Halloweenie Costume Review

I have to report that creativity among my neighborhood kids was way down for Halloween costumes this year.

Darth Vader made a strong showing. Most were the familiar -- vaguely Freudian silhouette -- black helmet versions. One kid wore Jedi robes with burn make-up for extra points.

Batman was a close second. (I thought the movie revenues were down this summer? You wouldn't know it to see costume picks.) and several Spiderman clones. (But not one Scarlet Spider, for you clone afficionadoes.) We had a few cowboys, but my wife pointed out they were probably Woody from Toy Story. (Insert your own sophomoric joke here.) There were exactly two boy pirates, and a lonely little ninja. But at least the ninja had a great costume with twin swords. There was one confused teenager wearing basketball shorts, football shoulder pads and a baseball hat. Thankfully, we had only one group of teenagers too cool for costumes.

Hey, if you're too cool for costumes, you're too cool to beg for candy. Sorry.

Costumes for girls seemed even less varied. Four kinds: Princesses, witches, lady pirates, and babies (pajamas, pig tales, and pacifiers). My wife commented that girls who choose to dress like princesses and babies may have some psychological attachment to the notion of helplessness. She wondered about their self-image.

We dressed our little girl as a ladybug. Cute.

As for me. I wore my Punisher skull T-shirt over black jeans, combat boots, and under a black trenchcoat. My wife would've killed me but good if I wore the matching gunbelt, so I left it nealty folded on the shelf. Maybe she was right, I got compliments from a couple of adults who thought it was just a spooky shirt. The one kid who recognized me got an extra peanut butter cup.


Not me, but a reasonable facsimile...