The Mask

Wednesday night

It was almost Halloween, and I'd decided that I'd thrill the trick or treaters by dressing up as the wolf man. I put on my hairy gloves and went over to the local party store to put the finishing touches on my costume. When I got there I found a rubber wolf man mask that used electricity (batteries?) to make the mouth move. As it did, it broadcast pre-recorded scary sayings in a loud, deep voice.

*****

I did dress up as the wolf man for Halloween this year, and I did have the hairy gloves, but no mask. Instead, I opted for makeup; I colored in a black dog's nose and drew up some scary arched eyebrows. I also had some pointed white rubber fangs, but they didn't stay in too well. For a few minutes, I thought about using Fixodent or some denture adhesive, but I was afraid that they'd never come off. The ensemble was topped off with a sort of a pompadour wig, which, unfortunately, was black, when it should have been brown. I looked in the mirror and said, "I look like a deranged Tony Orlando."

The party stores at the mall and the Halloween shelves at Target were filled with expensive, moving, talking gadgets this year, but I tend to shy away from the gimmicky stuff, which seems to be dated fairly quickly. I prefer simpler, home-made Halloween decorations.