Still Need a Costume for Halloween?

by Morgan Mann

When Halloween was once about candy, it’s now about costumes. So while you’re tearing through the internet for original ideas that aren’t Miley Cyrus or Katy Perry’s left shark, why not stay true to your English major and dress up as a classic author or character? Inspired by literary classics (and their movie counterparts), we present to you a classic collection of protagonists for guys and girls, a surefire couple’s costume, some recognizably renowned authors, and a sure-to-stand-out original for this year’s Halloweekend.

Julia

from George Orwell’s 1984

You’ll need—a blue jumpsuit (thrift it!), red sash/scarf belt, DIY copy of The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism by Emmanuel Goldstein, and a deep, fearful love for the Big Brother

1984

Jack Torrance

from Stephen King’s The Shining

You’ll need—DIY cardboard “broken door” around your face, flannel shirt, fake axe, crazy-sleepless makeup, and an insatiable bloodlust

 Shining

Alex

from Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange

You’ll need—white shirt & pants, gray suspenders, black bowler hat, drawn-on eyelashes on your right eye, and an utter disregard for the rules (just kidding. We don’t need an incident with PSafe)

Clockwork Orange

Gulliver

from Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels

You’ll need—white shirt, tan pants with the legs pulled up, knee socks, leather satchel, string and army men attached all over your outfit, and a satirical sense of superiority

 Gulliver's Travels

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale

from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

He’ll need—black pants, black polo, white clerical band, and a marker-ed red A on his chest.

She’ll need—black or white dress, cloak (it’s going to be cold, ladies), and a red felt A pinned to her dress.

ca. 1926 --- Gish, Hanson and Joyce Coad as Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale and Pearl in the 1926 motion picture . In this scene Dimmesdale reveals himself to be Prynne's partner in adultery in front of a crowd of vengeful puritans. --- Image by © John Springer Collection/CORBIS

Edgar Allen Poe

You’ll need—white shirt, black jacket, neck scarf, mustache, a [fake] raven, and a dark demeanor

Poe 

Emily Dickinson

You’ll need—black modest dress, ribbon necklace, hair in a low bun, scribbled letters/poems, and an unhealthy infatuation with Death

 

Dickinson

 

Scout

from Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird

You’ll need—chicken wire and papier-mâché ham… you can easily whip that up in your dorm room, right?

To Kill a Mockingbird

Happy Halloween English majors! Be safe, and have fun.