Current Release: April 28th, 2009 | Vol. XXX Iss. 10

Photo courtest of rachel rigoglioso

This is Halloween

By Christian PeÑa

ermiller@vwc.edu

What kind of costume could be made out of a cardboard box, old clothes and duct tape? What could possibly be made with only two sheets of cardboard and some pipe cleaners? Who would have thought that an Internet site could be a costume?

Deciding what to dress up as for Halloween can seem like a daunting task, but there are some quick, cheap ways to make a costume without resorting to high-priced, ready-made pieces from the stores.

The premise of donning scary masks and clothes comes from an ancient Pagan Celtic festival called Samhain. It was believed that the barrier between the living and the dead was dissolved on Oct. 31 and the ghosts and evil forces would threaten humans. Bones of livestock were burned to appease the spirits.

Costuming became popular in the United States in the early 1900s and was for adult and child alike. People would roam the streets dressed as goblins, witches and devils, things that were not ordinary. Halloween is surrounded by magic and mystery, and the costumes reflect this.

However, more light hearted gear is available for those who are not as macabre inclined. For children, there is a multitude of costumes inspired from cartoons and television shows. There is also the traditional pumpkin suit, usually purchased, and the ever-ready white bed sheet to make a ghost. Adults also have a wide variety, ranging from movie to Western characters and professional positions, such as doctors. Some adults still indulge in  children s costumes, and some students go as comic book character,  Harry Potter characters and pirates. I, myself, went as The Joker from  Batman last year.

 My favorite costumes are always homemade, because they re creative, quick easy and cheap, and you can sometimes make 50 bucks off them, said sophomore Meghan See. Using pillow case, she became the  Wall from Facebook, writing comments from the site onto the sheet. She won a costume contest held in the C-MAC last Halloween and now uses it to cover a pillow on her couch. This year s Halloween party, hosted by WAC, After Dark, and Traditions will be held in the Grille on Fri., Oct. 31 from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Then there are the costume parties, which allow for many enjoyable hours eating, drinking and guessing who is in what get-up. Planning for the festivities includes ghoulish games and creepy music. There are the usual bobbing for apples and pin-the-tail variants (pin-the-arm on the zombie, anyone?), but there are many other homemade games.

Rachel Rigoglioso, junior, said that her favorite Halloween game is bobbing for apples, but she is also of a competition involving donuts. Powdered donuts would be tied up with a string, and the person would have their hands tied behind their back. The person who could get the doughnut in their mouth won.

 I really like the parties, with people in cool costumes having a good time, said senior William Willard. He plans to be a Catholic Cardinal this year and to attend many parties, both here and at other colleges.

Even at Wesleyan, the costumes can be very diverse. Last year, Willard donned a monk costume. Rigoglioso went one year as beer garden girl and as a pirate for another. Senior Katie Morris usually goes as literature or film characters. This year she will be going as Arwen the Elf from  The Lord of the Rings, but in previous years has gone as Belle from Disney s  Beauty and the Beast and last year was Luna Lovegood  Harry Potter. Senior Kirk Jeter went as a black member of the Ku Klux Klan one year and last year went as rapper Tupac after he was shot.

But some are not happy with the current feel of Halloween. Senior Terry Heinze said,  American Halloween is crap. It s over-commercialized. I think we ve lost the Halloween Spirit. What is All Hallow s Eve? Most Americans don t know, nor do they care to know.

Heinze has not participated in Halloween since his freshman year. Instead, he takes his 5-year-old brother trick or treating.

This can be true; most of the Halloween season is spent buying candy and decorations. No one takes a step back to reflect that the spirits of those long dead could be walking the earth. The holiday can be seen as just another marketing scam.

However, we know now that Halloween is meant to be fun and to remember those that lived before us. So go ahead and put on that ghoulish mask and creepy attire. Go celebrate the day of the dead.

For those low on cash, here are a few costume ideas:

The Washing Machine

Take a cardboard box and cut out two parallel sides. Use a round container lid to trace a circle onto a remaining side, and then cut the circle out. Next, paint the cardboard white. Now, tape some clothes to the top to look like laundry. Next, take the two container lids and put some blue and clear cellophane plastic wrap in between them to look like water. Finish by taping the lids together in the hole of the box.

The Website

Get a big piece of poster board or sheet and put something specific from the site one it. For Facebook and Myspace, putting the  wall feature is good because actual things people have written on them will work. Other good features are the  what your into, information or what groups you have joined. This is very simple and cheap to make, with all materials found in local stores.

More ideas can be found on the Internet.

For those of you looking to buy costumes, there are plenty of options. In addition to costume shops, there s always Wal-mart.