Lisa Q. Mathews

Go As Alice: Ghosts of Halloween Costumes Past

Whether you fill giant bowls with candy in hopes of trick-or-treaters at your door—or hide in your living room with the lights off—you know they’re out there: gleeful, greedy goblins dressed in costumes funny, frightening, or foxy. Not a dress-up fan? Bet you remember at least one costume you wore as a kid (or more recently)…

Sadly, we’ve never gotten a single trick-or-treater at our NH door. Maybe because we live off a busy, curving state road with no sidewalks or streetlights—at the end of a long, forked (and uphill) driveway. Or maybe our Halloween décor isn’t enticing enough. But even without the prospect of cloaked visitors, the night still feels like Halloween to me. Especially if I’m gobbling candy corn, which I don’t really like, or mini Reese’s cups on the couch.

Could have been a sign of the times, but back in the 60s/70s, I don’t think my mom was a huge Halloween fan. Other than the pumpkins my dad and I (okay, my dad) carved every year (I drew the faces and scooped glop), we had no other decorations. Except for the single Halloween placemat and ghost-and-witch candles my mom set on the table for my super early Halloween dinner. My parents gave out plain Hershey bars—my job was to line them up on the tray without eating them. Later there was also a bowl of change for UNICEF (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund).

We lived in rural Connecticut, and there were no neighborhood kids, so my mom drove me from house to house and hid in the bushes as I rang doorbells. I know. Sad. When I was very young, I wore those plastic masks with the elastic that always broke or snapped my face. The vinyl princess dress or Raggedy Ann outfit that came with them were immediately tossed because they wouldn’t fit over the heavy sweaters de rigueur for then-chilly New England late-Octobers.

One Halloween, a friend’s mom dumped a bunch of us off in a nearby wealthy town (Trick or Treat, Martha Stewart and Paul Newman!), telling us we’d get better candy there. To be honest, we were just thrilled to be trick-or-treating, adult-free. But those houses were large and dark and scary, and we did NOT get better candy. Or many donations for UNICEF, either. Mostly apples, which none of us were allowed due to the possibility of hidden razor blades, and tiny boxes of Sunmaid raisins.

Some years I just wanted to throw a sheet over my head like Charlie Brown, but I knew I’d probably cut extra eye holes like he did in “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” (Trivia tidbit: In the 1956 Peanuts comic strip, and later books with the collected strips, Linus was the one who cut all those holes.) But that was moot anyway, because my mom didn’t want to sacrifice any of her white sheets. I did make my own Tin Man costume one year, with a giant cardboard box and innumerable rolls of tin foil. I was very proud of it, but it was hard to get through doors or run when the high school boys dressed as hobos came for our candy and UNICEF money.

Eventually I wised up and went as Alice in Wonderland. Every. Single. Year. All I needed were fresh white tights. I had plenty of blue dresses, my mom’s vintage white aprons, headbands and patent-leather flats. My long blond hairstyle never changed. Piece of cake. This is still my go-to as an adult, by the way. I have pink plastic flamingos in the basement, and for Crime Bake one year I added black leather gloves and a croquet mallet to meet the Queen.

Occasionally I shook things up, though. As the editor of an Oksana Baiul biography at 90s-era Random House (which never pubbed due to…unforetold tabloid events), I wore my figure skates (with guards, natch), leggings, and a jacket filled with mini-airline vodka bottles. Another year, I donned a Titian wig, pearls, and trench coat and carried an antique clock as Nancy Drew. When I briefly had bangs and was writing the Lizzie McGuire Mysteries, I became jeans-and-flip-flop-clad Lizzie (even easier than Alice). And then there was the unfortunate year I dressed as Church Lady from SNL (my date was Ed Grimley). The party was great, and everyone wanted to dance with Church Lady, especially Satan. Not so much when we hit the NYC bars post-party. That was one lonely night.

This year? Well, the world is getting curiouser and curiouser out there. I think it’s back to Alice on the Couch with Candy Corn.

Readers, what’s your favorite Halloween costume from years past—yours or someone else’s?

42 thoughts on “Go As Alice: Ghosts of Halloween Costumes Past”

    1. I had a retro pumpkin bucket that I carried every year when I was little, ha. That was also where my one-piece-a-day candy haul lived, too on a high shelf on the pantry. I was a skilled cupboard climber.

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    1. Hi Etta! I think anything Wonderland is more popular now than when we were kids. I see Alice everywhere (though she’s infinitely cooler than my costume).

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  3. We didn’t get any trick or treaters last year, but part of that is because Ligonier does a huge “trick or treat on the Diamond” where all the businesses give out candy and the kids come around. There also aren’t many houses where I am. Which is okay, because Koda would go nuts.

    I still want to dress him up as a Greyhound bus, but so much work.

    I suppose my favorite was the year a friend of mine and I went as a box of crayons to the 200 Daze Halloween party our senior year of college.

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  4. I was never a fan of costumes either because yes, I too remember those nasty plastic masks! Found my best costume the last couple of years I could trick or treat. My mom was a nurse and still had her cap and cape from nursing school days. I wore those with white tights and white tennis shoes. No nurse uniform needed because the cape covered me and took care of the coat that was always required in Colorado or Idaho on Halloween. These days, I could be the Halloween grinch, but on an up year I might put on a tiara or witches hat if I am handing out candy and no, we don’t get a lot of young ‘uns anymore. I say, let’s move along and get to Thanksgiving!

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  5. Halloween can be a bit stressful. I never know whether there will be a flood of kids. In which case, I’ll have to turn off my porch lights and hide in shame in my basement. Or whether there will be a trickle of kids, stranding my insatiable sweet tooth with a ton of chocolate. Ha! You can tell what’s really popular by the costume choices: The Walking Dead, the Avengers. Last year, a bunch of kids were dressed as Taylor Swift.

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  6. Long live the Church Lady! When I was in 8th grade ( my final year of trick or treating) I made my own scarecrow costume and wore it in the Irvington Halloween Festival (going strong since 1947, BTW) costume contest and won in my age category. I have a picture of it somewhere. Stay spooky!

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    2. Ooo, you have to find that pic, JC! RE: Church Lady, almost as soon as my friends (in their sexy outfits) and I hit the subway to go to that party, I worried no one would know who I was supposed to be. I carried my late grandmother’s Bible for good measure (looking back on it, I hope that wasn’t blasphemy or something).

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  7. You wore flip-flops at Halloween in NYC–without socks? Very brave. And I love the image of you with all those mini airplane vodka bottles.

    My favorite costume as a kid was when I dressed as a football player, since I hated the cutsie skirts I had to wear to school in the early ’60s.

    And my favorite one as an adult was in my 20s when my housemates and I went as a 4-pack of Guinness bottles. We even had little Guinness bottle caps as hats that we made.

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  8. I have zero memories of Halloween as a child except for being scared. I have one photo somewhere of me in a pink satin dress and wrap my mom made me to go as a princess of some kind. My only memory is that she pulled my hair back in a bun so tight that my head hurt. I love NOT dressing up as an adult. I remember in college, I wore a blue leotard and told people I was a Brillo pad. Someone told me Brillo pads were pink and SOS pads were blue.

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    1. That person must have had a lot of time on their hands to notice the diff between scrubbing implements. Poor El. You must have blocked out those experiences–sorry to remind!

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  9. As a kid, we usually wore the plastic masks. Though I tried to be creative for the school contests (a photographer, by carrying a camera!, Belle, by wearing a blue apron!). Yeah, I never won.

    My proudest, thrifted costume was a couply one with my then-boyfriend, now-husband, where we dressed up as Jasmine & Aladdin, complete with stuffed monkey Abu.

    Later on, I spent a little money to be recognizable as a 50s gal with a poodle skirt or a magician with top hat and wand. A few years back, I DIY’ed a costume to go along with my kids, who were supposed to be characters from an anime show.

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    1. Pretty creative, Jen! Love that you carried a stuffed Abu. (Believe it or not, I have never seen the movie!). Jasmine is one of my grandlittle’s fave princesses.

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  11. I love hearing about all of your costumes. I love dressing up for Halloween, and my favorite is as a dragon, with green wings and a really long tail that I bought and wore with a green tweed jacket and green boots. As a kid, my favorite had to be the gypsy costumes I wore as a teen. Lots of layer of skirts, scarves and jewelry. I did that once when my grandkids were old enough, and bought a crystal ball paperweight at Pottery Barn and told all of their fortunes.

    Sadly, no kids come to my house now either. I’ll be sitting on the couch eating Reese’s peanut butter cups and snack size Snickers, probably watching Hocus Pocus unless TCM puts on classic horror.

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    1. Aw, love the dragon idea–in a green tweed jacket and green boots! You can bring that costume out again for Paddy’s Day!

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  12. Hestia here.

    I didn’t like Halloween as a kid. Going around begging for candy seemed weird to me.

    now the costumes were a different story. Yes, I remember those awful masks you couldn’t breathe in. I had the same issue with masks during covid.
    my favorite costumes? Dressing up as a peanut m&m while my friend was the plain one. A mom in curlers and a bathrobe while she was a baby in a diaper. Best one ever? Borrowed my first husband’s uniform and went as Maverick from Top Gun. “I’ve feel the need. The need for speed!”

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  13. I love your Alice costume! Especially with the flamingo add-on. The last time I dressed up, a few years ago, I went as Mrs. Roper. And I LOVED it! IT’s not spooky, but it was fun — not to mention comfortable!

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    1. When I last visited Edmonds, WA, I happened upon an entire flood of Mrs. Ropers–it was some kind of dress like Mrs. Roper contest. They filled, like, an entire former church. It was a little terrifying, actually, lol.

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  14. Oh, I so hope you have a photo as Maverick, Hestia! Maybe we should do a collage next Halloween. Your poor friend in the diaper. Has she forgiven you?

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