Tuesday Top Ten: Halloween Costumes 2013 Edition

It is undisputed that Halloween is the best holiday of the year.  This year, because Halloween was on a Thursday, it seemed to stretch out for a wonderfully long period of time.  People were dressed up the weekend before, the week of Halloween, and the weekend after.

I took full advantage of the situation.  The Friday before Halloween, several of us went to Rocks for some karaoke, in costume.  I was feeling a bit randy and you know I have a grim reaper robe, so I went as death.  Ghost B.C.'s Papa Emeritus II's face paint served as the inspiration for my face paint.  

I hovered over Jester's bed silently for an uncomfortably long amount of time.

I have to say, dressing up as the grim reaper is very empowering.  People were freaked out by me.  While walking to and from the bar, when a car would approach as I crossed an intersection, I would pause briefly, look at the car, and then continue walking.  I saw a couple people mouth "oh my God."  Of course, I was also riding a white horse -- well, a white Shetland pony, anyway.

It has always been a dream of mine to dress up as the grim reaper and sing "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" at karaoke, so I did.  It was instantly referred to as "poignant" and "terrifying."  I later sang "Heaven" by Warrant.  It was instantly referred to as "out of my range."

Saturday night, we went to a party at Gregerson and Colleen's place, where Chandler, Bonham, and I went as KISS of Death.  Of course, I was Ace.  This time, however, Ace Frehley did not drink any contact lenses -- allegedly.

Chandler had the Paul lip pouting down to a T, and of course, Paul and Gene fondled Miley Cyrus while The Creature watched.

Sunday, we carved pumpkins.  I went with Homer Simpson this year.  Jester went with a standard jack-o-lantern.  Daughter went with a cat.  Lollipop went with a ghost.  To be clear, Daughter and Lollipop played no part in the actual carving of pumpkins, despite their repeated requests to play with knives.

On Halloween proper, it was rainy, but that didn't deter my kids from going trick-or-treating -– because if it had, I would have disowned them.  Daughter was Wonder Woman, despite the fact that she had no idea who Wonder Woman was when she chose the costume.  Thanks to YouTube, however, she has now perfected the Wonder Woman spin, and she even made her own makeshift Lasso of Truth out of yellow felt (not pictured).  

Lollipop was Mighty Mike –- an alligator she recently saw at the Newport Aquarium just outside of Cincy –- not to be confused with Magic Mike.  Due to Lollipop's inability to do anything without sprinting, this was the least fuzzy picture I got of her in her costume.

I gotta say, I was thoroughly impressed with the efficiency of Daughter's trick-or-treating.  A year removed from her sophomore slump, where she consistently chose non-chocolate options over chocolate options when presented with a bowl of candy, Daughter methodically made her way from house to house, indicating forcefully that the homeowner could choose between a trick or a treat.  All chose treats.  Daughter cleaned up, as a result.  Nearly her entire bag was chocolate-based candy.  Lollipop tried to keep up, but grew tired of the game, often choosing to eat a piece of candy rather than going to another house to get more candy.  Next year, I'll expect better dedication.

But anyway, as I have done in years past, I will share with you the ten best Halloween costumes I saw, other than my own, of course.  These were costumes that I either saw myself or that were posted to Facebook by friends of mine.

Honorable Mention:

Spartan Cheerleaders

Energizer Bunny

The Price is Right Wheel
We found this in an alley.  It was homemade, with metal piping.  Very impressive.  I'm not sure why anyone would throw this away.

10.  Parrot
Jester gets the nod at the 10 spot because she made her own costume.

9.  Walter White and Hank Schrader

8.  George Michael
Earlier, he had a sweet dangling cross earring on.  If there had been an accompanying Andrew Ridgeley, this might have been #1.

7.  Jack Burton
I've never seen Big Trouble in Little China, so if I had, this might be higher on the list.

6.  Kurt Cobain
Too soon?

5.  Bikers
"Oh, biker.  I'm an idiot."  I love random costumes that only a few people get, as long as I'm one of those few people.

4.  Slutty Pumpkin and Hanging Chad
As a How I Met Your Mother Fan, I enjoyed this one.  There had been a man in the Hanging Chad costume earlier in the night, by the way.

3.  Baby Elvis
My nephew will never live this down -- or have a better Halloween costume.

2.  Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus.
I saw pictures of several people attempting to do this, but no one quite pulled it off like Daniel did.  He even got his hair cut -- and a blow-up doll -- for it.

I thought this was going to be my #1, until I saw...

1.  The Royal Tenenbaums
This was one of my former co-workers, and they nailed it, aside from the noticeable lack of Mordecai and mescaline.