Normally
I buy, rent or cobble together a new Halloween costume every year. This
year, the way things are going, I may have to make do with something I
already have on hand. The outfit shown here is one I didn't put
on last year until 8:30 or 9 PM. I figured that by then, the little
kids would be in bed, or at least done trick or treating. What do you
think? Is this too scary for answering the door to
five-year-olds? Keep in mind that I've scared young teens with
the werewolf/faux tengrem outfit and a deep growly voice. I want to be
a little scary, but not enough for kids to be truly terrified, or have
nightmares afterward. I'd consider doing the werewolf again, but I
can't seem to find the mask.
I
usually prefer a spooky costume, because it's more appropriate to the
holiday than a cat, a maid or Richard Nixon--unless, of course, it's a
hellcat, a vampire maid or the ghost of Richard Nixon. Besides the
werewolf and the ghoul, I've been a vampire(?), a ghost, a pirate, an
entirely different pirate, a wizard, a witch or two or three, the late
Amelia Earhart, Professor McGonagall, and I-forget-what-else. I've also
been the Queen of Mâvarin, a gold robot, the Third Doctor, three of the
Doctor's companions (Mel, Ace and Grace), and Dr. Sam Beckett. The sf
media costumes were for Wholloween parties, back when United Whovians
of Tucson was still more than an email list.
When I was a
little kid, I went as "Miss Liberty" at least twice, in a pink
toga-like dress Mom had sewn for the occasion. The costume also
included a sash, a crown and a flashlight torch. I was mostly
embarrassed by the costume, because who ever heard of a pink Statue of
Liberty? I didn't even know who Miss Liberty was until my mom explained
her to me.
I have to admit, however, that it was
much better than the Ben Cooper costumes Mom and I had looked at
together. If you're my age, you probably remember these. They usually
consisted of a terrible mask depicting a current tv character, and an
even worse plastic costume with the name of the character written on
it. That always bothered me. Batman, Yogi Bear or Cinderella would
never wear a cheap plastic jumpsuit with his or her name written
across the front!
Miss Liberty was better than that, but
not as good as the skull mask that I got to wear a couple of other
years, once with a vacuform plastic Beatles wig behind it. I was
frankly envious of the kid with a really good skeleton costume:
glow-in-the-dark bones on a black background. That was the height of
cool, but Mom didn't believe in a girl wearing a "boy's" costume--and I
was dead set against being one of a hundred girls in princess costumes.
I have to give my Mom credit for coming up with a female character that
wasn't a princess, a ballerina or even a fairy, and sewing it
herself. She hated sewing as much as I do, and that's saying a
lot. I
got a D in sewing in eighth grade. Mom's sewing wasn't much better, but
she tried her best. Besides, although the concept of the spirit of
Liberty personified was too esoteric for this second grader, it means
something to me now.
In trying to take these ghoul photos, I
experimented a little with with flash and non-flash pictures and
different angles. Several of them resulted in weird effects. I
like the way a couple of them turned the camera's reflection into a
ball of light. The other weird one has a ghostlike double image that
could conceivably be interpreted as a haunting - but you shouldn't do
so.
Looking at it another way, though, I am haunted. For most of the
country it's already October 7th, but as I type this in Tucson it's
still October 6th. My mom's birthday. Two years ago tonight, I took my
mom in her wheelchair to a Tony Bennett concert at one of the local
casinos. It was a terrific performance, and Mom's last outing ever.
A
year ago on October 6th, I printed my mom's photo from circa 1950 and
taped it to her grave marker for 24 hours or so. The return trip to the
cemetery was in the dark, in the rain, but the photo was still there,
still in good shape.
This year I didn't make it to the
cemetery. I kind of feel bad about this. I won't be at all surprised if
Mom is in my dreams tonight. I wonder what she'll say. Will she be
annoyed that the black fleece shawl with the fringe that she bought me
from Lane Bryant is now a ghoul's shroud?
Karen
4 comments:
You mother is lovely.
Your mother was a beautiful woman, and I'd say that costume was just scary enough.
Woah! No sneaking up on me in THAT outfit. Yikes! LMAO!
Yikes!!!!!
~JerseyGirl
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