Howlin’ Halloween Costumes!

It’s like playing dress-up, but on steroids. Once a year, young and old alike get to become something they’re not, hiding behind the makeup and the mask. It’s the ultimate in mental repression relief, stepping into the role of a zombie, superhero, a walking RedBox, bronzed statue, Thing One and Thing Two, plastic green army play figure, or a pink cupcake on two legs. Your choice of costume says a lot about your personality and your inner self. Do you like food? Blood and gore? Going to the movies? More than that, your Halloween wardrobe is a ‘killer’ way to start a conversation, or let people know you’ve got a sense of humor or an active imagination. It’s also a way to unleash a fair amount of steam, dressing the kid that’s been a stinker all year up as a little devil, or donning a mask with a world leader’s face on it and bossing everyone else around.

Howlin’ Halloween Costumes – An infographic by the team at DiscountQueens.com



Whatever your personality and style, we’ve got the links to costume shops that have every costume you could think of, (and then some!) right here.


Halloween History
Halloween is a time of in-between, just on the precipice of fall, but tumbling into winter. The Celts believed this time of year to represent the same with the earth’s souls, that the line between the living and the dead becomes blurred. While some visiting spirits might have been friendly, they felt that others were not. They lit huge bonfires and wore animal heads and coats (the original Halloween costumes) to scare off the unfriendlies and encourage them to go back to wherever it was they’d come from. (The friendly ghosts, they celebrated. They even left plates of dinner for them on their doorsteps). Pope Gregory III took matters into his own hands during the eight century and tried to make the day less frightening, declaring it a time for honoring all saints and martyrs. The Pope called it ‘All Saints Day’, which eventually morphed into the term ‘Halloween.’ Americanized later on, vandalism became an unwelcome issue as too many tricks were played on residences by juveniles during Halloween night. A bribe was concocted, offering youth a treat if they agreed not to play a trick on that household…What’s now known as ‘Trick or Treat’. The treats, costumes and décor of Halloween has turned into a multi-billion-dollar expenditure for Americans per year, making it the commercial holiday that ranks just below Christmas, a far cry from the dirt-cheap bonfires, animal hats and furs of yesteryear’s Celts.

Top Costumes

SuperYou
With so many superhero movies out, (Spiderman, the Avengers), who wouldn’t want to dress like one of the mega movie supercharacters? Shield off evil as Captain America, have adoring fans climbing the walls over your Spidey suit, or wow them as Wonder Woman!

Get Angry
Exploding pigs and targeting birds are just the beginning of the addiction. Feathered or more pork-centered, the Angry Birds theme is sure to be a ‘hit’.

Go TEAM, or Just Be-CAUSE
Wear your favorite teams colors in the extreme as you spray your hair to match that revered football jersey, but it won’t stop there. Face, lips, and fingernails follow along. Got a good cause? Douse yourself in showing how much you care by wearing that cause’s colors on every square inch of your person.

Era-Scare-a.
Dress like Mom used to during her eighties high school years with big earrings and even bigger hair. Guys, how about a mullet wig to show the world just who’s business in the front and party in the back?

Who’s Afraid of Clowns?
Thanks to Steven King, quite a few people fear the once-friendly painted faces. Are you cutesy and funny, or does fresh evil lurk under the makeup? Only you’ll know for sure.

Superstitious Much?
What’s behind the black cat problem? In the Middle Ages, there were those that thought witches hid themselves within the bodies of black cats, in order to avoid being discovered. It is also believed that the feline has up to nine lives.

Spilling salt, walking underneath ladders, breaking mirrors, stepping on crack in the sidewalk (sorry about the broken back, Mom), are all in the superstitious category. Had a run of bad luck? There’s your problem!

Don’t forget the crazy things we’ll do for good luck: carrying around dead rabbits’ feet, collecting clovers with leaves of four, displaying horseshoes, wearing clothes inside out, making sure we blow out those birthday candles in the very first breath, and getting competitive over pulling apart wishbones.

Historic Halloween Traditions
During Halloween it was thought that women could discover the look or name of their future spouse through yarn or mirror tricks.

Digesting a sweetened mixture of nutmeg, walnuts and hazelnuts just before drifting off to sleep could make that person dream of their future mate.

An apple peel tossed gleefully over the shoulder might land in the shape of your future loved one’s initials.

Whoever was the first among Halloween party-goers to catch an apple in their teeth by bobbing for the fruit was said to be the first to marry that year.

A Few Costume Ideas:
Angry Birds, Carl Fredricksen and the Up House, Crayola Crayons, Cookie Monster and Giant Cookie, Edward Scissorhands, Flintstones, Flo from Progressive Insurance, Harry Potter, Iron Man, Marge and Homer Simpson, Mickie and Minnie Mouse, Minotaur, Monopoly Man, Nerds Box, Ninja Turtles, Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man, Papa Smurf, Pinata, Princess Leia, Red Box, Rosie the Riveter, Smurfette, Wilson of the movie (Castaway), Washer and Dryer, Zombies.