Halloween is upon us! In the spirit of the spooky holiday, we’ve compiled our own office storybook of Halloween memories and inspiration. Read on for shrieks and laughs…

Esther’s Bridal Entrance

Halloween irony: Every year of childhood I insisted on dressing as a bride — never once switched it up. Admittedly, my decision was driven by the fact that I loved to make an entrance down our home’s staircase while my mother played the wedding march on the piano. To this date, never been married. Hmmm…

Lisa Loves Boxes. A lot.

The box business is a family trade that goes back a couple of generations, and I’ve always had easy access to unlimited corrugated cardboard. This is great for moving, but very bad for Halloween. For years, my mom dressed my sister and I in box-based costumes ranging from giant birthday present… to giant baby shower gift… to giant holiday present- depending on what wrapping paper was most plentiful in the house. The accompanying gift bow head topper probably spawned my lifelong hatred of hair bows, too.

Victoria’s Cross-Cultural Confusion

Some background: my mother is a native Swede. The Swedes, as you may not know, have an inexplicably extensive troll culture. For example, there’s the Swedish cartoon series featuring the Mumintroll (pictured above), who live in the Moominvalley and stumble upon inane, adorable adventure at every turn. And, there’s the folklore and fairy tale annual Among Gnomes and Trolls, authored and illustrated by some of Sweden’s most prominent artists—including John Bauer, whose work might be recognizable to some of you (below: “Good evening, old man!” (1915)).

So, in the spirit of cultural roots and the elusive troll, my mother helped me to dress up as an evil Swedish troll for my 4^th grade Girl Scout troop’s Halloween party. I arrived, triumphant, wild orange wig and wart-painted face in tow, to discover literally every other Scout costumed as a fairy tale princess. Did I miss a memo? Not only did I stick out like a sore thumb, but also I spent the entire evening trying to explain Swedish trolls to glazed-over gazes. I never made it past Brownie.

Beware the Cereal Killer, Jourdann:

After recently attending the The Alpha Workshops “Lost in Space-Age” Masquerade Ball, and witnessing Jedis, Coneheads and silver-painted bodies galore, I started to get revved up for Halloween dressing.

Team VP+C killed it by taking the Lost in Space theme for a spin, and dressing up as lost “things” – ranging from virginity to marbles to puppies.

I want to push the envelope even further this Thursday; I think I am going to wear one of these clever (albeit a tad cheesy) hybrid costumes. Being a sexy kitty-kat is so 2000-late.

   1. Mail Order Bride                                     2. Dumbledora the Explorer  3. French Kiss  4. Cereal Killer  5. Freudian Slip