It was a dark and brainstormy night, and I figured you might need help coming up with a Halloween costume.
Here are some pitches that hit close to home.
New Haven-Style Slicer
To bring this local pizza fiend to life, slap on a hockey mask (decorated with Blades, Nighthawks or Beast stickers), pull on an “I [pizza] New Haven” shirt (splattered with “sauce”), char up your crust (including under your eyes), brandish a toy pizza cutter (seriously, don’t use a real one) and pretend to slice anyone who mispronounces “ah-beetz” (or says New York’s is better).
Stoplight from Hell
Red for minutes and green for seconds, the traffic light controlling left turns from Howe onto Whalley is diabolical. On Halloween, become that red-eyed monster complete with the corresponding street signs, and delight in the screams of local revelers who’ve also been trapped there.
Infectious Doctor
Until recently, 28-hour shifts were customary for Yale New Haven Health’s internal medicine residents. So for this costume, imagine New Haven is ground zero, and you’re a medical resident-turned-zombie in a movie the 28 Days Later franchise hasn’t yet made: 28 Hours Later. Grab some scrubs at a Work Hard Dress Right (currently advertising a $5 option), then doctor up a hospital badge, rustle up a stethoscope, zombie up your face and head off to treat (yourself to) some patients.
(Eggs) Benedict Arnold
Like Carrie in the movie Carrie, New Havener Benedict Arnold started the Revolutionary War as a protagonist but, after a series of slights and injuries, became an iconic villain. Recreate his uniform to resurrect America’s most notorious (and misunderstood) traitor, complete with a powder house key recalling his early stand that forced New Haven to join the Revolution. Or yolk it up as Eggs Benedict Arnold, which could be decidedly easier: egg costume, tricorn hat.
The Nutmegger
One fateful night, an urban spelunker snuck into the toxic English Station power plant and walked out as… The Nutmegger! Skin now covered in veiny red striations, this antihero born and raised in the Nutmeg State (and pictured at the top of the article) vanquishes foes using parkour dexterity, apocryphal trickery, Protestant work ethic and an industrial-sized wrench carried right out of the plant. To cosplay as this hometown hero, you basically want to turn your head into a freshly harvested nutmeg by wrapping it in sinewy red bands (which, in real life, are actually a different spice, mace). Getting that right is the hard part; otherwise, a vintage jacket (with local pins and patches like these), streetwear to match and a large prop wrench will complete the look.
And if you find yourself booing all these objectively great pitches, then, like a duck that quacks, I can only conclude you must be a ghost. In which case your costume is already set.
Written by Dan Mims. Images generated using ChatGPT.
