Humor

Literal Literary Halloween Costumes

Literature loves metaphors. But a great costume takes the metaphorical and interprets it without much thought for subtlety. Here are some suggestions for literary costumes from not-so-symbolic novel title interpretations.

The Grapes of Wrath

Supplies: clothes of your choice, but preferably green. 10 or more balloons, either all green or all purple. A marker.

Directions: Blow up the balloons. Draw angry faces on them. Secure them to your clothes.

Lord of the Flies

Supplies: fly costume (you can DIY it with black clothes, wings, and a couple extra stuffed legs), crown.

Directions: Wear fly costume. Put on crown.

The Catcher in the Rye

Supplies: baseball mitt, stalks of wheat or corn.

Directions: Put on mitt. Fasten grain to clothes.

Catch-22

Supplies: baseball mitt, paper, scissors

Directions: Cut out two numeral 2’s from the paper. Fasten to the inside of the baseball mitt.

A Clockwork Orange

Supplies: Orange shirt, marker.

Directions: Draw a clock on the shirt. Put on shirt. Bonus points for drawing in gears and clockworks.

The Portrait of a Lady

Supplies: Picture Frame or just cut a frame shape out of a cardboard box and decorate it to look like a picture frame.

Directions: Arrange frame so it goes around face and secure.

Note: Must be a lady to pull this off.

Fahrenheit 451

Supplies: White shirt, black marker, red marker.

Directions: Draw a thermometer on the shirt that goes from 0 degrees to 500 degrees with the black marker. Color it up to 451 with the red marker. Bonus points for making one side in Fahrenheit and the other in Celsius.