Halloween Creates Costume Drama : For Many Adults the Fun Depends on Scaring Up the Right Look

Louise Schiffler only needed one more thing to make her Halloween costume complete.

“If I don’t find the log at Vons, I’ll have to check out a lumber yard,” Schiffler said. “But I’m not worried, there should be one log that fits what I’m looking for.”

Since June, after watching the offbeat television series “Twin Peaks,” the 32-year-old Garden Grove computer programmer knew exactly what she was going to be for Halloween. “The Log Lady is perfect,” she said. “It’s simple, funny and cheap.”

Schiffler, who also is busy preparing Halloween costumes for her two children, said she considers Halloween her favorite time of the year.

“Since I was a kid I loved Halloween,” she said. “I loved to dress up and be somebody else for a day. It’s no different today. In fact, I think I appreciate it more than when I was a kid.”

While Halloween for the kiddies seems to have been overtaken by the realties of a changing world with many parents opting to keep their children at home during its celebration, for many adults, the spirit of Halloween is very much alive.

Consider this:

According to Hallmark Cards Inc.’s recent market survey, an estimated $400 million will be spent by nearly 50 million Americans on Halloween costumes and party goods this year. Of that, adults will constitute about $100 million in sales. In addition, the survey found that for many adults, the right costume is the single most important key to enjoying Halloween.

“In the last three years, we have found a definite increase of adults who dress up for Halloween,” said Sherry Timbrook, spokeswoman for Kansas City-based Hallmark, noting that about one in four adults dress up for Halloween in America. “It’s the second most popular celebration for adults. It’s right behind New Year’s Eve and ahead of Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day.”

At Gasoline Alley in Orange--a small costume and clothing boutique that specializes in vintage clothes from the 1960s and 1970s--owner Dawna Saucedo said costume sales and rentals started picking up in the late summer. “I really thought the economy would put a dent in business this year,” Saucedo said. “So much for my worries.

“There’s no question that Halloween is becoming more popular for adults,” Saucedo said. “With all the stresses and worries of today’s world, more than ever, adults need a time to unwind and be someone else.”

Costume prices at Gasoline Alley run from a low of about $22 for a Peter Pan outfit to a high of $150 for a gorilla suit. In most cases, though, Saucedo said customers are not spending more than $50.

Traditional costumes like clowns, flappers and vampires continue to remain popular among adults, but Saucedo said in the last few years, she has noticed that more and more people are willing to experiment with their costume designs.

“We’re doing a lot of Hippies this year,” Saucedo said, adding that the 1970 polyester look is also popular among the costume searchers who visit her store. “But we’re also doing a lot of Bart Simpson (‘The Simpsons’), Al Bundy (‘Married . . . With Children’) and Dick Tracy.”

Halloween dates back 2,500 years to Druid festivals. Costume parties and trick-or-treating customs were brought to the United States by Irish settlers in the 1840s, according to Hallmark card researchers.

Lee Gislason, a psychiatrist at UC Irvine, said Halloween can serve many functions for adults, including a healthy way of “cleansing the soul” from the day in and day out frustrations of everyday life.

“In a way, we all have multiple personalities,” Gislason said. “Halloween offers an easy way for adults to become another personality for the day. At the same time it’s affording a temporary escape from the realities of the everyday world.”

Halloween costumes can also serve as symbolic statements for some adults, Gislason said. For example, a law enforcement officer may dress up like a super hero. Or, a housewife or professional woman may dress like a dance hall girl.

“It’s a safe way to let loose,” Gislason said. “People can either be good, bad or funny.”

During the year, Sherri Fraizer is an assistant corporate secretary at Pacific Mutual in Newport Beach. But on Halloween, the 27-year-old Long Beach resident throws her life out the window and turns into whatever she wants.

“I love Halloween,” said Fraizer, who is the mother of a 2-year-old girl and is expecting her second child in November. “I would never consider not dressing up for the occasion. I enjoy it and my husband enjoys it.”

Pacific Mutual allows its 1,700 employees to come to work dressed in costume. “It’s been a longstanding tradition with this company,” said Andrew Morrison, senior vice president of the company. “Not everybody chooses to dress up, but we do get our fair share.”

Because of her pregnancy, Fraizer said, her options for a costume are minimal. Nevertheless, she plans to dress up as a bride. If that somehow doesn’t work, she said she has two other costumes.

“These days, our lives are so busy, we tend to forget to have fun. And that’s what Halloween is all about--fun,” she added. “Besides, I believe we all get a chance to see the real side of some people.”

Since the Anaheim Hilton was built six years ago, it has had a Halloween party. This year, the hotel plans to celebrate the occasion in the hotel’s nightclub.

“I think as the economy slows down and the chances of a Middle East confrontation increase, Halloween becomes more important to adults,” said Patrick Hines, director of public relations for the hotel. “When people dress up, they can escape for a while and have some fun.”

In the six years that the hotel has been staging Halloween parties, Hines said adults appear to enjoy the celebration more and more.

“You can tell that people really get into the spirit of Halloween,” Hines said. “When we first started doing this, most of the costumes seemed to be the same--monsters and Playboy Bunnies. But in the last couple of years, people are getting more creative and witty with their costumes. And they seem to love to show them off.”

Unique Costumes in Fullerton has been renting and selling costumes for 30 years. Since late September, the store has been open 11 hours a day, seven days a week. Laura VanRiper, part owner of the shop since 1978, said in the next two weeks, the shop will be like a zoo.

“It’s mostly adults that come in here,” she said, noting that costumes depicting Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Roaring ‘20s and Arabs seem to be big this year. “Some know exactly what they want, others are not sure.”

However, no matter what state of preparedness customers are in, VanRiper said most of the people who come in all seem to have one thing in common. “They’re excited about finding a costume. You can see how fun it is for them in their eyes.”

VanRiper said that during the last few days before Halloween--when most of the store’s items have been picked clean by customers--store clerks have as much fun as the customers as they try to piece together costumes from the remains.

“It can be pretty crazy around here toward the end of October,” Van Riper said. “The clerks are running around, grabbing things. . . . Customers frantic for a costume. . . .”

Greg Belson, 29, a truck driver for Roadway Express in Los Angeles, has been thinking about his Halloween costume since last year.

“I’m going to be Jim Morrison of the Doors,” Belson said. “I’ve found almost everything I need. All that’s missing is a wig.”

The Cypress truck driver doesn’t care that his physique doesn’t resemble the late singer’s: “I know I don’t look like Morrison. But hell, it’ll be lots of fun. I’ll be walking around with a mike in my hand singing, ‘Light My Fire.’ ”

Belson said he plans to attend Halloween parties between now and the end of the month.

“It’s like going on stage,” Belson said. “Once a week, sometimes twice a week, I get in costume and the show begins.”