It's that time of year again!

"And what time is that?" you might ask. Why, Halloween Costume Planning Time!

I know, it's still grotesquely sunny out and warm. But there is just the barest breath of fall in the air... or perhaps that's just the pile of leaves currently rotting on top of my deck. Note to self: sweep.

I really wanted to be Mina Harker this year and have Patrick be Dracula, but we are going to have to go with something cheaper for me. This is an absolutely lovely dress, but holy mackerel cupcakes is it pricey!

How great would this look?!

I love this shot particularly. The lace blindfold really makes it.

Anyway, as I said, a different look is required. I refuse to half-ass Mina.

I also considered some sort of witchy sorcerer-type motif, and I really liked that dark Darien robe that I may or may not have linked on here before. If not, here it is. If so, well, skip this part.

I would look killer in this. Minus the dreadlocks.

Still pretty damn pricey, but not nearly as unattainable as the Mina gown. I think I will keep perusing. I suppose I could be myself again this year, since that's always morphing into something new and weird, but I'm feeling more like being a character.

I love this holiday! If you don't know about this already, you ought to get a copy of Ray Bradbury's book The Halloween Tree and read it. I have a splendid collector's edition of this, and I read it every year. I fell in love with it as a kid by watching the Halloween specials on TV. Bradbury himself wrote the script for it, so it's not all cocked up like most adaptations. It is a book for all ages, and I find it endlessly fascinating. He has a way of evoking the deliciousness of a crisp, smokey October evening, complete with leaves swirling in the wind and the vaguest hint of ghostly presence wafting from candlelit pumpkins.

Any costume ideas, feel free to suggest away! Keep in mind that stuff fitting me best will have a corset-like or Victorian look to it. I have a very hourglass shape, so no awful pencil skirts or bodysuits. No one needs to see that. Even Halloween isn't meant for that kind of scary.