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When I was a kid, I liked Halloween.  I enjoyed acquiring bags of candy and my mom always made us kick-ass costumes, but Christmas was better because presents.  Now that I’m an adult, Halloween has replaced Christmas for two reasons:

1) Any gifts acquired during Halloween are edible and therefore do not take up any real space in my house.  

2) Costumes.

Since getting into anime and cosplay, Halloween has become the best non-convention excuse to showcase some of the awesome costumes that I’ve put together over the last five years.  On Wednesday this week I wore a dark blue yukata decorated with white butterflies I bought at Katsucon, complete with a very simple white obi, tabi socks, and black wig.  On Friday I wore my latest iteration of steampunk.  (Yes, I skipped Thursday because I didn’t have anything else prepped.  My closet is in a state of disarray.)  And today I wore a lovely green and white vintage medieval-style dress that my friend Storm Elf bought for me years ago, but I’d never worn it before because it’s too fragile to survive the Renaissance Faire.

Damn, it’s fun to play dress-up.  Not only is it fun to see the expressions on people’s faces and receive compliments, but it also helps one’s writing.  Getting into clothing you normally don’t wear helps improve descriptions and enter a different head-space, even if you don’t really act like a different character.  And every visit to a thrift store because a treasure hunt of possibilities.  Part of me wishes I had more time, energy, money, and talent to create and wear better costumes more often.   Alas, it can be both expensive an exhausting after a while, so I don’t do it very often.  I’m starting to value quality over quantity.

Even though Halloween has history and traditions far older than the current (sometimes chintzy) version, for me the main draw is being able to transform into something different.  Something new.  I’m hoping that sense of excitement and adventure carries over into November as NaNoWriMo begins.

Enjoy your All Hallow’s Eve!  I’ve included a list of awesome Halloween-esque songs with links to their respective youtube videos. Enjoy!

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Awesome Halloween-esque Songs:

“Moonlight Shadow” by Mike Oldfield (Remix by Blue UltrasGE)

“All Souls’ Night” by Loreena McKennitt

“Shadow of the Moon” by Blackmore’s Night

“FullMoon” by Sonata Arctica

“Mitternacht” by E. Nomine

“Ghost Love Score” by Nightwish

“Dead Man’s Party” by Oingo Boingo

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Continue reading “Happy Halloween!” →