Magic Thursday: Halloween costumes!

 

Today as part of the Halloween festivities, we asked some of our DarkSiders: 'What would you dress up as for a Halloween party and why?'

Melanie Pickering

Edgey Red Riding Hood

Anyone who knows me, knows I'm not afraid of dressing up and love a good Halloween party. I've been to several, and also dress up our house every year with a costume to match, but I also don't like to repeat a theme.

In no particular order, I've been to parties (coupled with my husband) as: Dracula and his bride, Dracula and Mina Harker, Red Riding Hood and the Woodcutter. And for Halloween Trick or Treating at my house, I've been: a swamp witch, the witch from Hansel and Gretel, a zombie bookstore owner, an asylum patient, an evil carnival clown, a pirate, and most recently the grim reaper.

I've also participated in a "haunted house" at my kids' primary school fete, where I was an undead screaming banshee rising from a real coffin. Bags of fun - the tweens loved it; the littlies, not so much 😂.

melaniepickering.com

The Grim Reaper

 

HM Hodgson

source: AliExpress

If you see someone standing in the corner of the party dressed like an ancient tree with a huge canopy of leaves over their head, a sturdy trunk, and gnarled, twisted roots at their feet … that might be me.

I always bite off wayyy more than I can chew when it comes to costumes, and while I have no idea how to actually make the costume, I’d love to come as Yggdrasil, the world tree from Norse mythology. That was the idea that kicked off my debut book series, so it’d be cool to celebrate that, plus I’m also a bit of a tree hugger, so that would be sweet – maybe someone would come and hug me (cue meet cute idea!)

hmhodgson.com

Dakota Harrison / (one half of) Angelica Grymm

I went to a Halloween party a couple of years ago and went as an evil ghost. Hubby was Dracula 😁. 

I went to the REA cocktail party two years ago as a bloody and vengeful Red Riding Hood. I had that wolf’s head in a basket (pic below). 

 

If I was to go this year, I’d love to go as Kai-125 from Halo. She’s a total bad-ass and I love her character. (Pic below) Or Starbuck from BSG. For the same reason. I loved Starbuck so much that I based my character in my new book that’s releasing in November on her.

 

dakotaharrison.com

angelicagrymm.com

Katrina Coll / Kat Chant

source: WikiFans

In Ireland, Hallowe’en is such an important event in the calendar that it’s a public holiday! This gives everyone plenty of time to prepare barm brack (a fruit loaf embedded with fortune telling trinkets) and to build a bonfire. That said, the latest trend here is for farmers to build mazes in their fields and turn these into fright festivals (check out Farmophobia).

As for me, I love the idea of taking vamp in all meaning of the word so who better to dress as than Morticia Addams? She is the queen of comebacks, always unruffled, supportive of her family, adored by her husband and never without something stabby. Like her, I own a carnivorous plant (although mine is a pitcher plant). Black is also one of my best colours!

katrinacoll.com

katchant.com

Danni Line

Halloween might not be as widely celebrated in Australia as it is in other parts of the world, but that doesn’t mean we don’t know how to have a good time when it comes to spooky festivities. For those who do embrace it, Halloween offers a unique opportunity to get creative with our attire, especially when attending a spooky dance party.

I went to one such party recently at the dance hall where I’ve been learning ballroom dancing. Once a month, they hold a social dance night, and October’s theme was all things spooky. With dance parties, it seems costumes have some wiggle room. We don’t have to wear the traditional monster garb, ghostly sheets, or commercially available ghoulture. (I know. I went there. Sorry, not sorry.)

While guests adorned in these costumes delighted us in enacting their chosen character, other partygoers dressed up in different ways. My friends and I chose a less traditional option. We chose our outfits and added spooky accessories. I can’t say for sure ‘who’ we’re meant to be, but we all danced up a storm in our ’costumes’ just the same. 

Also in the crowd were those who wore gothic elegance in black, their dramatic makeup creating hauntingly beautiful (and handsome) looks. Someone wore vintage horror along the theme of a young Angela Lansbury in ‘The Portrait of Dorian Gray.’ Others chose attire which was more modern. We had witches and wizards, a Sandy and Danny from Grease, deadly vampires and some charming devils, too.

To match our various costumes, even the dance hall had transformed into a dwelling of gothic delights. Severed heads, mutated pumpkins, skeletons, pictures where the portraits’ eyes followed you around the room, creepy mannequins and questionable creatures filled the room. I’m just grateful there weren’t any giant spiders in the toilets.

Of course, we spent the night dancing, laughing, trying to guess each other’s spooky attire and who hid under any masks. Our dance teachers created a special dance to the Monster Mash, with a bit of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ thrown in, to which everyone danced. Some of us even themed our food, and I tasted a delicious pumpkin spice mudcake. Yum!

While Halloween’s origins involve celebrating the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (Sow-in), and some people still follow this blessing and traditional season change, and should be respected, there’s room for a little spooky fun, too. 

  

Whether you’re attending a dance party, going trick-or-treating, respecting the old traditions, or simply enjoying the decorations, Halloween in Australia can offer a blend some amazing opportunities for creativity, and who knows? Maybe you’ll come up with your own ‘chilling’ dance. 😊

danniline-author.com

Eleni Konstantine

And what about me?

As a child of the 1970s and 1980s, I grew up with five strong women characters that I always wanted to be - Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Jamie (Bionic Woman), Wilma (from Buck Rodgers in the 21st Century), and Princess Leia (Star Wars).  I remember grabbing a show bag of Batgirl that had the utility belt, a mask and cape and wore it around proudly. 

So you'd think I'd want to dress up as one of these characters. Yes and no - first of all, I'm a plus sized girl so I don't feel comfortable in those tight fitting costumes. Jamie has a jumpsuit costume available but not really inspiring, and Princess Leia - hated that hairstyle. Maybe Wilma? 

 

Still, if I were to go to a Halloween party today, as much as these heroines helped shaped my childhood, I would like a costume that looked okay on me and more 'Halloweeny'. 

I checked out this store - Halloweencostumes.com.au and had fun looking at all the costumes. The great thing is they have a plus size section as well. 

It was hard to narrow down the choices but here it goes:

Theodora Elphaba, The Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz

 

Freddy Kruger from Nightmare on Elm Street

Medusa from Greek mythology

Hmmmm.... I've picked villains. It looks like I want to go for something less goody goody and something more spooky. 🤣 Then again Theodora and Medusa have had adaptations where they are more likable and less villainous. Freddy, well he's just a bad dude and scary as hell. 

How about you? What would you dress up as?