What Costumes Our Characters Would Wear For Halloween and Why!

VS sez: This year we thought we'd do something a bit different for Happy Halloween at Here Be Magic and have each participating author tell you what one of our own characters would wear for their costume and why...some pretty varied answers - we hope you enjoy!

ANCHORED by A J Larrieu

Character: Susannah March

Costume: Her undisguised self, for once.

Susannah thinks Halloween is a frivolous waste of time, but it *is* the one night of the year she can drop the glamour hiding the wings that mark her as the guardian of Biloxi. Her boyfriend Jason might be able to convince her to put on a plastic halo and crash a costume party. Of course, he'll probably dress up as a devil just to annoy her, but something tells me she'll forgive him by the time the night's over. 

SOMETHING WICKED by Angela Campbell

The heroine of my story is Alexandra King, a psychic medium who regularly converses with dead people and uses her skills to help clients of a private detective agency. She has a witty sense of humor and  would probably dress as a sexy fortune-telling gypsy for Halloween, if for no other reason than to get a rise out of the story's hunky hero, Dylan Collins, a cop who has a hard time believing psychics are real.

FAERIE BLOOD by Angela Korra'ti

Character: Kendis

Costume: Zoe from Firefly

Why: As a half-Sidhe, half-human whose human parent was African-American, as well as a geek, Kendis is absolutely a Firefly fan and loves her some Gina Torres. And in fact, the forthcoming Bone Walker, being set in October, uses this as an actual background detail!

Kendis' other major favorite costumes have been both Leetah and Venka from the comic book Elfquest. Because brown elf girls FTW, and also because the Kendis in the Faerie Blood Movie in My Brain does in fact look like the child that Leetah and Rayek in Elfquest never actually had. Which is what I told Kiri Moth when I had her do the cover art!)

GAMING FOR KEEPS by Seleste DeLaney

Characters: Cal Burrows & Pen Holloway

Costume: Jabba the Hutt & Slave Leia

Why: Pop culture geeks to the core, there's no way these two are going as less than known characters (they can cosplay their own creations at conventions, thank you very much.) Since Cal turned down her Megara-Hercules idea, Pen would embrace her second-favorite princess. Plus, she knows her guy likes her showing off, even if she thinks he's crazy. Considering he often has to use his good looks in his work as a spy, Cal prefers to hide when in costume, and where better to hide than in a mass of slimy flesh rolls? Plus, he gets to stay attached to his best girl by means of a chain. 

From SXC by sachyn

THE ALLEGRA FAIRWEATHER SERIES by Janni Nell

Character: Allegra Fairweather

Costume: hula -- yep, the works: grass skirt, coconut bra, hibiscus behind the ear, lei (actually she'd probably save the 'lei' for Casper, whom she can now officially call her boyfriend) 

Halloween is the busiest time of year for a paranormal investigator. Allegra simply doesn't have time to celebrate what with all those pesky ghosts, witches and things that go bump in the night coming out to play. However, if Allegra did celebrate Halloween she'd avoid the obvious paranormal choices (too much like work) and dress up in a hula costume. She loves to dance (even if she's not very good at it) and now that she's a permanent resident of Hawaii she's been taking hula lessons. Of course, her favourite person to dance for is Casper.

KISS THE BRIDE by Jody Wallace

A contemporary romance from Entangled's Ever After line. If the heroine, Caroline, were to wear a Halloween costume, she would go as the Slime Monster from the Environmentally Polluted Wetlands. Yes, she's an environmental consultant who's passionate about saving the world. If Heck, the hero, were to wear a Halloween costume, he'd go as a zombie groom in the tux he wore to his high school prom, because it still fits (sure it does, Heck) and he ran out of time to get anything else. That or he might wrap a tarp around himself and go as a...tarp.

THE BATTLE LORD’S LADY by Linda Mooney
CHARACTER: Atrilan “Atty” Ferran D’Jacques
Costume: the frilliest dress, a crown, and makeup
Why: It’s the total antithesis of what she really is. When she was caught reading a book, many people were stunned to learn she could read. Atty shuns dresses as a rule, although she has on a couple of rare occasions. She’s such a tomboy and huntress, the last thing people see in her is her feminism. To completely doll herself up, and add a regal smug to top it off, people would get a tremendous kick out of her portrayal.

THE RAVENOUS DEAD by Natasha Hoar
Character: Kit Elkeles

Costume: Link from the Legend of Zelda videogames

Why: An enthusiastic gaming and pop culture fan, Kit has been passionate about the Legend of Zelda games

From SXC by DCarlton

since he was a child. He found solace in the game during the times when his sister caused turmoil in their family through her antics, and has created and sustained lifelong friendships with fellow Zelda fans. He's had several Link costumes over the years, each one becoming more detailed and game accurate. Whether for Halloween, or cosplaying at conventions, Link is Kit's favored 'solo' costume. He has yet to find someone to be his Zelda.

GATE TO KANDRITH & SOUL OF KANDRITH by Nicole Luiken

Character: Lady Sarathena Remillus

Costume: Jita, Goddess of Horses. Jita has long chestnut hair, widely spaced brown eyes and equine ears. She is the twin sister of Jut, God of Travellers.

Why: The Republic of Temboria doesn't have Halloween, but they do have masked fetes. Since she is unmarried, Sara isn't allowed to attend the often-scandalous parties, but if she did she would go as Jita, the Goddess of Horses. Sara grew up wild and loved nothing better than to race around on horseback. During a dark time in Soul of Kandrith riding helps Sara reconnect with her lost self. "The forest blurred by. Their speed made her hair stream out behind her, and she could feel wind and sunshine on her face. Together the sensations combined to give Sara an odd feeling in her chest of... lightness. Of their own accord, her lips curved up."

OLD SINS, LONG SHADOWS by P G Forte

Character: Marc Fischer

Costume: Men in Black 

Why: To poke fun at himself and his earlier insecurities. Growing up, Marc was uncomfortable about his heritage. He chose to believe vampires were descended from some alien species that had mutated and evolved and formed a symbiotic relationship with humans. As he put it: "Aliens, by virtue of the fact they’d had to travel through space to get here, were obviously smart, technologically advanced and, in all likelihood, peaceful ambassadors from a better, brighter world. Vampires, on the other hand, were murderers. They were monsters. They were the quintessential fairy-tale villains—right up there with ogres and trolls and gorgons—the kind of creature nightmares were made of. Who in the hell would choose to be something like that if they didn’t have to?"

RAVENSBLOOD by Shawna Reppert 

Character:  Cassandra Greensdowne

 Costume: Boudicea 

Raven absolutely refuses to dress up for Halloween, which is a shame because he'd make a lovely vampire.  But Cass is totally into it.

She chose Boudicea, a queen of one of the ancient British tribes who led an armed rebellion against the Roman occupation, because she admires her bravery and determination in defending her people against tyranny

  

JOURNEY OF DOMINION by Shawna Thomas

Character: Ilythra

Costume: A normal woman with a normal life. Maybe a wave rider’s or farmer’s wife.

The mantle of “The Wanderer” weighs heavy on Ilythra’s shoulders. This life was chosen for her, but is it what she wants? One night to forget the pressures, pretending to be something more ordinary, sounds like heaven.

DANCER OF THE NILE by Veronica Scott

Character: Nima the Dancer

Costume: Nima might wear the costume of one of the Ancient Egyptian goddesses, Isis perhaps, if she and her dance troupe were to be hired by a temple to perform in a procession or ceremony on a major feast day. 

THE MONSTER HAVEN SERIES  by R. L. Naquin

Character: Zoey Donovan

Costume: A sheet with two eyeholes cut out.

Why: In book two, Pooka in My Pantry, Zoey does go to a Halloween costume party. Having purchased the glittery fairy costume before actual fairies took up residence in her front yard, she was humiliated while walking past them on the trek from the house to the car. They thought she was hilarious. With monsters, urban legends, and mythological creatures constantly coming and going on her property, Zoey doesn't want to insult anyone or hurt their feelings. Or get laughed at any more than she already does. An old-fashioned ghost costume is the best way around it. Unless, of course, ghosts start showing up, too.