by Bill Todd

Created on: October 31, 2007

I've never been good with costumes. I couldn't even create a costume of a bum if I tried. I do remember costumes I've run into in the past, though, and each one of them was during a frightfully fun Halloween.
When I was in grade school in Nebraska, the school would have its annual parade. The leader of this parade was a 6th grade teacher who always dressed as a traditional pirate. This was because had an actual peg leg. I don't know how he lost his lower leg, and during the rest of the year he had a normal looking prosthetic, but for that one day he would attach the peg, don the costume, and become the best pirate you could ever ask for.

I have been to Salem, Massachusetts on three different occasions on Halloween. It's a magical place, with a tightly packed blend of old and new.
One year, I made the mistake of driving into Salem after 3pm on Halloween. The roads fill up quickly after that and the town becomes one big parking lot. As I inched along 1A, the path took me directly in front of the park and hotel. I was within sight of the hotel by 11:45 and it took me 45 minutes to get to where I couldn't see it anymore. At midnight, the parade let out and you saw a cast of characters pass you while you waited in the car. Dilbert was a popular character that year, as were various movie stars, ghouls, and even a Meatloaf (one singer and one actual meatloaf complete with strips of bacon on top). The pair that really caught my eye, though, were standing at the front entrance of the hotel. There stood The Demon and The Star from kiss. I normally wouldn't have given it a second thought by the makeup job was just too good. It looked professional. I remembered later on as I was driving on the freeway home that Kiss had played the Massachusetts that evening. I believe I was looking at the real Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley that night.
A few years later I was back in Salem again for Halloween. There is a store that my wife likes to shop in that deals with crystals. One of her friends came with us and I was waiting outside with him on the bench when a family of four stopped about five feet from where we were sitting. The kids couldn't have been older than 10 years old. Their mother immediately started telling them, very loudly, to 'take a good look around at all of the people because every one of them is going to hell for taking part in the blasphemy that is Halloween.' There's always a few overly religious types that are drawn to the area every Halloween, but I'm happy

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