MEMORABLE HALLOWEEN COSTUMES

Rita: What’s got you so full of venom? The funny thing is that I’m getting a whale costume together for Halloween. You could go as a sewer rat and you wouldn’t need a costume. Now how ’bout you get asking our friends what Halloween costumes have etched their way into their memories. Lolita: Okay, line ’em up and tell me about your favorite Halloween costumes. CASEY DESMOND (Casey Desmond): I was Captain Planet in high school; I had a green mullet and blue skin and wore the red super hero undies on top of my blue body. The Power is YOURS! *** CHUCK U. (WMFO): I have two most memorable costumes. In 1995, the year of the 50th Anniversary of the Atomic Bomb droppings on Japan, I dressed in Japanesse sandals, an authentic kimono, and a grotesque face mask with an eye falling out its socket. I said I was a Habaksha—survivor the atomic bomb. It made people cringe. More recently, I let my feminine side show, and dressed as a female pumpkin. That is I wore psychedelic leotards under an orange mini-skirt, a bright orange pumpkin shirt, and a headband with two springy pumpkin Martian antennas. Not scary like the previous, but rather amusing. *** MICHAEL EPSTEIN (The Motion Sick/ Okay Thursday): I wore a yellow shirt and green pants and pinned a tissue to my head. I was snot on a tissue. It’s both a condition and a costume. *** MONIQUE ORTIZ (A.K.A.C.O.D.): I think it was back in ’98, Bourbon Princess played the Halloween show, upstairs at the Middle East. I went “tarred & feathered,” wearing nothing but black liquid latex with feathers pressed into it. Needless to say, it was a hit, but by the end of the night I had to borrow a trenchcoat because all the boys were peeling it off throughout the night... much to my extreme pleasure! I’ve since developed an allergy to latex. I knew there’d be a price to pay. *** TIM EMSWILER (The Noise): I was a girl for Halloween once when I was a kid, but that was traumatic for me, so instead I’ll talk about the time when I dressed up as a decomposing corpse. I truly looked disgusting, and as I walked through the streets of Allston on my way to a party, I reveled in the looks I was getting. I stopped at Store 24 to buy smokes, and had to remove the fake rotting teeth to make myself understood. The guy behind the counter was freaking out. He practically threw the cigarettes at me and said, “Here! You take these and go! NOW!” *** DICK TATE (The Prime Movers/ the Middle East):After serving in The Strangemen for five years, only wearing a costume on Halloween seem pretty tame. Try walking into a bikers bar with a two-foot high blonde wig and a silver suit on in the middle of August if you want scary. *** DANA COLLEY (Twinemen/ A.K.A.C.O.D.): The one Halloween costume that has remained purely conceptual is this: dressing up as a Taliban member with my soprano sax and going as Kenny Jihad. *** MIKE MacDONALD (…& the Widow Makers): A few years back I went as Lt. Dangle from Reno 911—short shorts and all. It was a hit with the ladies. *** PETER CHOYCE (KXLU.com): Instead of dressing up in elaborate, expensive costumes, I went the other way and won the contest when I was at Emerson. I put on a 99-cent witch’s mask from Store 24 and the rest of me wore NOTHING. You know me. The prize was about 100 dollars, too. The rich bitches at Emerson who spent so much on their walking condom costume were SO pissed at me and said the contest was unfair. Ha! *** SUSAN SCOTTI (Last Call Agency): I was dressed as Monica Lewinsky the year the story broke. I had on a blue dress with a “stain” on the front and wore a beret. I also handed out cigars. I won some sort of prize for the costume but I don’t remember what it was. *** SCOTT HARRISON (Burnt Fur): One year I attached extra arms to a shirt under the actual arms. Then I filled them with stuffing and fastened them with gloves to wrap around my waist. Then I painted my face blue and was “choking” for Halloween. *** STEPHIE PEEKA (… & The SeeKing 7): When I was a wee lass my brother made a dead on costume for me of Boba Fett (Star Wars) out of a motorcycle helmet complete with jet pack on my back. Lucas then gave him a job in the special effects department of ILM. Or should have. *** STIX SIGMA (The Hammond Group/ The Allstonians): My favorite Halloween costume was improvised at the last minute and borne of desperation—Drunk the Clown! A full Afro wig, clown make-up, pseudo-clown clothing, and several 40s of Haffenreffer were the answer to the annual question “what am I going to do about a costume?” *** NICHOLE CLARKE (Orange Nichole): One Halloween I attended a big party dressed as Clara Rockmore, theremin virtuoso. This may sound a little obscure now, but it was right after the movie Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey had come out and many of my friends had seen it. I arrived at the party and found to my surprise that my friend Mel was also dressed as Clara! Likely the only party ever with two Clara Rockmores. *** SAMMY MIAMI (Shööt The Möön): As a kid, I usually went as a member of Kiss. My mom’s mirror belt was the centerpiece for every costume. Now I wear it on stage! However, the most memorable costume I ever wore was after the second divorce when we moved into a bachelor pad on Halloween night. Upset that I was going to miss trick or treating without a costume, one of the roommates let me borrow his party costume. I remember it well because all the neighbors were appalled to see an eight-year-old kid dressed as a four-foot tall Miller Lite! Lolita: Sammy, it’s good to get started early, so you can learn how to deal with hangovers.