The nineteen-fifties were a wholesome, simple time. Families ate dinner together, watched Leave it to Beaver, and the cost of a loaf of bread was a mere fourteen cents. With war a very real part of their past, present and possibly their future, being anti-communist was a very important part of daily life. It was in the 1950’s that “under God” was added to the pledge of allegiance, and many people were arrested under suspicions that they were not acting as patriotic as they should. So, it was understandable that the boys and girls in high school really enjoyed de-stressors like drive-in-movies or nights under the stars at make out point. What they most looked forward to though, was going to the local Soc Hop.

Soc Hop

Soc Hops were held on the school grounds, generally in the gymnasium. To save the varnished floors from being damaged by all the dancing, the students were made to take off their shoes and dance in their socks. Dressing up in a 1950’s costume this year for Halloween would be a fun blast from the past. Just make sure to be careful about which Soc Hop you attend. Chances are you’ll just see all the same people, girls with their hair done up in high ponytails and pink ribbons, boys with crew cuts, poodle skirts, button down shits, sweaters and letterman jackets. But consider if something went wrong, and when the dance was scheduled to end you made your way towards the exit, only to find that the doors wouldn’t open. Imagine being stuck in a continuous loop, spending the rest of eternity dancing to the same songs unable to rest for more than a few minutes at a time. Imagine that you had to do it all with a smile on your face and without speaking a single ill word of the situation. What seemed like fun originally, might turn out to be someone’s worst nightmare.

May we reconvene under the blood red moon,
-Black Widow

Frankenstein costumes

Frankenstein costumes were in a book written by the young Mary Shelley when she was only nineteen years old, and in a time when women writers were not well received. But despite that it is a lasting novel that we still read to this day as a requirement for school. Dr. Frankenstein attempted to do the unthinkable in this novel, and bring a monster -made of dead human parts- to life. He succeeded.

The most well known version of this monster is probably not what young Ms. Shelley had in mind when she was writing the book, but is nevertheless what we think of when the word ‘Frankenstein’ is mentioned. It is the image of Boris Karloff who played Frankenstein’s Monster in the movie ‘Frankenstein’ that was made in 1931. In this film the monster was portrayed as a freakishly large man with an excess of forehead and a skull that was squared at the top and seemed to be stitched together at various points. He wore tattered clothing, and very large platform boots. More often than not (though the movie was in black and white) Frankenstein’s monster has a green skin tone.

In the event that you wanted to be this horror culture staple for Halloween the path to accomplishing this goal would be very easy. There are masks for both the Boris Karloff version of the monster as well as more grotesque versions of what I imagine the original monster from the book might’ve looked like in Mary’s head. Additionally there are fx make-up kits available that feature a plastic ‘topper’ that you would put on your head to give the illusion that it was square, and comes with make up so that you can blend the plastic piece with your own forehead to give it a seamless effect. Though I am sure the Frankenstein outfit is available for purchase, you could probably do just as well buying a suit coat from good will and a pair of platform shoes off the internet. There really isn’t much to the outfit that you would have to be specific about, whether everyone recognizes you or not is really based on what you do with your costume from the neck up.