Halloween

For the past several years, I worked at a company where Halloween is a major event. I really enjoyed Halloweens there. Ninety percent of the employees dressed up in some way, and most of the departments performed some kind of performance for a half dozen company officers chosen to be judges. Some employees disliked the spectacle, but most seemed to enjoyed it. Some appreciated the teamwork the performances engendered, and some just liked the half a day of goofing off and eating treats.

The first time I participated in the festivities, my department did “80s prom.” We didn’t have a performance or anything, and only four of the seven members of our department even bothered dressing up (in 80s styles). Most of our fellow employees recognized our theme and dress, but ironically, the judges didn’t get it. That proved to be that department’s last group effort for Halloween.

The next year, a couple of people in the department dressed up, but just as individuals. As a last minute decision, I dressed up in a full grim reaper costume. None of my friends at work new my intention, and no one knew who the guy in the grim reaper costume was. The whole morning I said nothing to anyone. I just walked around, in black robes, skull mask, skeletal gloves, and with a scythe. My silence freaked some people out. By being quiet and withdrawn, I was the talk of the day. The whole thing was really cool, and it hooked me on dressing up for Halloween.

The next year, I tried the “unknown Halloweener” gimmick again. I had a monstrous mask and a bloody heart in a box. I had wanted to have a red robe and cloak, but because of material (cloth) complications, I went with black again. Unfortunately, that made the costume too similar to the grim reaper get up I wore the previous year. Although it was a completely different theme, the black robes prompted a couple people to comment, “Didn’t you wear that last year?” And to add irony, I had a couple people ask, “What are you supposed to be?”

The next year, I gave up on hiding my identity, and just went with what I thought would be fun and challenging. I used face paint and prosthetics to become a devil. My face and hands were red, my hair, eyebrows, mustache, goatee, and fingernails were black, my teeth were painted to look pointed, and I had pointed ears and horns. It took me about three hours to get all made up for that day, so I made sure to wear it all day and night. My, then, nine month old son was in a “little devil” suit to match me.

The next year, I was a killer clown. I had white base face paint with colorful mouth, nose, eyes, and hair. My jeans and white sweatshirt were covered in splattered blood, and I wielded a bloodstained butcher knife. Interestingly, I freaked out a couple people in the office who have “issues” with clowns. I also made sure to stay away from the kids who visited the office that day—didn’t want to give them nightmares, or give them clown issues, themselves.

The next year, I was a bloody zombie. I bought a suit from Goodwill, rolled it around in the dirt and grass, put on a face prosthetic, for the decomposing look, and painted myself up a dead gray. The look was pretty good, but that was my first time putting on a full face prosthetic, so it was flawed.

The next year, I was Captain America. My, then, 4 year old son was Spider-Man, and he wanted me to dress up with him. I gave up the bloody and scary for that year, and I made my Cap’n A costume from scratch. I had a professional shield maker craft my red, white, and blue round shield. My mother-in-law sewed the mask and cowl. The rest of it was all my work, right down to painting the shirt with the star and stripes. I had a muscle suit on under the outer costume, to give me the comic-book-style exaggerated physique.

I wore the costume to work for the morning, took it off after lunch, and then put it back on to go out trick-or-treating with my son that evening. My son absolutely loved it, and that was probably my biggest thrill, so far, with trick-or-treating. I had kids and adults approach me and comment on how cool my costume was. That was probably my most elaborate costume, and it required the most effort to get together. The trouble it proved to be nearly broke me of the Halloween spirit, but for one day, I was Captain America, and I loved it.

The next year, last year, I decided to scale back the overall effort and just do something cool but limited. I put on a face prosthetic and paint to look like the skin of my face had been cut and peeled off. Full face paint and prosthetics are very difficult to do by oneself, especially just in a normal bathroom mirror. It takes a long time, and mistakes are hard to correct. I made mistakes and cut corners that time, and I was unsatisfied with the end result. I could have done better.

Now this year, I am no longer at that company, so I have no plans to put on any costume or face. This is a shame and a relief. It’s a shame because I did enjoy wearing the costumes and faces, but it’s a relief because topping each previous year was starting to wear on me. I’m thinking about putting on some horns or a mask this year for trick-or-treating, but if I do anything like that, I’ll just recycle something from a previous year. Wearing costume prosthetics is fun, but putting them on is work.

So, to any of my old co-workers who may read this blog, send me pictures of the office this year. And if anyone asks about me, tell them that I’m in the office as the invisible man.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com