Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
Local Children Ready for Sweet, Spooky Halloween
By Christianne Young
Staff Writer
Halloween is creeping upon us, and while adults are purchasing bags of lollipops, sours and chocolate, children are plotting their holiday attire.
Ready or not, ghosts, vampires, princesses and an assortment of other creatures will soon come knocking in groups of varying sizes.
Television and movies inspire some children’s costumes, but others use their imaginations to create original costumes.
Eli Beltman, 3, of Grapevine is going to be the character Bumblebee from Transformers.
"I love Bumblebee a lot," he said.
He’s looking forward to wearing his yellow and black costume. "Daddy got it for me," he said, beaming.
Eli’s sister Reese Beltman, 6, will be Tinker Bell for a day.
"I like her because she’s a princess," she said. [This reporter was not going to be the one to tell her Tinker Bell is really a fairy.]
But Reese isn’t the only little girl who wants to be a princess. Across America the princess is the most popular children’s costume for 2008, according to the National Retail Federation. The trade organization also reports that the most popular adult costume is the witch costume. For pets, the pumpkin costume tops the charts.
At Nacheska Gentry-Combs’s Southlake costume shop, Odyssey Theatrical, the most popular adult outfits are "old school" — from the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s — and her most popular mask is the Mardi Gras mask.
Other popluar kids’ costumes this year are witches, Hannah Montana, Spider-Man, pirates and Star Wars characters, according to the NRF.
Like many children this year, Colleyville resident Ashton Shiles, 7, will don a witch’s attire. She plans on carrying a witch’s cauldron as she trick-or-treats, but don’t expect any mischief from her. She says she’s going to be a good witch.
"A good witch is nice and uses their powers for good," Ashton said.
Her black outfit will be accented with touches of lime green feathers in her witch’s hat.
Mary Elizabeth Eubank, 6, of Southlake will dress as a cowgirl.
"I like riding horses," she said.
She’s looking forward to wearing her cowgirl boots, which are more than ordinary boots. "They’re pink, and they have little sequins on them," she said
She may even take an inflatable horse with her on her rounds.
Other trick-or-treaters prefer to go as more sinister characters. "I’m going to be a glitzy vampire," said Peyton Skansi, 10, of Southlake. She’s planning to wear a red shirt, black shoes, tights and a tutu. She’ll give her face a touch of dark flare with black eye make-up and red lipstick.
Peyton’s sisters, twins Jessica and Hallie, 12, will reflect ancient Greek drama as they go as comedy and tragedy. Jessica, comedy, will wear a happy mask and yellow dress. She’ll tie a balloon to her wrist and carry cheerful flowers in her hand. Her gloomy opposite, Hallie, will wear a sad mask and a blue or black dress. She’ll tie a popped balloon to her wrist and carry a faux tombstone. The twins said they wanted to go beyond the ordinary and dress as something unique, while taking advantage of the fact that they are a twosome.
Speaking of comedy, Patrick Blasingame, 11, of Grapevine found a milk-cow costume in his attic. He’s looking forward to getting a lot of laughs from the black, white and pink outfit. "I like the fact that it has fake rubber udders on it," he said.
The array of characters rapping at the door will keep adults on their toes this season, but don’t be scared — most of them are appeased with candy.
Trick or Treat? It goes without saying most little goblins want sweets!
At Schakolad Candy Factory in Grapevine, their most popular chocolate candy has a spooky twist. Customers are buying up the store’s dark or milk chocolate "caskets," complete with a lid and containing a white chocolate mummy.
"It’s very eye-catching because you see the white chocolate mummy inside," said owner Sandy Eyer.
Last year, Schakolad’s chocolate lollipops in the shape of ghosts, bats and owls were the popular items, but this year casket sales are outranking the other frightening figures. It seems that children locally — and nationally — agree on chocolate. The National Confectioners Association Web site reports that half of the children polled are hoping for chocolate in their trick-or-treat bags.
Nearly 25 percent of trick-or-treaters are anticipating other sweet treats, and 10 percent love their bubble gum, the site reports. The survey also states children’s smiles turn gloomy when they are handed fruit and salty snacks such as chips and pretzels. Kids don’t care for these kinds of treats, the NRC site reports. But what else would you expect a confectioner to say?
Reese Beltman, 6, of Grapevine said her favorite Halloween candy is chocolate. She is going as Tinker Bell, and she said that Tink’s favorite candy is candy corn. "It’s not as messy," she explained.
Cars fan, Connor Cox, 4, of Southlake, who wants to be a race car for Halloween, is looking forward to sugary, sour frog-candies.
This Halloween, 73.7 percent of adults are expected to hand out candy, according to the National Retail Federation.
Sources: www.ecandy.com,www.nationalretailfederation.com
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