Halloween, that annual festival to celebrate all things ghoulish and frightful is upon us in less than a week. Celebrated every year on the 31st of October, it has its roots in age-old European traditions. It originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain when people would light bonfires and wear costumes to ward off ghosts. In the eighth century, Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as a time to honor all saints. Soon, All Saints Day incorporated some of the traditions of Samhain. The evening before was known as All Hallows Eve, and later Halloween. Over time, Halloween evolved into a day of activities like trick-or-treating and carving jack-o-lanterns in the West. Around the world, as days grow shorter and nights get colder, people continue to usher in the season with gatherings, costumes, and sweet treats.
In India, and in Goa, we don’t do the whole trick-or-treating nor do we carve up poor pumpkins into grotesque and contorted facial expressions. No, in Goa, Halloween is more about dressing up and having a good time with friends. Some hold private house parties where friends dress up and get together. A lot of the nightclubs hold big bashes complete with all the décor to give that extra spooky effect. And speaking of dressing up, let’s have a look at some of the top Halloween costume ideas that people have googled for this year.
Spooky and Scary Halloween costume ideas for 2017
- Clowns – I am not sure why but a lot of people suffer from Coulrophobia which is a fear of clowns. That being said, pretty sure the ones that aren’t, will be dressing up as a clown. Not just any clown but Pennywise, the clown from the horror movie, IT. Now, this is one super scary looking dude and it’s definitely going to be the costume to beat! Check out the make-up artistry that goes into dressing up as him.
- Wonder Woman – An immortal Amazon warrior that is the crown princess of Themyscira, and the daughter of Queen Hippolyta and Zeus given to the Amazons to raise, and half-sister of Ares. Every young lady’s most recent role model. Given that the costume is a bit on the skimpy side, most girls will probably come up with variations.
The 2017 version of Wonder Woman’s outfit.
Photo credit – www.msmagazine.com - Harley Quinn – The Joker (from the Batman series)’s former prison psychologist and now fellow insane girlfriend, this one’s a real doozy. For that girl who always wanted to dress up and pretend insanity but didn’t know how this is the perfect costume.
Photo credit – www.dccomics.com
Aside from these super ideas, most people go for the easy ones like ghosts, ghouls, trolls, evil queens, witches, skeletons, pirates, zombies and such. With materials for these costumes usually available at home, people would rather have a quick fix Halloween costume than spend buckets of money on an expensive one.
So where are you going to be at this Halloween? Wherever it is, make sure you’ve got your scary, spooky costume ready!
Photos of past Halloween parties
Here are a few pictures of Halloween parties at DTR from previous years. Check out some of the costumes.
Photo credits – DTR’s FB page.
