Reader and some classic Halloween Looks!

Reader here, and it’s a few days until Halloween, and that’s got me thinking about Halloween costumes.

I’ve been invited to a Halloween party on Saturday, and if I go, I’m not sure what I might dress up as.

Perhaps I rummage around in my costume box at home, and throw together something from there.

Or perhaps I go the the store and pick up something easy.

It’s always tough coming up with something.  What often happens, is that on Halloween, I see lots of great costumes, get inspired, and think “I know exactly what I should do for next year!”

And then, I proceed to completely forget about it until about October 30th of the next year, and by then, it’s too late to put together a costume, with the detail which I’d like to use.

My first Halloween in Yorkton, I got together with my new radio friends, first for a house party, and then a station-sponsored event at Rayzr’s Pub, and I didn’t know what to dress up as.

A couple of hours before the party, it suddenly hit me… a beach bum!

I reached into my closet, pulled out some shorts, a tank top, a bucket hat, sunglasses and flip-flops, and I happened to have some face paint, and used some white paint to represent the zinc on my nose.  It worked out pretty well, actually!

Other years, I’ve dressed up as Michael Jackson, Canadian wrestling superstar Chris Jericho, Jughead Jones, cinematic slasher Jason Voorhees, and even legendary Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards, as you can see at the top of the blog!

I know… I’m not wizened and leathery enough to truly pull off the Keef look, but I couldn’t resist giving it a try!

Thinking back to when I was a kid, some of the costumes I remember include dressing up as a Smurf, Spider-Man and He-Man.

The Smurf look involved a Smurf mask, blue bunnyhug, and white long underwear worn as outerwear for that special occasion!

The Spidey and He-Man looks were costumes bought in the stores.  I actually found pictures of them online!

You know those classic costumes.  The masks with the elastic that are just a bit too tight, cutting into your head, while collecting moisture inside, due to the condensation from your breath on a chilly Halloween night?

And the costumes themselves, that you slip on over your clothes (and winter coats)?  They were made of plastic, so when they got too cold, they’d become brittle and break apart as you walked from house to house.  By the time you’d ring the doorbell and say “Trick or Treat,” the person handing out the candy would ask “Who are you?”  I’d say “I’m Spider-Man in a parka.  Make with the candy!”

Another costume I rocked one year was Freddy Krueger, the dream stalker from the “Nightmare on Elm Street” movies.

Nowadays, I have a nice collectible glove, Freddy sweater and hat that I break out.

But when I was a kid, I wasn’t quite so concerned about the details.  I had an old grey fedora, a striped sweater that had a few more colours beyond red and green, and in fact looked more like Ernie’s sweater from “Sesame Street!”

But, what really made it awesome, is that my Dad came up with an ingenious way of recreating Freddy’s iconic glove.  He took some thin PVC pipe, cut knife-length “blades,” and made them so I could slip my fingertips in and they stayed in place!  Gotta love farm ingenuity!  It was a one-of-a-kind costume, and I loved it!

Are you dressing up this Halloween?  I’d love to see your looks for the spooky season!