Halloween Express

 Dayton’s biggest party, ARC Masquerage, is just six weeks away! The signature event of AIDS Resource Center Ohio, held annually on the third Saturday of October, will take place October 19 in the Colesium at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds (1043 S. Main St., Dayton).

Thousands have attended the elaborate masquerade ball, billed as “Dayton’s party of parties,” since its 2002 inception, helping raise $1.1 million for HIV/AIDS treatment and awareness. This year, Masquerage is expected to bring in $160,000 in unrestricted funding for ARC Ohio, with $90,000 in corporate sponsorship alone. The funds raised will assist individuals infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Each year, Masquerage carries a theme which inspires the decor and costume choices. This year’s, “Once Upon a Time…,” puts an adult spin on childhood fairy tales.

A costume isn’t required to attend Masquerage, only a mask or disguise; among the elaborate costumes each year, one can also find attendees in t-shirts and jeans, pajamas, tuxedos and evening gowns, and, well, almost nothing at all. But dressing up is a big part of the fun, and this year’s storybook backdrop is a bottomless wishing well of great possibilities.

If you’re having trouble coming up with an idea, you’re either thinking too much, or not thinking enough. The first thing you should do is break your mind out of the Disney box. Fairy tales go much farther and wider than the Disney Classics. They can be a great foundation to build upon here, but by no means should they be a limit to your choices. Here are some suggestions that go above and beyond Cinderella and Snow White.

• Each culture has its own fairy tales. Do some research into those. (Western culture is, for example, quite familiar with Rudyard Kipling’s stories from Colonial India.)

• Many cultures also have their own mythologies. Think of the leprechaun tales of Irish lore. Remember Iron Man’s Loki? That character is based on Loki, the Norse god of war. Do some looking into the Norse gods, or the fables of West Africa’s Anansi, the spider god. And, of course, the entire Greek mythological universe is fair play here. People looking for a clever group costume could deck themselves out as the Gods of Olympus. (Extra points for a good centaur costume!)

• American’s tall tales are frontier fairy tales. Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill and Sluefoot Sue, John Henry, Casey Jones: these are American fairy tale heroes.

• Another classic American fairy tale is frequently told around Halloween: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

• Rise to the challenge of being the Gingerbread Man, with a costume made of real candy!

• Rumpelstiltskin is similar to a leprechaun. He shouldn’t be forgotten.

• Think of the tales you were told as a child. Santa, Mrs. Claus, the reindeer and the elves. The tooth fairy.

• Speaking of Christmas, there’s a whole world of characters right there. The Grinch and Cindy Lou Who. Herbie the Elf and Yukon Cornelius. The Abominable Snowman. Heatmiser and Snowmiser. Frosty. Rudolph. The entire cast of The Nutcracker. (How great would it be to see a Sugarplum Fairy and a Rat King?!) And, of course, Ebenezer Scrooge and his spirits. The Midwest loves to shove Christmas in people’s faces before Halloween’s even arrived. Double up your holiday value and get in the Yuletide spirit a little early!

  

  The Wizard of Oz is just one of many modern fairy tales.

• Think of the urban legends from your childhood. Trolls under bridges. Bloody Mary. Candyman. The Boogeyman. When you imagined that monster that lived under your bed, what did it look like?

• Think of our modern fairy tales that have become pop culture standards, like Edward Scissorhands and The Nightmare Before Christmas, The Wizard of Oz, E.T., Shrek, Toy Story, Mary Poppins, The Princess Bride, The Neverending Story, Labyrinth and The Dark Crystal, even Pan’s Labyrinth. If you stretch that just a little further, one might consider films like Ghostbusters, Beetlejuice, and even Pleasantville (extra points for gray-toning yourself into black and white!) as sources, given their fantasy elements.

• Speaking of Tim Burton, let’s try be a little original. Do we really want a party with fifty Johnny Depp Mad Hatters? Do we really? Think about it.

• Look past Disney at the animated films from other parts of the world. Japanese anime, for instance, is rife with fantasy elements.

  

  Robert Englund as Freddy Krueger in A Nightmare on Elm Street, perhaps the ultimate modern fairy tale.

• The best horror stories are grown from the fairy tale concept of predators masking as safe authority figures who lure heroes into traps. Magical setups, moralistic endings, corruption of innocence, tests of character and strength. This page offers a brief, beautifully drawn presentation of A Nightmare on Elm Street as a dark modern fairy tale “where the enchanted forest is filled with cul de sacs and the gingerbread house looks like a boiler room.” Freddy Kruger haunts children in their dreams, for crying out loud! That’s as fairy tale as it gets.

• The horror genre has given us many brilliant fairy tale characters, including Frankenstein and Dracula. They’re right at home within this theme. And following the vampire theme, True Blood, Dark Shadows, and the Buffy-verse (The Gentlemen!) fit as well.

• There are, um, many adult possibilities for Pinocchio. (And remember, the Disney version also includes the wicked fox, the Blue Fairy, and Stromboli.)

• Look to Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a wonderful fairy tale everyone knows.

• Doctor Who cosplayers! Come on down!

• Think of fantasy-related children’s series from the last few decades. My Little Pony, Mighty Max, Care Bears (bonus points if your group has a Mr. Coldheart!), The Smurfs, Sailor Moon, He-Man and She-Ra… Slutty Rainbow Brite and Strawberry Shortcake costumes are always popular this time of year. Here’s another occasion to wiggle into them!

• A big-screen adaptation of Stephen Sondheim’s fairy tale musical, Into the Woods, is currently in production starring folks like Meryl Streep, Chris Pine, Johnny Depp, Anna Kendrick, Tracy Ullman, and Emily Blunt in an epic story that weaves together the sagas of Cinderella, Rapunzel, Jack the giant killer, Little Red Riding Hood, and many more. Look to that for inspiration.

• Think about the video games you’ve played. The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario Bros., the Final Fantasy series.

  

  Masquerage ’13: The geeks ARE the cool kids.

• British author Roald Dahl wrote some fun, innovative stories that have been enjoyed for generations, including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. 2013 will prove a disappointing Masquerage indeed without an Oompa Loompa sighting.

• Sci-fi and fantasy geeks unite! The hallowed halls of Hogwarts, the ethereal Kingdom of Narnia, and the shadowy forests of Middle Earth shall be made one at Masquerage. (And it would just be so friggin’ cool to see a really well done team of Dementors…)

• And finally, if you are thinking of Disney films, don’t forget the supporting characters. The three fairy godmothers from Sleeping Beauty, the mice from Cinderella, the Siamese cats from Lady and the Tramp, the Seven Dwarves, the Magic Mirror.

That’s an awful lot to digest at once, but it’s a great reminder that there are literally thousands of choices under the umbrella of this year’s theme. There’s also no shame in picking a popular, classic fairy tale character — it’s all about adding a personal touch and bringing your individual style into the costume. Putting a new twist on a famous character is a great way to stand out. What would your favorite Disney princess or villain look like in the modern world? As a zombie? In a steampunk setting? As a human/animal hybrid? In a horror setting? Last year’s “Villains and Vixens” Masquerage had no less than a dozen attendees in costume as The Joker (myself included), and each one differed wildly from the next.  Find the character that’s best for you, then make it your own. And, most important of all, have fun doing it!

As an added bonus, ticket buyers will find a 20% discount coupon for Halloween Express, on the back of their tickets.  As one of Masquerage’s newest sponsors, this year round costume shop which  recently opened on St Rt 741, north of the Dayton Mall, across from Applebees, understands the spirit of the event and will be happy to help you pull together your dream costume.

For more Masquerage inspiration follow them on Facebook and on twitter.com/ARC_Masquerage.