Ah, to go back in time and dress up for Halloween…because, well, not all of us Chicks have big party plans. Yet, anyway. While we wait for our invites, here’s what we (or our characters) might choose as costumes…

Lisa Q. Mathews

Well, I can tell you what I would NOT wear (other than one of those cute unitard cat costumes or Hermione-Gone-Wrong). One year when I was in my 20s, I dressed as Church Lady from SNL. I went all out, buying orthopedic shoes and a wig and an awful blouse with a big bow and tweed pencil skirt. My date went as Ed Grimley. The problem was, everyone wanted to dance with Church Lady at the party, but afterward we went bar-hopping and I got some really strange looks. So I won’t be dressing as my character Dorothy from the Ladies Smythe & Westin. I guess I could dress as my MC, Kate Buckley, in my new series. She wears mostly sweatshirts and jeans–sort of like the mom who hides in the bushes while her kids Trick-or-Treat. Perfect.

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 Ellen Byron

I was not a fan of Halloween as a kid. All the candy in the world never made up for the fact it gave bullies and usually not-bullies license to scare me. We moved to Scarsdale when I was 10, a town so high-falutin’ it disdained sidewalks and bright streetlights, which didn’t help. As an adult, I declared myself a costume-free zone. I once wore a blue leotard to a college party and announced I was a Brillo pad. I even got that wrong. Brillo pads were pink.

I gave this trait to Maggie, my protagonist. Like me, she hated Halloween growing up. But like me, she discovered a whole new appreciation of it when she went trick or treating with boyfriend Beau and his young son. I had a BLAST taking Eliza trick or treating. I got totally into decorating our front yard, too. 

I still don’t love dressing up for Halloween but this year, I have the perfect costume. I have a t-shirt and a picket sign. So if I get invited anywhere, I’m going as a striking WGA member!

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Leslie Karst

As a kid, I loved to dress up as people such as football players and hobos. No doubt because in those girls-have-to-wear-skirts-to-school days, I loved being able to don grubby pants and rub dirt on my face. Then in my twenties, I got more creative: one year I was one-fourth of a four-pack of Guinness, and then—during law school—I dressed as a yellow legal pad. (Yes, it was pretty weird.)

These days, even the idea of coming up with a costume exhausts me, so I think I’ll be going as a writer, shutting myself into my study in my PJs with my laptop and a Martini

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Kathleen Valenti

I wasn’t big on dressing up for Halloween as a kid. Even during spirit week at school, I rocked my usual acid washed jeans and sweater with the little Scotties on it rather than participate in Crazy Hair Day or whatnot. Was I a stick-in-the-mud? Probably. Am I still? Depends on how that’s defined. I still like to pull a Wednesday Addams and say that my non-costume is me as a homicidal maniac (because we look like everyone else).

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Jennifer Chow

My sleuthing cousins in the L.A. Night Market series, Yale and Celine, would definitely NOT wear ninja costumes. Because the dead body they find at their inaugural night market wore exactly that.

As for me, I had costume envy as a kid. I remember one classmate who designed amazing costumes. She came as Snow White one year, whipping up a princess gown out of bath towels. I tried being creative, too, and used a blue cooking apron to replicate Belle’s outfit—total fail.

In recent years, I just wear a themed orange-and-black shirt. I’ve dressed up a few times as an adult to humor my kids: as a magician, someone from the ‘50s (complete with poodle skirt), and Nancy Drew. What I’ve never gotten (and want) to try out is a Renaissance gown or Mulan costume.

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Vickie Fee

 

Like my Chicks pal, Leslie, I dressed as a hobo/clown for a few years when I was a teen. I would accompany my younger sister and baby brother around the neighborhood. This costume allowed me to not look too “baby-like” to be seen by the older teens and maintain my (imaginary) illusion of coolness. At the same time, this hobo disguise allowed me to fit in with the youngsters enough that I could still collect candy! If I were to get an invitation to a Halloween party this year, my fantasy costume would be Miss Marple. (Don’t judge my fantasy and I won’t judge yours!) I figure a gray wig, sensible shoes, reading glasses pushed down my nose, and a bag of knitting— and I’m good to go.

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Readers, what will you–or your favorite book characters–wear this year? Let us know in the comments and we’ll see you at the party!