mirror ball 8: my favorite halloween costume

My favorite Halloween costume was:

Tanya: Lucille Ball was my favorite costume that I wore! I was Lucy with bright red hair lips and all and my husband Al was Ricky sporting a tuxedo and bongo's.

Brian: One year I showed up at some friends' house with absolutely no plan, on Halloween night. It happened that the sister and sister's husband of my friend had been deciding to go out as the Jolly Green Giant and Sprout. Unfortunately for the sister (and fortunately for me) she had an important exam the next day that required much study and no shennanigans. I adorned myself with green body paint, super huge boxer shorts with green felt leaves hot glued to them and a green felt hat. Now, I'm relatively thin but measure about 6'1" in height, so can imagine how big the Green Giant was..... We co-won a costume contest, the prize being free entrance to really cool party at an old church. We (six of us) piled into a taxi and arrived in time for the first band. From then on I don't remember much except that I was dripping body paint due to the rain. I awoke the next morning in my own bed, not remembering how I had arrived or how I'd washed myself; the only evidence of my debauchery being streaks of green on the shower wall.

Terence: The Corpse of Marion Crane 1981

In 1981 I was wandering down a flight of stairs in the NY subway system and spied a pair of then vintage early 60's white sling back stilettos. The store was going out of business so for something like 12 bucks the great goddess Dragoona arranged that these shoes be my size. The old dude in the store gave me a knowing look as I inspected the goods the vibe was he knew that I knew that he knew there was gender bending a foot. These treasures had never been worn and they had probably been in his inventory for at least 20 years.

I ran around the corner to my friends on 61st St. because putting them on was a must. I plunged my feet into ice cold water and ransacked the kitchen for cornstarch 'cause who used powder. Dusted my feet with corn starch and voila! the shoes fit and as the phrase then went they were truly cunty. As a matter of fact I almost wore them out later that evening with just a black trench coat that I had because by that time I'd shaved my legs and gotten a hold of some frosted pink lipstick, my hair was gender non specific a sort of lopsided flying wedge cut that tumbled over one eye- I was under 25.I did not understand why my friend Timothy would not go out with me dressed like that. I mean we were going to CowBoys and CowGirls a notorious hustler bar on 53rd St not the corporate dining room @ Lehman Brothers for the love of Pete- Lehman Brothers oh yes they were big business back then but now just like the little old guy in the subway they had to close the door and ponder a life beyond avarice. I decided not to go out take me as I am or leave me be said I. Instead I packed up my finery and went home. Once there I put my shoes back on so I could scandalize my mousy room mate who was running around the kitchen in his coke bottle glasses cooking and kvetching about his job at the ad agency. He was mid sentence detailing the agony of his chronic ulcer when he spotted the shoes. I quipped that I was feeling very Janet Leigh as by this time I had also found a blonde dynell 60's bouffant wig that just happened to be in my closet.

Janet Leigh, bullet braed sexy risky sweet Marion Crane of Psycho fame yes that was it that would be my Halloween costume. I left Mr. MaGoo to his meatloaf and went right to my sketch pad to make notes. I would be the corpse of Marion Crane the revenge of Marion Crane. The Marion who rose up out of the shower wrapped the shower curtain around her curves put on her sling backs and went up to the house to give Norman and Mama what for. Halloween was a week out and there were quite a few parties- I kept theJanet/ Marion under wraps I wanted people to get it without explanation I mean who hadn't feasted on a Psycho sensibility? Who hadn't wanted to steal big bucks and dash off into the arms of John Gavin. The round of parties started on Long Island at the hacienda, the comfortable and antiseptic Spanish style family home of the Rakoff's. Drew Rakoff was a friend of a friend who was in and out of the closet with the changing seasons. Drew got a big kick out of my "shenanigans" and was really cutting loose that particular season with a Miss Piggy mask and blue lurex fish tail gown I whipped up in a gay heart beat. Drews parent's were off to Boca to buy property so we had the place to our selves-he invited a core of renegades and weekend rebels for the celebration. I spent the afternoon stoned on some good stuff from Belize and tried to work out the blood stained shower curtain and of course the treasured sling backs that I would wear. I got way into slashing the shower curtain while listening to Procol Harem and then it came time to do a Jackson Pollack with red enamel paint Which I also did listening to Procol Harem, Whiter Shade of Pale was totally inspiring me that day and I played it all afternoon and evening it inspired my makeup in ways I could never convey nor would I try to I was on a very solitary trip as was Marion Crane really. In my separate reality I failed to notice that red enamel paint had gotten all over the garage-the floor which didn't even have an oilstain on it had these great splotches of red paint all over-drop cloths apparently were a foreign material in this project and more to the point they would have cramped my style.

My shower curtain dried I took forever with my makeup teased and finger fucked my wig to perfection slipped on my now "blood" stained stilettos.

As fortune would have it I ran into John "Bats" Bartlomeo and his wall eyed girlfriend Denise Randazzo on my way into the den where the party was underway. What the fuck were they doing here? Bats was the biggest greaser from our high school and Denise was a medical miracle having lived with fetal alcohol syndrome to the now ripe age of 27. They both didn't need to dress for Halloween they were terrifying in plain sight. When Bats caught sight of me he said "Oh Fuck me" to which I replied "Not if I were bleeding to death" uncannily Denise had a great ear probably because she was speech impaired and nearly blind and you know how a deficiency with one of the senses can heighten another. It was either that or a some latent canine DNA that both she and Bats had thus the attraction-You know dogs have very sensitive ears. Well whatever it was Denise got my voice and said "That's that fucking queer who dressed up in that prom gown and got on the carousel at the fricken Bazaar last year-the same fuckin queer." You see Denise and I were in the same Algebra class for three consecutive years until I passed with a D and she had to leave school after her second abortion which was a close call for her and the fetus-I would lie awake at night thinking of what that child would have looked like. There is actually a creature in a diorama at The Museum of Natural History and when I go there I always stop by and look at it because I am sure that's what Denise and Bats's baby would have looked like. I asked Denise who she was for Halloween and she said Mary Jo Kopechne and that Bats was Ted Kennedy which did explain the fact that Bats was carrying a steering wheel and Denise's pallor but then Denise always looked as if she had been drown, in old oil from a dirty shrimp wok. Mary Jo Kopechne, "Wow" I said I haven't heard that name in years too bad the bridge at Chappaquiddick wasn't really on your way to the party, think of it Dense you could have washed your hair on Martha's Vineyard! By the way Denise care to go to the front of the class and spell Chappaqqiudick No? Kopechne maybe? I shimmied away from them as best I could at that point and entered the party letting out a huge primal scream as if Mama Bates was wielding the butcher knife on me well Bats and Denise close enough. Later .. Denise had passed out Bats asked if he could have a toke of some hash I was smoking. I was alone at that point in the driveway taking a break from the indoors. He nudged his steering wheel into my shower curtain and said if I ever need a lift or anything or if I ever wanted him to drive me anywhere...I said "Bat's honey do you really think you could get a license for that? Really?" Yeah he said its all 100% legal. "Well, it may be but it aint got no steering column and you wouldn't want to take a big girl like me out on the open road without a steering column would you?" We screamed with laughter when I recounted that story long after Bats passed out and Denise drove them home. But no one screamed more than Drew did when he saw the inside of the garage.

It was the next afternoon and we had put the inside of the house back together and really it looked as if Jennifer, the Rakoff's maid had just left. But the garage was a whole other story. Drew started out furious with me but then suddenly the terror of his parents coming home to find anything other than their immaculate home was more than he could bear. I told him not to worry, that with some turpentine and a steel brush I could clean up the mess. Well, I couldn't, the garage floor became this pink swirling mess which I thought was a fitting justice this being part of Mr. Rakoff's prideful domain. You see there was no love lost between Norman Rakoff and I. The first afternoon I rang Drew's bell when we were still in high school, serious business I was delivering pot. Norman came to the door and when he saw me unapologetically turned away yelling into the house "Hey Drew your faggy friend is here" I was not to be intimidated I figured if I made Norman uncomfortable that was my just revenge so I always pushed my wardrobe to the limit when I went to deliver to Drew.

The floor got dealt with, we finally decide to paint it with porch paint and we did it a light gray which took many coats. It hadn't quite dried when the electric "eye" opened the door and Norman and his wife drove over the surface got out and both screamed a frenzied primal sound as their shoes stuck to the garage floor. Marion Crane was alive and screaming on Long Island.

Martha: My favorite Halloween costume was when I was the "Queen of Hearts." I bought two pieces of white poster board and drew a giant rendering of a queen I copied from a playing card. I was about 11 years old and it was really elaborate. I used pencil and markers--no tracing, no photocopies and no computers! I dressed completely in red and wore the cards over my shoulders like a sandwich board. I flapped when I ran from house to house.

Garrett: my favorite Halloween costume was a monarch butterfly that my father stayed up all night making- painting the wing pattern meticulously. This was first grade.I was so proud to be a beautiful butterfly in the afternoon Halloween pageant in the schoolyard until the wing support broke and my wings flopped. I cried and didn't get them repaired in time for nightime trick or treating and so I was reduced to being a ghost which, obviously, was quite lame in comparison.

Phoebe: My favorite costume was when I was about 22, I was Sally from Nightmare before Christmas. I made the dress by hand (which was the first dress I ever made - from my eye - no pattern was used). I wore a wig, painted my skin blue and drew the stitches along my visible limbs. It was fabulous, and I felt totally transformed. The only problem, it was so damn itchy! The dress was hand painted burlap, and the make-up and wig...eeek.

John: When I was, what, maybe 8 years old, I wore a "little black dress" of velvet that my sister Erika had made for herself and a pair of my mom's black stiletto heels. I can still remember the feeling of those spiky heels sinking into people's lawns as I made the trick-or-treat rounds.

Stephanie: My favorite Halloween Costume was the hand-made dinosaur costume I came up with when I was a Freshman in college. I have a picture of myself, that is in a photo album somewhere. It was pretty bad, but it was my favorite, because of the use of card board, a belt, green felt, glue and green leotards.

Hannah: When I was in sixth grade at a small private school in Toledo, Ohio, a brand of clothing called 'multiples' was very popular. One element of this shape-shifting clothing line was 'The Tube' which was essentially a stretchy tube of patterned fabric that could be worn as a belt or a headband or a neckerchief (!). My friends and I thought they made super cool mini-skirts. We paired those with off the shoulder shirts and mom's high heels that we couldn't walk in, banana clips and insane makeup. We called ourselves 'punks', but I'm pretty sure we actually looked like a pack of 80s prostitutes.