Straight Jacket

Up until the 1050’s the methods that were used to treat patients with mental disorders ranged from questionable to downright inhumane. Most of the time they did more to hurt these people than to help them. Some of the practices included ice baths for patients who were too excitable, electroshock therapy, insulin shock therapy, castration (for patients who were also sex offenders), and of course lobotomies. The lobotomies themselves could be something as simple as navigating an ice pick behind a persons eye and tapping it into their brain, to actually removing a pieces of skull and a piece of gray matter with it.

Most often, they were forced into a straight jacket and locked away in a room with padded walls so that they could not hurt themselves; and that is where the stereotypical Halloween costume for the ‘mental patient’ comes from. There are versions for both men and women should you decide to be a little crazy this holiday, and the come in several different varieties as well.

For women there is a ‘sexy straight jacket’ costume that features the jacket (of course) in pristine white; though unlike a normal straight jacket it features a scoop neck and an oval hole underneath to show a bit of cleavage, as well as some stylishly placed straps. It comes with a cute mini skirt and hat as well.

For the men there are straight jackets ranging from cotton fabrics to full-on authentic canvas jackets. They come in a variety of white and off white colors, as well as some in brown. There is a particular costume called the ‘straightjacket maniac’ that comes with a brown jacket and black straps, as well as a mask that looks like a maniac’s face and a cadge to go around your head. This costume has a more medieval feel to it and would definitely be fun to wear to a party. There are also straight jacket costumes associated with particular criminals, such as Hannibal Lector.

The king of your nightmares

The horror movie genre wouldn’t be complete without the slasher film legends of Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger, and Michael Myers.

Jason as a boy ‘drown’ at camp while the two teenagers who were supposed to be supervising while he was swimming were off somewhere having sex. The films center around either his revenge for the death of his mother (who killed those teenagers in revenge for the death of her son and was beheaded) or just gore for gore’s sake. If you were to dress as Jason for Halloween, all you would need are some casual clothes, a jaceket, a hockey mask, and some kind of weapon to kill with. A machete is generally the best choice.

Freddy was a despicable man who murdered children, but the law was not able to punish him accordingly so the parents of those children (and others) trapped him in a building and burnt him alive. Instead of simply being killed though, he became the stuff of their nightmares; literally. He manages to continue existing in the dream realm, but if he is in your dream and he hurts you; you will wake up with the same damage he inflicted. The look of this man is possibly the most fear-inducing of the three and hardest to replicate without wearing a mask. His skin is peeling and scorched, revealing muscle underneath, he wears black pants, normal black shoes, a red and green striped sweater, a black fedora hat, and his right hand is covered by a glove which razor sharp blades attached to each finger.

Michael Myers killed in his movies simply because he was insane. Insane, and possibly evil from birth. He wears a dark colored jumpsuit and a white mask with light brown hair attached. Bring a knife with you to the party for this one, he gets in stabby moods sometimes.

Of course all of these men/monsters are well known enough that merchandise has bubbled up around their movie empires and there are plenty of places to purchase all of the items I mentioned. This is one of those cases where it would be so much easier and cheaper to buy the costume, that attempting to make it yourself just seems silly.

Four horsemen are said to appear before the end of the world, they are the bringers of the apocalypse will cause chaos on earth before its end.

Four horsemen

The first of the four rides a white horse, and the most speculation surrounds him. He goes out into the world wearing a crown and with the intent of conquest, and it is assumed that he is evil based on how he is introduced as part of the group that is very clearly evil. But still, he is different from the other three in some way, and everyone has a different take on what he truly is. Some claim that he is the antichrist, others say he is representing civil war, and another belief is that he is Christ himself, the second coming. That he could be there to sort out the wicked from the good.

Riding atop the red horse, is the second horseman of the apocalypse; war. It is pretty clear from his large sword the fiery color of his steed that his purpose is only for one thing; the killing of men, by men.

The third horse is black and the horseman who rides it represents famine. With him he has weighing scales, which were often used to weigh bread before it was distributed during famines. He also seems to be the only horseman who speaks. It is not indicated that it is famine speaking, but the voice that comes from the general direction of the four speaks of bread, wine and oil; things that would only concern him.

The final horseman, riding the ‘pale horse’ that insinuates something like the color of a corpse; is death. Though in some versions he carries a scythe (suggesting that he himself is the grim reaper) in most he carries nothing with him, and is instead followed by Hades.

With them comes the destruction of the world, and with them leaves all that was in it.

Adieu, my friends. Adieu.
-Black Widow