SCENE | OCTOBER 25, 2005 | Send features tips

Ghouls’ Night Out
Planning funny, scary or sexy costumes can boost Halloween spirits

The Shorthorn: Mark Roberts

By Megan Wright
The Shorthorn staff

The countdown has begun, and Halloween lurks just six days away.

While the holiday itself should be frightening, some can find the preparation for the big day even more horrifying.

Topping the list of Halloween fears is finding the perfect costume. For people who aren’t so sure what they want to be, Michelle Escobedo, assistant manager at Party City in Arlington, said her staff can help them figure it out. She said people can either pick one of the already-assembled costume sets her store offers, or a costume can be made entirely out of accessories.

“They pick a costume, and we can help them trick it out with accessories and blood — blood goes with everything,” she said.

Kinesiology junior Fanis Wade said he plans on wearing blood with his university lacrosse uniform. He said he will add blood and a knife to his pads, helmet and lacrosse stick.

Wade said he plans to scare people by chasing them around with his fake knife.

“I’m like a lacrosse player that was in a horrible biochemical accident and now wants to get every teacher on campus,” he said.

Joe Kongevick, theater arts associate professor, said people can add various makeup elements to make their costumes mildly or extremely grotesque. He said makeup and prosthetics can be used to form gaping wounds, dripping puss or even an eyeball dangling from tendons onto the cheek.

“Today there’s a lot of advantages to going out and getting materials to do that with,” said Kongevick, who teaches the university’s theatrical makeup class.

“I’m old fashioned and kind of like to make it from scratch,” he said.

He said people don’t have to go to stores to buy blood for their costumes. Blood can be made with ingredients found in the average kitchen.

First, he said to mix Karo syrup with distilled water. He said to be sure to use distilled water because tap water can decay and become rancid when mixed with the syrup.

Then mix more distilled water with unsweetened black cherry Kool-Aid, which he said gives the best blood look.

Finally, Kongevick said to mix the two together and apply where needed. He said that adding more water to the substance will make thinner blood.

“Also, you can put a little mint in there to make it minty,” he said, a trick he learned when the university put on the play Dracula 20 years ago.

“The actor [who played Dracula] said it could be nice if it was minty.”

When adding prosthetics, like the dangling eye, Kongevick said to not use super glue. He said they use Spirit Gum in the theatrical world, which dissolves easily with alcohol or Spirit Gum remover.

He said to use a highlighting eyeshadow and a darker shadow on places like the cheekbones, nose, forehead and jaw line to look “dead.”

“If you just look at your face and feel around places that are hollow, that’s where you would shadow,” he said. “Colors like blues and greens and grays are the best to look dead-looking.”

Escobedo said she sees many trends in Halloween costumes besides the traditional dead looks. Her store offers more than 10,000 different costumes.

“This year it’s a lot of gothic,” she said. “I think it changes a little year to year. People want to see new things.”

Escobedo said she sees men buying a lot of comical costumes. Her store offers several humorous costumes to make a person into a beer keg, hot dog, whoopee cushion and more.

Communication sophomore Matthew Murphy said he also sees trends in men’s Halloween costumes.

“Guys either go for funny or to show off their physique,” he said. “I go for funny.”

Murphy said this year he will dress as a creepy old man by wearing a mask from Party City and an overcoat with candy in the pockets to hand out to people.

Last Halloween his costume consisted of a robe from Goodwill, a wig and a beard he grew himself.

“I was Jesus last year,” he said. “It definitely led to a nickname that stuck. Half the people that know me at the university know me as ‘Jesus.’ ”

Escobedo said she sees women buying costumes that are more on the sexy side, like the sexy nurse or cat costume.

Hayley Ailshie said she also sees women wearing sexy costumes on Halloween. The political science senior said her pirate costume from Electrique Boutique is sexy without being trashy.

“There’s a fine line to be drawn,” she said. “There’s having fun, and then there’s being slutty.”

Ailshie’s friend Heidi Taylor decided not to go the sexy route with her costume.

Taylor, a political science junior, said she doesn’t celebrate Halloween every year because usually she has to work. This year, though, she said she decided to dress up retro with pigtails, a vest and a bandana tied around her leg.

“I think I’m going as Punky Brewster,” she said. “It’s kind of like reliving being a kid.”

Taylor had some advice for people looking to make their Halloween costumes:

“Be creative — think outside the box,” she said. “Be something different.”

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