Halloween’s approaching like a bat out of hell and like every year, salve you’ve put off pinning down your getup. Whether work’s crazy or your cat’s sick, viagra or you’re in denial that last October’s sexy Bill Murray costume won’t fit after eating your feelings all summer—we get it. Here at Allston Pudding, salve we understand you have more important things to do than think up a costume to suit your adorable personality and weirdly thick ankles.
Before you start screaming at the thought squeezing into too-tight polyester, here are some ideas for your most rockin’ Halloween look yet. They’re spooky, they’re scary and most of all, celebrate our psycho love for the Boston music scene. Get ready to hit up your roommate’s closet or local thrift store, let’s take those cankles out on the town!
Infinity Girl
This Halloween, defend Boston from yuppies and college bros with heavy reverb and Lichtensteiny onomatopoeia. Though the real Infinity Girl may be an all-dude quartet, this shoegazey twist on superhero garb is open to all—so find a pair of ass-kicking boots, flashy mask, and lots and lots of spandex. And of course, no Infinity Girl getup would be complete without a flowing cape. All the better for a dramatic exit from the party after making with the drunk Jack Sparrow who complemented your dance moves. Maybe next year you can dress up as someone who isn’t so easily attracted guys wearing eyeliner.
Steve from Malden
Like Steve hearing Pile in Malden, we heard about Krill’s breakup last month and burst into tears faster than Tammy Faye at a Sephora sale. Which makes celebrating the band mere weeks after their final Boston show all the more fitting. As you prepare to leave your apartment for a night of fun-sized candy bars and poor decisions, don your best oxford shirt and sweater vest with the overwhelming shame of a failed concept album. Existential depression has never been more in style.
The Pile Clown
Our original idea for a Daryl Fish costume turned sour when we realized the song was less fashion inspiration than a marker of our entire self-deprecating existence. Which we can’t help but celebrate, seeing as Mr. Fish’s outlook is the bloodline running through Pile’s work—a discography we lean on for strength and spit and the tiniest bit of mental illness. So why not go with the band’s most recent album art? Throw on some white face paint, a red nose and go stand by the dumpsters behind 7-Eleven.
Bent Shapes
Ben Potrykus blesses us this Hallows’ Eve through what’s likely our most D.I.Y getup yet. Which is fitting, since the man’s practically the essence of homegrown Boston music. His current act can do anything from jangly pop to electrified punk, making this costume suitable for folks across the musical map. Like Bent Shapes’ sonic versatility, this look is yours to—literally—make. Think twisting wire hangers into the shape of your choice. Go for paper-mache or Styrofoam. Hell, draw a circle or two across an old t-shirt with a sharpie. Whatever you do, make sure the result is slightly warped, a bit off-center and completely unique to you.
Helium
While all of our spooky looks straddle the alt side of seasonal style, this Helium costume is most likely to make onlookers scratch their head with a bemused expression that says, “I don’t understand it, so I probably dislike it.” If they’re curious enough to ask why you’ve tied balloons to literally every inch of your body, you can explain your tribute to the angry pop three-piece who’s place in the Boston spotlight went national by the late 90’s—to self-extinguished shortly before Y2K. If you’re like us and can’t get enough of 1995’s The Dirt of Luck, add a few horseshoes and rabbit feet to all that latex, and maybe try skipping a shower or two.
Palehound
Goddamnit, do you really have to be a sexy cat again? Here’s how you can stick with the four-legged theme while shedding one of the most tired costume in Halloween history. First, ditch the cat whiskers and get your paws on the most anemic make-up pallet you can find. Then, turn up Dry Food’s dreamily jagged tales of lost love, loneliness and a whole lot of vulnerability. Ellen Kempner’s 2015 release is the inspiration behind this spooky look, one best achieved by folks whose down-on-the-world mentalities couple with obsessions for 90s guitar. C’mon, let’s make dog collars the newest Fall trend.
A (New England) Patriot
Boy, do we love a good appropriation of football culture, especially when it comes from as freaky a band as this. Enter the (New England) Patriots to Boston’s already eccentric musical field, tossing out wacky garage punk jams like deflated footballs and scoring big for Brady’s Ugg campaign all the while. For this Halloweenie look, raid your brother’s closet and while you’re at it, your mom’s makeup bag too. There’s no better way to make a mockery of the NFL than emasculation, so let’s get glamorous, y’all. Pair your jersey with shoulder pads and cleats, and don’t forget to accessorize with the cheapest 40 oz. you can find.