I had two tried and true costumes when I was a kid: gypsy and hippie. Some might say that they are very similar and to that, I say, true. My mom liked easy costumes and I usually just went along with it. Hey, when you’re getting to eat candy (a rarity in my house growing up), you get what you get and you don’t get upset.

Now that I’m an “adult” (loose interpretation), it’s less about me dressing up and more about the kids. We let them choose their costumes at this point.

My boys are cuckoo for Halloween so we begin discussing costuming options in September. This year they settled on being a pirate (surprisingly the harder of the two costumes to track down) and the werewolf. Not what I would have picked but I suppose we need to allow for independent thinking and all that.

Every summer, my sister would start planning her Halloween costume. She always created intricate, creative and unique costumes over three to four months. I was always impressed. She labored over what she would be months ahead of time, and she would repeatedly ask me about my plans. My response was ambivalent.  I didn’t know and I didn’t care. I usually figured it out the week before trick-or-treat night.  And while my sister was always stylish, I regularly placed comfort before style.

 Over the years, I was a genie, a vampire, a 50s rocker, a prairie girl. I was a turtle, a ballerina, a witch and Underdog. But most often, I dressed as a ghost.

As a young girl, I was obsessed with Casper the Friendly Ghost. I know I am totally dating myself here, but I loooooved Casper. Perhaps because he was bright, happy being in a season where the goal was to scare one another.  I think I went as the neighborhood’s friendliest ghost for three or four straight years – I used a plastic mask and a hand sewn… uh… sack, which I think was made from a white sheet.

I loved to trick-or-treat with friends and family, to flee from house to house gathering all sorts of goodies, then sorting them into piles once I was back home. Now, I love to hand candy out to the kids who come to my own door. (Albeit, six kids usually knock on my door. Those kids get awesome candy.)

I rarely dress up for costume parties as an adult. Trust me, when you’re an October baby, costume parties get really old, REALLY FAST. It – however – has happened several times. I’ve been a 60s mod girl, Little Red Riding Hood, but most often, I wear scrubs and pose as a doctor or surgeon.  Hubs has gotten in on that action as well.

BEST COSTUME EVER. I add a plastic stethoscope and voila. I am good to go.

Brooke

I have always loved Halloween, because I love dressing up and playing make-believe, and also it’s in the same month as my birthday, so it feels like a very long celebration. The candy is okay too.

We used to trick-or-treat at the mall when I was a kid, and my mom dressed me in some pretty cool costumes. One year, my brother and I were the cutest ever Raggedy Ann and Andy. When I was seven, my mom let me dress as a punk rocker, complete with pink streaks in my hair. My favorite though, was the year I turned six. My mom made a movie star costume for me, and let me wear dangly “diamond” earrings, a sparkling necklace and my grandmother’s fur coat, which was the softest thing I’d ever felt in my life. And she let me borrow her HIGH HEELS. I felt so special; wearing pretty make-up and mom’s shoes and jewelry.

One of my favorite adult costumes is one I wore last year, when I was pregnant. Josh dressed as Linus and I made a t-shirt with Snoopy’s face on my belly.

Jess

I have possibly the worst memory in the world, tied only with my mom (thanks for passing that along, Mama Jess), so it’s hard for me to drudge up the various things I dressed up as when I was little. There is one gloriously strange costume that sticks out for me, when I was 7 or 8. I was a bunny. And not just any bunny. I was Hammer Bunny. As in MC Hammer, people. I was kind of obsessed. Not sure why I had to throw the bunny angle in there.

You might wonder what this costume consists of. It goes a little something like this: a super-stylish white Hanes sweatshirt and sweatpants, most likely bought at Costco; white bunny ears attached to a headband (headband headache, CHECK); a rubber bunny nose with buck teeth that should have been called Sweat-Maker; and, of course, sunglasses. That was the MC Hammer part.

I wish I had a picture of that, but I’m sure I burned them all somewhere along the way. I did manage to dig up a random picture of me in what looks like a pilgrim costume, however.

I kind of lost interest in Halloween once I was too old to trick or treat. But since having Bug – and since this is his first Halloween, AHHH! – my love for this holiday has been renewed. Probably because I get to dress him up, parade him around, and then eat all of his candy. Hey, he’s too young for now! I’m doing him a favor.

All right, Scooters, it’s your turn! What are you going to be for Halloween this year? What was your all-time favorite costume? Tell us in the comments!