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Throw a bewitching bash this Halloween
BY GENEVIEVE RAJEWSKI
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Scared this Halloween will find you all dressed up with no place to go? Fear not. Instead of paying a hefty cover to go out, throw your own bash. With the holiday falling on a Friday this year, there are two days for you (and your apartment) to recover. And there’s nothing like costumes to lower guests’ inhibitions and fuel conversation — both essential ingredients for any good party. Low lighting best sets the mood, so carve jack-o’-lanterns en masse to light your affair. Ricky’s Flower Market has a large selection of traditional orange pumpkins (39 cents/pound) as well as funky white pumpkins (79 cents/pound). While a kitchen knife and imagination certainly suffice, you may desire more sophisticated carving tools. If so, Paper Source sells Great Pumpkins: Crafty Carving for Halloween ($14.95), a book of photos, patterns, and tips for creating pumpkins that evoke everything from Magritte to Elvis. Restoration Hardware’s pumpkin-carving kit ($39) includes 15 wood and metal sculpting, carving, and scooping tools in a canvas holder. Look to the Shop at the Union for spooky-yet-stylish party décor, such as paper pumpkin lanterns ($2 and $5), chorus-line witch Halloween garlands ($11), and retro-rific glitter black-cat and skull votive lanterns ($12.50). For centerpieces that shake things up, choose the shop’s vintage-inspired papier-mâché black cat, pumpkin, and skeleton maracas ($14). Paper Source offers party accents edging further up the creep-o-meter, such as stick-on rubber bats ($1 and $3.80), huge hanging rubber bats ($11), hanging black-rubber skeletons ($3.80), and white, faceless wired muslin dolls ($6.50) that look like they should be lurking in the background of an Edward Gorey illustration. The store also gives a nod to 1940s crepe-paper classroom decorations with a winking-black-cat centerpiece ($9.35) and a black-cat dancer with long accordion arms and legs ($8.80). At Cardullo’s, you’ll find unique brews befitting the mood, such as the menacingly named Cropton Monkman’s Slaughter bitter ale ($5.95/bottle) and Hobgoblin British ale ($4.55/bottle). You’ll also find Black Cat Lancashire ale ($6.15/bottle), which sports a fierce feline on its label, and Young’s Old Nick Barley Wine ($3.65/bottle), which boasts a leering devil. However, your guests may well prefer to drink blood-colored beverages. Appease them with Vampire merlot, pinot grigio, cabernet sauvignon, and pinot noir ($8.99) imported from Transylvania and sold at Liquor Land. For hard liquor, hit Liquor Land for Vampyre red vodka ($8.99) or Blavod black vodka ($8.99), both imported from England. Of course, as host, you must go all-out on your costume. Boston Costume is the best one-stop source for costume shopping and renting. This year, the staff expects high demand for pirate accessories — including parrots ($12), eye patches ($3), boots ($18), beards ($6), and spyglasses ($4) — thanks to the box-office smash Pirates of the Caribbean. As for rentals ($65/full costume; $45/partial costume; $300/ deluxe costume), more obscure superheroes — such as the Green Lantern, the Flash, Captain America, and Bat Girl — and medieval garb are always popular. For a good selection of vintage clothing, particularly ’60s and ’70s dresses (typically $9–$15), visit the Garment District. The shop also carries Halloween accessories like beaded flapper headbands with feathers ($7), fishnets ($5–$6), and vampire-bite and thread-stitch-scar temporary tattoos ($3). Where to find it • Boston Costume, 69 Kneeland Street, Boston, (617) 482-1632; www.bostoncostume.com. • Cardullo’s, 6 Brattle Street, Cambridge, (617) 491-8888. • Garment District, 200 Broadway, Cambridge, (617) 876-5230; www.garment-district.com. • Liquor Land, 874 Harrison Avenue, Boston, (617) 445-0560. • Paper Source, various locations; www.paper-source.com. • Restoration Hardware, various locations; www.restorationhardware.com. • Ricky’s Flower Market, 9 Union Square, Somerville, (617) 628-7569; www.rickysflowermarket.com • The Shop at the Union, 356 Boylston Street, Boston, (617) 536-5651, ext. 175; www.weiu.org/index.php?page=86.
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