Ghosts of Halloween Pasts

It is surprising that Halloween is not my favorite holiday with my penchant for costumes, but it just cannot compete with Christmas. Not to say that I have not enjoyed a Halloween costume a time or two. I have worn many that hold fond memories for me...some not so fond.

Raggedy Ann-As ninth graders, it might not have been the coolest costume idea, but my friend Janelle and I thought this would be a cute idea. I sewed two red yarn wigs, one with bows for me and a Raggedy Andy wig for Janelle. We were going to a Halloween party and it only seemed reasonable that we would go dressed as a pair because we were always 'quite a pair'. I think my boyfriend at the time was a nun at the party. Can you imagine that picture?

Clown-Normally, I think clowns are creepy, but I was a cute clown. My mom sewed some great costumes when we were little. She created an angel, Indian, and clown costumes with her sewing machine. I remember my mom drawing big, red circles on my cheeks so I would have a proper clown costume. I wore this costume for more than one year because I really liked it. Plus, I think she made it big enough to fit the required snowsuit for a North Dakota Halloween.

HoBo-I dressed as a residentially challenged person in the fourth grade. Why? I have no idea. I thought it would be fun to dress up in old, beat up clothes. The strange thing is that I was not the only HoBo in the class. I also remember that I got in some serious trouble right before the class party because I wrote a mean note to a girl classmate the way fourth grade girls do.

Greg Downer-Who is Greg Downer, you ask? Well, he was a man on our college campus who was famous for very few showers, lots of keg stands, wearing a Primo Beer shirt, and a pleather jacket straight from some 70's detective show. He was in a fraternity that was famous for throwing water balloons at women as they walked by the house or streaking the campus. We had a similar pleather jacket at the house, so, we thought it would be SOOOOO funny if this was my costume along with the Primo Beer shirt. I went two days dirty so I could get into character. Looking back, it isn't so funny. But still a good memory.

Mental Patient-The traditional high school dance would make most girls want to dress in something cute like a little flapper outfit or cowgirl, but I thought it would be funny if I dressed up like a mental patient and he could be my doctor. That is not normal. I wrapped an ACE bandage around my head and wore a hospital gown with the hospital booties for my feet. I think someone should have said something to me like, "Sara, can't you just be a witch." No one did. But that was also the year that my friend Marisa dressed as a Hugo's cashier when they still wore the polyester neon green and navy blue jumpsuits and her date dressed as the bagboy. So, I wasn't the only "creative" one.