Halloween

Contemporary Halloween culture is heavily influenced from symbols from the medieval periods and those of ancient mythology. For long Halloween costumes are based on ghosts, witches, and devils, or themes that are mysterious in nature, said to scare off the demons. But sometimes the costumes can also be made on themes such as those of characters from television shows, and historical figures or even movies from the different eras. Popular costumes in Halloween in the past have been those from sitcoms such as Bewitched, or movies such as Count Dracula, Frankenstein generally at parties, costume contests, masquerade balls, and Halloween themed nightclubs.

In recent times, Halloween has seen a growing popularity within young adults and in their Halloween festivities. The fashion of having costume parties and going out has taken over adults too. College going adults can be often seen gearing up in Dracula, Satan, skeleton body suits for this rather scary evening for costume parties to find a healthy change from their everyday lives. Even people who are usually quiet get an opportunity to get rebellious without any judgment or fear of being shunned by their peers. The fun of all this is, that you can make do for being any character you want and have your get up accepted and no one really minds who you are.

The costumes do not always have to be spooky, but it can be made sexy too. Fashionable costumes are a rage every year during Halloween and young adults are seen to be experimenting with everything at their disposal. While cult classics like a Witch or a Vampire have been seen quite often, Pop icons such as Marylin Monroe, Elton John been imitated too. Jack The Ripper, is also a rather done costume to be dressed up as in a Halloween ball. Fantasy characters such as those from Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Pirates of the Caribbean have been used, for dressing up on Halloween in recent times. Cat woman, Batman and Robin, Indiana Jones are amongst the favorites in many Halloween parties. Animals are also a very popular theme for costumes.

Halloween is a popular festival for a lot of reasons, aside from the fact that many people let their hair down, possibly the only time in the entire year, to change the way they look and go as wild as they can to stand out the most. Many people let their creative sides loose and every year, more creative ideas come forth on this “day of horrors”, which for many becomes a memory of letting go.

Donna Houston

Celtic priests called Druids, members of pagan societies in Ireland and neighbouring areas carried out various rituals. Sacrifices, generally of animals and crops but sometimes even of humans were undertaken in order to pacify the gods. This was to ensure that the sun would return after the winter and scare away the evil spirits that were roaming around freely. Bonfires were the representations of the sun which helped the Druids in fighting off the evil spirits and other dark powers. As per the literal meaning, ‘bone fire’, the bonfires were often made out of human bones piled with timber which were set ablaze in open fields. On Samhain the fires would be extinguished except those of the Druids and a fee was levied on the common man to re-light their fires. These fires would burn throughout the winters and sacrifices would be offered to the gods over them. The practice of sacrificing humans was stopped around the 1600s.

It has been noted by some folklorists have detected the origin of Halloween to be in the Roman festival of Pomona or in the festival of the dead was Parentalia. The closer link is to the above described Irish tradition. In old Ireland it was regarded as the end of the lighter half of the year and the beginning of the darker half. Halloween is even regarded as the Celtic New Year sometimes. It was believed that both harmful and harmless spirits were let free during Samhain. The use of costumes, masks etc. at Halloween are assumed to be for the purpose of disguising oneself as a harmful spirit to escape any harm from them.

The word Halloween was first used in the 16^th century and represents a Scottish variation in All-Hallows-Day. In the old English, All-Hallows-Day refers to ‘The feast of saints’. The roots of Halloween are therefore in effect in both the Celtic festival of Samhain and the Christian festival of All Saints Day.

Halloween activities typically include trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, wearing costumes, carving jack-o’-lanterns, preparing bonfires etc. Games like Apple bobbing where a large sink is filled with water with apples floating in it and children trying to pick up the apples with their teeth without the use of their hands are a trademark of Halloween. Jack-O’-Lanterns are a typical Halloween tradition where a pumpkin is cut from the top and the inside flesh is scooped up. A face, usually a huge monstrous face is carved on the outside and at night a light is put inside it to make it glow. Trick-or-treat is a custom for children on Halloween where children proceed from house to house asking for treats like candy and sometimes even money. The question is Trick or teat ? where the trick is usually a threat to perform mischief on the other person.

The last ten to twelve years have seen an evolution of sorts in the concept of Halloween. Adult Halloween as we are referring to it here is evident from the huge sale of products like costumes, candy etc. to adults and youngsters in addition to the kids. It is possible that the this started with the adults making an effort to keep a watch on their kids activities but it has transpired into something quite different now. The retail market especially is making immense profits because of the adults involvement in Halloween.

Most adult Halloween parties have certain themes set for them. The environment is made as per the theme and the guests dress up as per the theme as well. The essence of these themes is to pick a regular day to day theme and make it spooky and eerie. Certain examples of such themes for your own party are:

- Nuclear Devastation where you cover your home with glowing stickers(radioactive look) and have your guests dress as zombies, burn victims, mutants etc.

- Hell and Heaven: Guests dress as demons, angels, fairies, monsters from hell etc. and the decorations are with papier mache lava to signify hell and heavily lit areas to signify heaven and so on.

- Zombie Christmas: Guests dress as Zombie Santa claus, Zombie Rudolph, Zombie Santa’s helpers. The theme speaks for itself.

- Haunted and Wild West: Again, the theme speaks for itself. The ghost of Billy the Kid might be a good idea for this one.

- Haunted Artists: Dress up as zombie Elvis or maybe you want to be like werewolf Micheal Jackson from Thriller!

Add some great food to your party, since any Halloween party, be it adult Halloween or kiddy Halloween needs good food. While preparing the food and drinks, keep in mind that it’s Halloween and try and make the food look gross and scary. Make skull cupcakes, the moulds are available for purchase or take any red drink(alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and put it in a blood donation pouch. Maybe the carrots in your salad can look like the horns of the devil. Creativity is the key here.

Let’s move on to the costumes. Adult Halloween costumes like a Devil costume, serial killer costume, a zombie costume with it’s eyes lit and many more are available in your neighbourhood stores as well as on the internet.

Halloween

The Halloween traditions have changed over the millennia but the traditions of dressing up and celebrating are still going strong in the twenty-first century. Many adults have fond memories of Halloween past were they knocked on neighbor’s doors for treats and would like to recapture the experiences with their own party.

Start planning early or all the good costumes will be gone and friends will have other plans. If you are invited to a Halloween party at short notice here are two costumes which are easy to sort when you lack time and money, James Bond for the guys and a St Trinian’s school girl for the gals. The men only need a very smart suit or tuxedo with a toy gun and holster (sold in most supermarkets at this time of year).

The women need a short black skirt and white shirt a staple in most wardrobes, buy or borrow a tie, accompany with fishnet hose or stockings add high heels and you have your outfit. For extra effect do your hair differently then normal for example spiky or plaits, experiment with temporary hair mascara and outrageous earrings.

The important thing to remember about Halloween is that no costume is too outrageous and it is a brilliant time to experiment. So enjoy Samhain with your friends and remember you are celebrating an ancient tradition.

D. Houston

Adult Costume Opportunities

1. Themed parties - as I enjoy dressing up I usually make my birthday in November a fancy dress party so that my friends and family can get good use out of their costumes. This is also good for New Year or any other kind of party. Also of course the Halloween get together after all the children are in bed.

2. Charity Events – if you are fund raising for charity no matter what the event is, fire walking, sponsored walk or abseiling, doing it in fancy dress is always much more fun and gets you more fund raising cash. You also look great in the pictures although obviously long dresses are not advisable for certain activities. Have your own charity party with all the proceeds going to your favourite charity, everyone will love it.

3. Get your picture in the paper – if you are trying to raise the profile of a charity or whatever cause you are promoting, one of the best ways is to wear fancy dress or your old Halloween costume. Many people only check out the marathon newspaper stories for the pictures of the runners in fancy dress.

4. Having a laugh – Make a spectacle of your self, nothing beats the tale of needing directions, when lost on the way to a party, like the punch line. It was a Halloween party and I had to get directions in full medieval vampire babe costume, with blood and fangs.

5. Fulfill your fantasy – if you have always wanted to be wonder woman or Han Solo this is the time of year that this is possible. Go wild! If you have always wanted to be Robin Hood and wear tights and swing a sword this is it, man or woman there are some great costumes out there!

If there is an item of clothing you have always wanted to buy but could not find a good enough reason pick a suitable character outfit and buy it. I always wanted a long green velvet cloak and to complete my medieval lady costume I bought it but it is also great over my Christmas and New Year party outfits and any other time I want to cause a stir.

I don’t know about you but Halloween is my favourite holiday of the year. It is time to dress up wild and even sexy, who would dare complain on this most fun of holidays.

D. Houston

In the last ten to twelve years, the concept of Halloween has evolved to include something that can be called Adult Halloween. The products like costumes, candy etc. which are presumed to be the attraction for children have become a major attraction for adults as well. Perhaps the adults started getting involved in the celebrations to monitor and keep a watch on their children but this idea has now been surpassed by the idea of adult Halloween. The retail sector is making huge profits due to the said notion of adult Halloween and the only time of the year that witnesses more adult parties is New Year’s Eve. Perhaps the adults see this as a time to get out of their otherwise monotonous lives and dress up to become someone else, even if just for a day. Sure Halloween is fun for kids but that doesn’t mean that it can not be enjoyed by adults, hence we provide some ideas for Adult Halloween.

Adult Halloween parties are usually themed in different manners. Themes like Nuclear Devastation where you cover your home with glowing stickers(radioactive look) and have your guests dress as zombies, burn victims, mutants etc. or Hell and Heaven theme where guests come as demons, angels or Satan himself are good adult Halloween themes. The basic idea would be to take any normal day to day theme and spook it up. A few examples could be Zombie Christmas, Wild Ghostly West, Haunted Singers or anything else you might come up with.

In any adults Halloween party, one of the most important things to keep in mind is great food. Based on the theme for an adult Halloween party, the food could come in many varieties. The basic idea is to make even the food look scary, sometimes even giving it a gross outlook. Having food that looks like human body parts is a good idea for Halloween food. Cupcake moulds shaped in the form of skulls are available for retail which can be a good idea as well. Serving any drinks (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) with spooky twists is another trademark of adult Halloween parties. For example take any red cocktail and serve it in a blood donation pouch.

Adult Halloween costumes like Devil costumes, insane serial killer costume, zombie with it’s eyes lit up, spooky skull caps, witch costumes, gothic vampire costumes are all good ideas and are available for retail online as well as in stores. Adult Halloween games and props include Spooky Jello shots, light up tarantula(a huge tarantula which has glowing eyes etc. at night). Adult Halloween hence has become quite a big part of Halloween nowadays.

Donna Houston