Mighty morphing

Every year October 31st rolls around, and thou I don’t usually partake in the dressing up, one can’t help but imagine all the possibilities such a day brings. It’s not necessarily socially acceptable to be running down the street dressed like a killer clown in the middle of June, as you know that’s just weird, and some frightful eye might actually report you, and I dunno, you might find some shiny handcuffs complimenting your ensemble. Thou you’re dressed as a clown, you’re most likely to miss the humor in that.

Halloween is like the time of the year you can live out your year long desires. From month to month, every time you pass the costume store (I always wonder how costume stores fare beyond the ghoulie season, surely most of their revenue comes from the time of terror. I imagine a costume store owner holding up a sign in February like a pleading homeless, ‘will dress up for spare change’). But out of curiosity you might meander in, taking in the scenes, the whimsical decorations, the feathered scarfs in the brightest array of colours, the over pronounced nose attached to a moustache and glasses, everything from pirate costumes (which is so 1600’s) to Egyptian pharaoh costumes (if you’re a fan of obscure history), if your going down the Egyptian route, one simply cannot overlook wrapping their hands around the all mystifying ‘mummy’ costumes, and no I don’t mean the name you call your mother when you are scared.

You’ll be hard pressed to find something scarier than a millennia old decaying body, embalmed in loosely fitting gauze like wraps from head to toe, going ‘uhhh…uhhhh..uuhhhhhhh’ as they race towards you in nail biting, eye popping, garden snail pace. Come to think about it, how could something so slow be scary? The average toddler could leave it eating dust. No wonder mummies are never present in track and field in the Olympics, the whole event would unravel at the seams.

Other popular costume ideas, especially with the females, is the over played undead nurse, or undead maid, or undead anything really. Sure, it mixes the spirit of the times with a little sexuality, and I think that adds to its scare factor. Imagine walking down a dimly lit street at night, the streets are silent, the air is cold, a steady rain is falling. Then from the distance, a silhouette manifests, your enticed by her tight-fitting white uniform (let’s pretend the subject of this story is a male), her long hair covers her features, she draws nearer, this could be one your fantasies fulfilled. Around her neck is a stethoscope, which is appropriate, as your heart begins to race at this point. The distance between youse dwindles, the electric tension between the two bodies intensifies. With 3 more little steps, she is finally standing before you. You can see her features now, she’s attractive, actually unbelievably attractive. She runs her hands down your chest, for some reason you can’t shake off the feeling, the urge to plant a fat one in her plump lips. She notices that (your no master of disguise), she cuffs her hands in the base of your neck, and gently pulls you in, you offer no resistance. The turbulent weather picks up, a lightning strike, with the blinding flash of light you lose focus for a bit, when your vision settles again, there isn’t a beautiful nurse before you, no, now there is a terrifying grimace before you, her face is slashed, stiches circling her forehead, her deranged smile extended by slits in both sides, her teeth are stained with blood. You try and pull away once you see this startling image, but too late, she has you in her grasps, and her unnatural strength is far more than you can challenge. You scream and struggle, but there’s no one to hear, as she begins to eat your face out (literally). Now that’s a spooky story, and that’s why I think the ‘undead’ theme has so much potential.

I’ve always had a penchant to dress up as a power ranger. Yes, mighty morphing, giant monster dwarfing, super formation forming, teenage warriors, in tasteful little skin tight suits. (was it just me who got excited when they did their little co-ordinated dances before summoning their zoids? Matter fact, before every move they would do a little skit, always looked like they were about to throw down in a breakdance battle).

Well! Which one of the transforming heroes would I have gone with you might ask? There’s really only one choice there. The Red Ranger. I may not be posted to overlook a forest, or defeat intergalactic villains, but I would stroll the streets with a new found confidence, as onlookers wonder, who is the man behind the mask. And I think the costume adds to the fascination of the crowds, I mean every good superhero has a costume, it’s like a pre-requisite. Think about it, Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, the list goes on. We identify the hero and what they stand for in the first milli-seconds of seeing them. Simple equation, badass superhero + badass costume = instant win. It’s no wonder superhero or super heroine costumes have been all the rave during our many Halloweens.

But given the current situation we find ourselves in, I actually came up with a costume idea that I feel falls in line with our current crisis. What is it you might ask? Well, an infected surgeon, fully equipped with that light blue facial mask (‘cause preventing the spread is of paramount importance!). The story begins in a hospital somewhere (ideal), a foreign airborne virus is transmitted by the patient in the operation room, the other surgical staff immediately become contaminated. The evil virus quickly makes short work of their flesh, boils and cuts develop in their skin, bundles of blood spews from their mouth. They become no more than walking corpses before finally succumbing to the foreign invader and elapsing (terminally). In the middle of the surgical room, littered with festering bodies, stands the surgeon, a scalpel in hand, his scrubs stained by blood from the procedure he was doing. His half there/ half not, rashes developing in his skin. He stumbles into the corridor, he has this zombie like expression on his face, the blood covered mask masquerades his deranged smile, as he struggles with keeping sane under the influence of the pathogen that penetrates deeper and deeper into every cell. The orderlies and other nurses run away from his terrifying presence, he looks at his hands, and raises the scalpel. He tries to fight it, but this virus is smart, it’s intelligent, and it almost has remote control over him. Thoughts ring in his mind to deafening effect, they ask him to commit the unthinkable… Now how’s that for a virus inspired horror story? Dressed as the infected surgeon, that would be my cover story as I socialise over drinks at a mates Halloween costume party (that is definitely not happening this year.) ☹

So, though Halloween will be a little different this year, I think people should still dress up and take up another persona, even if only for just a few hours. I think our fascination for dress up stems from the fact that when in a costume we allow ourselves to be something more than our every day, perhaps monotonous existence. You could be a fairy, a dragon, a caveman, a pilot, anything your imagination can produce. You simply put on the attire, and are endowed with the superpower of a new identity. Maybe it comes from the child in all of us, those endless hours in our childhood playing dress up and make believe. So, though I may not be able to put on the infected surgeon mask (ironic based on what we are facing), or the power ranger suit this year, I will keep morphing on.