Halloween is a merger of ‘Hallow’ and ‘Evening’ from ‘All Hallows Evening.’ It is an annual celebration to honor or hallow all known and unknown saints. ‘Hallow’ means ‘to glorify, sanctify or acknowledge the holiness and greatness’ as in the prayer of our Lord ‘Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be your name.’ Halloween begins at sundown on the 31st of October and ends at sundown on the 1st of November. Halloween festivities include guising or trick-or-treat, costume parties, carving pumpkins, Jack o’ Lanterns, bonfire lighting, imitating or visiting haunted sites, scary storytelling, watching horror films, and playing pranks or practical jokes. Halloween is a relatively new festival, and the earliest records show the guising at Halloween in Scotland in the year 1895 when participants in disguise, carrying lanterns made of scooped out pumpkins, visited home to home and were rewarded with cakes, candies, or money. However, no records show any evidence of such an activity in America or Europe before 1900. Trick-or-treat is a common practice during Halloween when kids go home to home and ask for either being given a  treat or to get ready for a trick or mischief. Scary, supernatural beings, fighters, sexy characters, and superheroes costumes predominate among the other Halloween costumes.

1. Presidential Candidates Halloween masks

Halloween is not only fun for kids, but adults, both men and women, participate particularly when it comes to the political or presidential costumes. Obama and Mitt Romney masks and costumes are the 2012 best-selling Halloween costumes. Mitt Romney’s comment about the Sesame Street  Big Bird caused a great stirring. Kids all over the world were shocked to know of Romney’s promise to kill Big Bird. Mentioning the entities he would stop funding, Romney said to the moderator, ‘I’m sorry, Jim. I’m going to stop the subsidy to PBS. I’m going to stop other things. I like PBS. I love Big Bird. I actually like you, too. But I’m not going to keep on spending money on things to borrow money from China to pay for it.’ Obama masks outsold Romney masks by 30 percent in 2012, and it predicted the outcome of the election precisely.

2. Ninja Costumes

Ninja Turtles are the evergreen Halloween costumes loved by the pizza-loving  kids almost everywhere the world over. Headed by Sensi, the rat having human characteristics, the Mutant Ninja Turtles team comprises four members: Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo. They like to live in isolation in the sewers of New York City and fight criminals. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles costumes are liked especially by teenagers as Halloween guisers. Kid’s favorite Ninja Costumes include: Camo Ninja Warrior, Haunted Mirror Ninja, and Samurai Ranger. For the sake of completeness, kids like to wear the classic ninja weapons including: Ninja nunchucks, Ninja Sais weapon, long Ninja sword, and other Ninja accessories.

3. Sexy Halloween Costumes

Every year more and more adults are actively participating in Halloween festivities. People used to be content with decorating their private entrances with carved pumpkins called Jack o’ Lanterns. With the rising trend in adult participation, the sales of sexy costumes too are on the rise. Masquerade balls were costumed dances for the elite, but  Halloween now extends an opportunity for all adult women to wear sexy costumes as they fancy. Cougars, wild cats, and leopard costumes are among the most popular in this class of costumes. Accessories include headbands, fox fur ears and tails. The Racy Raccoon costume is also among the favorites. Wearing embellished masks and sexy stockings are liked by a dream girl and a playboy.

4. Vampires

Vampires are the mythical creatures which survive on the essence of life, usually on blood. In addition to being transferred in the form of folklore. the vampires had been a subject of interest for writers since long ago. John Polidori’s novella, The Vampire, was written in 1819. Varney the Vampire is also an important work in vampire literature. Bram Soker’s novel Dracula was published in 1897 and forms the basis of all the modern vampires, and the vampire costumes are considered a very popular Halloween costume. Dracula gummies are the kids’ favorite confectionery product during Halloween.

5. Zombie Costume

A zombie is an ambulant, dead body deprived of self-consciousness but capable of reacting to external stimuli. The term is sometimes applied to a hypnotized person who acts at the will of others. The zombie Obama mask was an attraction for some adult Halloween participants. The mask, made of natural rubber latex, featured a grayish zombie resembling Obama with blood-smeared teeth and a grin on its face. George A. Romero’s 1968 film Night of the Living Dead is a favorite film to watch at Halloween. A few of the popular zombie costumes are:  Zombie Obama, White Zombie Romney, and Josh Romney Zombie.

6. Werewolf Costume

A werewolf is a mythical creature having the combined features of human beings and wolves. A distinguishing feature of werewolves is that they are many times more powerful than both human beings and wolves. They can run faster than both, and their teeth are sharper than ordinary wolves. Werewolf costumes are among the most popular horror costumes preferred by boys over many other Halloween horror costumes. Werewolves can change shape particularly on nights with a full moon. Boys’ werewolves costumes are made of plush fur and contain three-dimensional, resin teeth. They also include plush fur, claws, and tails.

7. The Ghost Costume

A ghost is a personified spirit or soul as believed traditionally in fiction. Since long ago there has prevailed an art of communicating with dead souls, and it is known as necromancy. Ghosts appear as transparent, translucent, or opaque models of the dead persons. Ghost costumes sometimes comprise of a simple, white sheet wrapped around in a particular manner to give a ghostly look. At times the costume is meant to feature the angel of death with a skelton printed on it and showing the skull, ribs, and other bones. Using gauze with the mask makes it more frightening.

8. Pussy Riot

Pussy Riot is a Moscow-based punk rock band known for their being pro-feminist, pro-LGBT rights, and anti-church, and anti-Putin. They wear bright balaclavas, and along with their 11-member team, are known for their provocative, guerilla performances. On February 21, 2012, the five members of the team performed in a way that provoked authorities and they were arrested. The hooliganism shown by Pussy Riot constitutes a perfect theme for Halloween, and experts recommend the Pussy Riot costume by using a gaudy-colored dress, bright tights, colorful balaclava, handcuffs, an opposition against authority, and a transparent cage.

9. The Aliens’ Science Fiction Costume

Although there is no conclusive evidence about the existence of any extraterrestrial life, yet a few scientists do not rule out the possibility. Writers of science fiction are far ahead of them and have created various aliens out of their imagination. Optimus Prime is a leader of transforming robots called Autobots from the planet Cybertron. He is a strong, right, and dedicated being to protect all life on planet Earth. The Optimus adult costume comprises a red-sleeved jumpsuit, matching chest piece, matching block cuffs, blue gloves, white pants, and a sky blue helmet.

10. The Fairy Costume

Most of the Halloween characters are fighters, riotous, sexy, fictitious scientists, superheroes, or feature some supernatural beings. One type of character, variously known as a fairy, wee folk, and good folk, or fair folk remained constant and unchanged throughout the evolutionary stages of Halloween. Depicted in the form of flowers, butterflies, and birds and similar other non-scary forms, the fairies are the most preferred Halloween costumes by little girls without whom no Halloween festival can be considered a complete festival.

Conclusion:

The Halloween festival is still in its early, evolutionary stages. Its festivities have drifted away from its name. And except for praying for the departed souls or the presence of fairies, there does not seem to be anything related to saints in it. The element of scariness seems to be its quintessential focus. Halloween originated as a children’s festival, but later on both men and women joined it at a progressively increasing rate. A few of the adult participants utilize costumes to look sexy and to expose more of their skin than what would have been otherwise socially unacceptable.