Here comes Halloween

In less than 10 days, Halloween will be upon us again.  It's one of my favorite holidays.  I love it so much because, for anyone who knows me, I LOVE CANDY.  I can't get enough of it.  I've lived on sugar since I was a little kid, when my uncle owned a penny candy store.  I would visit it with my family and we would raid the store and fill up bags and bags of candy.  My aunt wouldn't charge us anything, even though my uncle was never happy about it.  Today, I still eat close to a pound of candy per day.  (Yes, I've paid for it in dental bills many times over!)

I also love Halloween because I love creating costumes and entering contests.  I got into it because I had a friend long ago, Bruce Polin, who was the most talented kid on the planet.  At 13 years old, he was a make-up artist and he would create all sorts of creatures which were on par, or better than, most of the movie studio make-up artists.  He inspired me to start creating my own costumes.  Some were my own ideas and some were taken from other costumes I had seen, but I would try to recreate them in my own look and feel.  I have been an "upside-down man", a "giant pillow" (along with a bunch of other pillow friends bouncing into each other at Studio 54 - yes, I'm dating myself again), a "martian", a "Victoria's Secret" model, a "half-man/half woman" (vertical split), a "Centaur", a giant (really, really giant) "spider", "Regan" from the Exorcist, the "Corpse Bride", a "punk rocker", "Michael Jackson", and more.  My favorite of all time, however, is the "Headless Man."  I received more compliments and turned more heads (pun intended) than any other costume ever.  I have re-created this costume with various cut-off heads a few times.  I've won more contests with this costume than any other.

Here is one version of it (a Frankenstein version) which you can click on to enlarge:

Admittedly, this was not my favorite version.  I had one which was much scarier and creepier, but I can't seem to locate a picture of it.  Regardless, this will give you an idea of how much time and effort I put into creating my costumes, because I simply love the holiday.

When my kids were younger, they would ask me every year (for a few weeks before the start of the holiday) "What costume are you going to wear daddy?".  They would get so excited about it, but I would avoid telling them until I completed it.  They were always shocked.  My wife, fortunately, would often help me with some of the sewing and assembly.  It was a big effort each year, but well worth the fun.

I started a Halloween contest at the company where I worked for over 20 years, when the company had just started out.  At the time, there were six people, and only three of us wore costumes.  Twenty years later, there were over 200 people wearing costumes at the company, and it became the most-anticipated party of the year.  Now, so many more people I know get into the Halloween spirit and it helps bring out the kid in all of us.

This year, just go for it.  Create a costume, or if you don't have the time, go out and buy one, and go trick-or-treating with your kids...or if you live near NYC, go to the parade in the village to see some absolutely insane costumes.  Either way, bring out the kid in you, have fun, be safe and enjoy.