Thursday 19 October 2006

Hallowe'en Preparedness

When I was a youngster, I remember really looking forward to Halloween. The costume ideas would come fast and furious, and I couldn’t wait until my mother relented and took my brother and me shopping, blindly hoping that I would be able to find the p-e-r-f-e-c-t costume.

There were always so many brightly coloured choices. Did I want to be Wonder Woman? Batgirl? A princess or ballerina? Minnie Mouse? A witch? I wanted to dress up in every costume I saw.

It didn’t matter that they were ill-fitting, non-flame retardant and had masks that not only choked but came close to suffocating you before you could fill your pillow case with sugary treats. All that mattered was that every other kid in the city would be wearing one of those plastic masks, and I had to be one of them.

However, it usually came down to not enough money for store-bought costumes, so we would once again go home disappointed. But then Mom would help us discover a fantastical character that had never been heard of.

We may have been bitter, ungrateful children at the time, but looking back, I long for the days when it was all as simple as dressing up in Momma’s flow-y and flowered scarves and gold jewelry to be the coolest gypsy in town – again.

Then one year it happens. We’re no longer young enough to get away with begging for candy. You know the year. When the people that answer the door look at you like this had better be your last year saying “Trick-or-treat!” at their door. And those meanies are why we stop celebrating Halloween.

Now, a couple dozen years later, we’ve been invited to a costume mandatory party. I am almost giddy with excitement, and I think it’s the little girl in me, jumping up and down with the possibilities of what my costume could be, should be….will be!

So why am I writing about this a full two weeks from the actual day? To issue a challenge to all of us Halloween-humbuggers who have lost our childhood joy of Halloween.

Ladies, pull out an old party dress and prom tiara and proclaim yourself the Queen of Everything, or pour fake blood over your head and you’re Carrie! Grab some white powder, a long duster coat and a cowboy hat and make your man a Ghost Rider!

Go buy a spooky CD with some cool ghoulish sounds to scare the kiddies when they come knocking on your door. Use a creepy voice. Your kids will get a huge kick out of it, even if they do roll their eyes and call you lame.

Turn your town hall into a haunted house! Put bats in the belfry! Pipe some scary music through the town! Let’s all dress up and knock on doors. If we arrive en masse, there’s no way they won’t put candy in our bags!

Me? I have some costume shopping to do…oh, the possibilities!