A guide to a perfect Halloween

With Halloween less then two weeks away it’s time to start thinking of costume ideas. As someone who has ample experience in creating awesome costumes, allow me to provide you with a few tips to keep in mind when putting together your attire for Oct. 31

For starters, you can take your costume in one of two directions; scary or funny. Both are acceptable, but what you don’t want to do is fall somewhere in between. Generic costumes like pirates or cowboys are both a good example of this, they won’t make you laugh and they wont make you scream either. You want to either be something so scary that kids are afraid to come up to your house for candy, or so creative and funny that everyone has a chuckle when they walk by you.

For me, I always go the comedy route, but to each they’re own.

Another good tip is comfort and practicality. This is something that’s missed on a lot of people. Lets keep in mind that it will probably be below zero outside on Halloween night, and having as many clothes on as possible always makes your trick or treat experience much more enjoyable. Take it from a guy who once went as a spartan wearing, a helmet, a tunic and sandals while there was snow on the ground.

The key here is to look for costumes that allow you to sneak in an extra layer or two underneath that no one will know about. Gorilla suit, anything with a mask to keep your face warm, wizard or witch with a cloak; all good calls.

The third and most important thing to remember about Halloween costumes is originality. Please, don’t follow the crowd and get the popular costume from the latest hit Netflix series. I remember when Orange is the New Black first came out, that Halloween I must have seen about 75 women in orange jumpsuits.

Another good one was when the show Peaky Blinders blew up, and every other man from ages 18-30 was dressed as a British gangster in the 1940s.

Avoiding over-done characters like Micheal Myers, Jigsaw and Freddy Krueger are probably smart moves as well.

The true mark of a good costume is something that stands out. If you’re like me and you enjoy funny costumes more than scary ones, go for something unique. The best costume I’ve ever seen was four of my friends from college who went out with berets, black turtle necks, french baguettes, and faces painted like the band Kiss — French Kiss.

Those are the kind of creative ideas that win costume parties.