Radical Halloween Costumes

Halloween night sure is fast approaching, and the race to pick the most unique and most fun halloween costume is on! Whatever you inspire-laughter or awe-from those who will wait for your group halloween costumes, never ever forget to bring along a healthy sense of humor too. Some of these costumes are fine for kids also.

Universal Bar Code. This would be even more fantastic if you have friends with varying large to thin frames.

Wear all long black, and cut and paste to yourselves some huge rectangular cartolina strips that your body can hide behind. Then arrange yourselves against a huge white cloth when it's time to show and tell. And why not get some eight to ten family pets to stay near your feet, and be the bar code numbers, with large digits taped to their backs? Everyone's rallying cry: The Biggest Living Bar Code ever!

Graveyard Markers and Statues. It's funny how the same search of the Web above doesn't turn up anything resembling a hilarious but ingenious group at the heart of Halloween: literally dressing up as graveyard objects. Breathe new life into that trite and tired angel costume by dyeing and painting the wearer a dark moss green color, or concrete gray(just be extra careful that some paints can irritate your eyes, even if it's not close to touching your eyelids). Some can also make believe as the marble markers, or stuff that gained fame at your local cemetery.

Hey, this reminds me! You can also act out famous town and national statues; try getting the group to plan and act out a story that fits the famous poses of these landmarks.

Elephant Graveyard. This is definitely one spooky myth in the animal kingdom that have entered our list of metaphors. Try to get people to guess what your costumes mean. You can all dress up with elephant heads in pointy ivory glory, but replace the cute bead eyes with black electrical tapes forming X's. Wouldn't it be also chillingly cool to find a non-damaging way to add dark rings under these dead eyes? When its time to present, everybody hobbles, trudges and drags themselves to a heap in the center of the room. Spooky to the er, ivory!

Mt. Rushmore Monument. Many have actually done this already. Instantly recognizable, your group can also try mixing this idea into the second part of the Graveyard markers and statues earlier. No doubt, that would really be group halloween costumes that rock.

Four more costume ideas, some old, some new. But you could be he only one to give them new life.

Sadako. Sadakos (like the one at right), bloodthirsty Sadakos, lots and lots of the hit 1998 Japanese film's Sadakos! How come I don't see this often in Halloween parties? Why, all that's needed are some wig (if you don't have extra-long hair), a long sleeping shirt, and some shocker face waiting under that mat of hair. Props? A teddy bear and a large TV frame to act through.

A pair of ping-pong paddles and ball (3 persons). Be the must-watch players of the night (literally, AND in the good sense) by getting two of your buddies (dressed as paddles) to stay on opposite sides of the party hall. Be the ball and
show off by running up and down the room and bouncing yourself against the paddles. End the pantomime by doing a slow motion dive; the US paddle tries to reach out for you, only to miss by a few inches. In the end, *insert favorite country here, wink wink* wins! If done the right way, this can be one funny halloween costume.

Norman Bates. dapper, doe-eyed, a "bit" Psycho ... and on the run from a very, very angry "Mother"! Try coming as a group of 5 wearing turtleneck shirts marked the 1st, the 2nd, etc. The fifth can be a buddy wearing the "Mother" disguise (Mother is way cooler if she's a he): styled hairdo-wig with wisps of white hair, fading long-sleeved blouse and skirt, owlish glasses, some pearl necklace or bracelet if you will, low pumps, and the kitchen knife, lastly. It's also cool if Mother gets around using a walker.

Speak, Hear, and See No Evil Monkeys. I saw at Flickr a variation of this. Instead of monkeys, the three party goers were in Star Wars Federation storm troopers.

If you've developed an affection for the horror and the macabre of Halloween, then I recommend that you get your fix in any one of the following blogs.

The graphic above was created using jacksonpollock.org.

At right: Cowardly Lion Costume Sells for $700,000



At left: Real-Life Halo Suit For Soldiers ($15,000 for individual orders



At right: Star Trek I SpaceSuit Sells For $10,100



At left: Handmade armored jackets for dogs, with materials made of faux ancient metal, bone and leather