I was Casper the Friendly Ghost for several years running. Lately I have realized that my parents probably reused the same costume over and over again, not out of poverty but out of complete lack of ideas of other things to dress me up as.

Another year I made a "Candy-Fueled Robot" costume out of some old boxes. There was a "fuel slot" in the front of the robot costume that I'd stapled the bag to so that I could just shovel the goodies in and not have to schlep the bag around.

Then there was the planned gigantically politically incorrect couples costume this year. But she dumped me before we could do that.

Hmm, pictures would be easier if I only knew where to look. My costumes were usually something I picked out from books or those catalogs of patterns at the fabric store. My mom rocked in when it came to costumes.

At 4, I was a dog made from two boxes (one for head, one for body) covered with strips of newspaper for a shaggy fur effect. I totally remember the how-to book of costumes I picked that from.

In the elementary school years, I was a frog- really cool frog head built from a baseball cap base. I don't have any idea how she made that one. Another year, I was an alien with a costume so involved my mom included instructions so I'd put stuff on in the right order for our event at school. I wore a red shirt of fabric that generally induces eyestrain in others with a blue vinyl? tunic with alien symbols over that. There were matching blue vinyl spats basically to cover my sneakers. The mask was gold shiny textured fabric, and there were matching alien hands (mitten shaped). I won awards for that one including one of those immense hershey bars. It rocked.

Later I was a devil... 5th or 6th grade? Probably the last real costume.

Vampire with teeth and cape.

Private detective with trenchcoat was good for a couple years- it got really cold out trick or treating, so I could wear layers.

Long enough?

Stephen use to make fun of me because I was a clown for so many years as a child. When deciding what to make Ashley her first couple of years he said anything but a clown, you were that enough times for both of you! I can’t really remember any of my old costumes, but I have sure had fun with Ashley’s. Her first Halloween she was only 3 weeks old and she was a little Chili Pepper, her second Halloween she was a Bumble Bee. I remember how cute her pamper butt looked when she would bend over and her little stinger was in the air. I think I am definitely enjoying Halloween more as a parent than I did as a child. I think this year is going to be fun because it will be the first year I dress in a long time.

Wade – Would that happen to be the plug and socket couple costume that you are referring too?

Wade, How incorrect are we talking? It must be bad if you don't think you can mention it HERE.

Claire, you were that girl with the badass costumes I was always jealous of! YOU won first place!! :) The alien one sounds really awesome.

Rina, Oh my god, Ash with a pamper butt stinger is the most disgustingly adorable thing I can think of!

When I was blond, I cheated for several years running and repeated my BTVS Spike costume (I got a professional-like latex appliance for vamp face). It interchanged with Billy Idol one year - you just wear black and sneer a lot. As a kid, I wore that plastic Spider Man outfit until it didn't fit. Then I moved on to He-Man. I wasn't a geek from birth or anything, though! :)

i want a magenta maid's costume. i never get dressed up for halloween, parents ruined it when i was five and they gave away the good bounty of candy to some kids down the street. so i was left with the crap. after that i decided if i wanted sugar i'd just buy it for myself.

i still love the weho carnivale tho!

Did anyone know you were Magenta? Of course *I* would have.

I still have fantasies about a Magenta-Columbia three-way.

Whatever happened to Fay Wray?

Jay, The perfect geek is cultivated from a geek seedling, I think genetically present at birth. It's a careful combination. I think you may have hit it just right.

Ceity, I have to say that I have attempted the WeHo celebration many years and never seen it through! I mean, between traffic and parking, we would just end up ogling the fabulous get-ups (best Lucy I EVER saw) walking past us on the street. It was just as fun.

AJ, you know what's good. Don't dream it--be it.

I always go into Halloween with the goal to become "the most awesome candy giver on my block."

I go out and I buy hundreds of those huge king size butterfingers and then slowly realize that the kids still don't think I'm cool, even with the bribing of the king size butterfingers.

I usually eat about 20 myself and throw up.

I freakin love Halloween. Always have. It just rules. I've never really lived anyplace where the giving was all that great (strangely enough parent's don't buzz their kids into NYC apartment buildings and let them run wild, which I always thought would be a bonanza, and the street I grew up on in my hometown was way busy and sort of...rural?) so it's pretty much always been about the getting.

Anyway, here's a list of costumes I wore that I can remember. Enjoy.

Clark Kent turning into Superman. Last year. This was completely stolen and at one party I went to two girls told me I was the third guy they saw dressed like that, but I didn't care. I looked badass. And chicks dug the glasses for some reason.

The Devil. Lame, I know, but think more Dinero in Angel Heart than Jon Lovitz on SNL. I had a black suit on with a gold tie and stuck little horns to my head. I also had some crazy facial hair thing going on. This was a great Halloween - went out to dinner with many friends at America and watched part of the Village Halloween Parade. Tim came wearing a sweatshirt with little yellow birds stuck to it. His costume? A chick magnet.

The Crow. The less said about this the better.

A cowboy. Lazy college costume. I didn't even have a gun, just a flannel, a hat and a beard.

Silent Bob. The old stand by. I think I dressed as him for three years. I have a slight resemblance to Kevin Smith which is amplified with a backwards baseball cap and a properly styled beard. Plus I was a little fatter then. Throw on a long coat and you're good to go.

Macho Man Randy Savage. In retrospect, I wish this had gone over better, but I still got a kick out of it.

A greaser. I wish that at the time I was going for an Outsiders theme, but in truth it was more Grease than anything else.

Steve Urkel. See: The Crow.

Pee Wee Herman. Me at my gayest. Oh 6th grade. Good costume though, just a lousy impression.

Jason/Freddy. 5th grade. Hung out with "The Bad Kid" Sean Kelly and discovered eggs and toilet paper. Dressed in black and went to his grandparent's neighborhood to terrorize. I ended up getting egged. Worst.Halloween.Ever

The Lone Ranger. I only remember this because of pictures. I was young.

A hobo. Same as above. Complete with a stick that had a bandana tied to the end with whatever hobos carry in a stick/bandana contraption inside.

I think one year I wore a rubber werewolf mask to disasterously sweaty results, but I might be making that up.

That's all I remember.

OK. To horrify everyone, and lose any respect y'all may have had for me (ha!), I'll fess up. Heck, I was planning on wearing this in front of 500 people so I'd better be able to tell it here.

So the background here is that the ex is of Mexican descent and came to this country illegally. Until her status was regularized, she spent a lot of time watching out for the INS.

So, based on this, she was going to dress all grubby, with little pigtails like the girl on the "watch out for immigrants crossing the freeway" sign on the 405, and I was going to track down an INS costume jacket, and chase her around all night long.

She thought this was *hilarious*.

a very unPC person i know once showed up to a halloween costume party as one of the WTC towers.

i like the pigtails girl idea. helena, are you up for the role?

I unfortunately do not really remember specifically any of my costumes from growing up. All I do remember is that they were all the store bought ones with the plastic masks that are banned now. You know the ones...you could not breathe nor see so you wore the mask on your head until you got to the door? Ah, the '70's - hard to believe that we all survived!

Anyway - last year I was a saloon girl. And the year before that I was a wench. HMMM I seem to be seeing a pattern here. I really do not have an addiction honestly (except to the internet of course)!!

Couples costume? My husband and I (for our first Halloween together) were a nun and a priest. We thought it was pretty original but there were two others there dressed the same. Not so original I guess. We decided not to go dressed alike from then on.

Wade - I think that is hilarious!!!

Pauly, I never believed my mom that eating too much candy would make me throw up until I did it one year. Caramel is icky the second time around.

Bill, that was fantastic! I think my favorite is Superman. I bet you were hott in that one. Please send pictures. I'm also going to need LOTS more details on The Crow. You must have been what, 17? Cough it up. p.s. I always imagined the bandana contained a can of beans.

Wade, I LOVE it! La Migra! I imagine you two had a rich role-playing life? I can see it now...I'm going to have to deport you, Senorita...that is, unless...

Ceity, apparently I AM up for it--but more for being caught, than chased.

Jewels, I deduce that you must look mighty fine in a corset serving booze! Probably makes your husband pretty happy anyway (or it SHOULD!). Yes, those masks were scary...every year I wore one I managed to gash myself with it.

Thanks for your stories guys, these are great!

Helena- i can't eat bottle caps for the same reason as your caramel story

Yup, does it to me every time: The mere smell of Chewy caramels.

Or tequila.

i love halloween and was lucky enough to have a cool seamstress mommy to make costumes (and prom dresses) for me. i can still recall the year she made me a dog costume, complete with flappy ears and a brown nose. i have been a ballerina, a 80's punk cyndi lauper style, a fairie, ms. piggy, an alien superhero. this year, i am going all out for nostalgia's sake (well, that and a costume contest with cool prizes!).

thanks for sharing your halloween costume memories!

p.s. hee hee- pauly throws up.

Tequila is the best. Next year, I'm going as tequila.