It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Costumes and celebrations – everything we in fandoms love. This year Hypable has your handy guide to everything you need to know about celebrating Halloween fandom-style.
It’ll be a fandom fantasy! Imagine the possibilities, how else can you get Sherlock and the Doctor attempting to outsmart each other, or Schmidt and Barney Stinson comparing notes? Even better, a Hermione Granger, Katniss Everdeen and Bella Swan showdown – we’ll let you work out who would win that one. Usually all impossible, and yet at Halloween, anything goes.
Maybe you live in a country where it’s considered weird to turn up on someones doorstep in a disguise and demand that they give you chocolate – but never fear. Halloween is really a glorified costume party, and there isn’t anything fandoms love more than dressing up. Think about it – midnight premieres, conventions, why do we do all these things if not to dress up and celebrate together? Start a Halloween tradition with your friends this year.
Costumes
Halloween is celebrated differently depending where you live, and no way is more telling than your costume. Remember Lindsay Lohan’s disastrous zombie bride in Mean Girls? Enough said. If scary costumes are your style, look no further than The Walking Dead, American Horror Story, any slew of video game characters (or for something truly terrifying, the Glee season 2 storyline).
For more general fandom costumes, we say forget the 3D-glasses-and-facepaint-scar Harry Potter and go for your fandom niche. We’re hoping to see shows like Teen Wolf and New Girl getting a lot of love this year. The best thing about fandom costumes is a lot of them you can throw together with things you already own, and then just buy some simple accessories, so don’t feel intimidated.
If you have similar minded friends, we really think it’s your duty to peer pressure them into a group costume. If you are all far too competitive, maybe the Avengers are for you. For the musically inclined, get together as the Glee group and spend the evening singing your way through the Top 40.
For something easy, be Hunger Games tributes in black pants and polo shirts. Of course, if you and your friends all happen to be supermodels, maybe the Cullen family would be more appropriate. Personally, we want to see a group of Hobbit-style dwarves, plus Gandalf and Bilbo. Bonus points if the beards are real (we can’t see ourselves giving out too many points there). Go on, make it happen!
Decorations
First and foremost, you need to get started carving those pumpkins. Try the faces of your favourite characters, a scene from a TV show – anything you like, as long as it’s in the fandom style. Set them up inside and outside, even give your guests an opportunity to guess at which fandoms they represent, and see how many they can get right.
If you have a large television or computer screen (or ideally a projector), you can set the mood by playing your favourite scary films, or Halloween episodes of your favourite TV shows. We would probably just play Doctor Who‘s “Blink” over and over, but that’s just us. Still, that may result in all of the guests staring at the screen and refusing to look away, which isn’t quite the vibe we are going for.
Things to do
If you’re having a big mixed Halloween party with all your fandom friends, why not set up different stations around the party to match up with these fandoms. The bar should be Mad Men themed, where your well dressed (hipster) friends in skinny-legged suits and a-line dresses can feel at home, and everyone else can get a drink.
Apple bobbing sounds like Once Upon A Time to us, and if you don’t want to risk damaging your time-consuming-stayed-up-all-night-to-make-this costume, you could always hang your apples from strings and try to eat them that way. Just as funny, we promise, and no H20 required.
Let’s not forget about the ever-present candy, which could easily become fandom-themed with the help of a DIY ‘Honeydukes’ sign. Channel your inner New Girl with a photography station, complete with thick-rimmed glasses and sequin top hats (and any other ridiculous accessory Jess has worn) where you and your friends can take photos all through the evening.
After that you’ll just need to set up the karaoke machine for your aforementioned Glee-inclined friends. And don’t neglect the video game fans, you can have a corner where you can compete on your favourite scary-themed video game. Forget any fandom divisions for a night, and instead celebrate a common goal – to intimidate others with your costume-making skills, and make yourself completely sick by eating too much candy. Now that is a dream that we can all get behind.
Images by Ben Rubin
A very Hypable Halloween
We have gone a little Halloween crazy, hey, can you blame us? If you need a kickstart for your pumpkins, check out the submissions to our Fandom Pumpkin Carving Contest. You can also submit photos of your Halloween costume (and of your pets!) for a new Hypable contest.
Find further Halloween appreciation in our Halloween-inspired review of Sleepy Hollow and in John Gallagher, Jr.’s list of favourite scary films, as luckily for us, The Newsroom star has been tweeting a terrifying film recommendation every day in October.
Finally, for more party planning tips, check out our 6 TV shows that would make unforgettable party themes. In there you’ll find our ideas for Mad Men, Glee, Game of Thrones, Doctor Who, Buffy and Greys Anatomy theme parties.