
These things were gorgeous. They reach from my neck to my knees. Everyone was asking me where I got them, could they wear them, If I would make them some…
This year I am thinking of making a flapper outfit. I need to learn the Charelston, though.