2004's Scariest Halloween Costumes.

October 28, 2004 12:28 PM

2004's Scariest Halloween Costumes.A do-it-yourself guide to this season's quickest, least expensive, and spooky-ookiest halloween costumes. My personal favorites are: Florida's Electronic Touch-Screen Voting Machines, The Littlest Prisoner at Abu Ghraib and Jenna Bush's Liver.
posted by Brilliantcrank (24 comments total)

Holy shit. That Lyndie England costume - ouch! Great link!
posted by widdershins at 12:42 PM on October 28, 2004

very ouch--and that littlest prisoner!
posted by amberglow at 12:46 PM on October 28, 2004

Good stuff. And the Western Hostage in Iraq costume also doubles as a Prisoner of Gitmo costume.
posted by euphorb at 12:51 PM on October 28, 2004

to echo others, that's PRICELESS

only one missing is a little thumbs up Iraqi prison torture ensemble!
posted by Peter H at 12:55 PM on October 28, 2004

that's Iraqi prison torturer, obviously there is one for the tortured.
posted by Peter H at 12:57 PM on October 28, 2004

Funny, timely and offensive. Trifecta!!!
posted by elwoodwiles at 1:00 PM on October 28, 2004

Oh man, are they going to get letters.
posted by turaho at 1:05 PM on October 28, 2004

The Littlest Prisoner at Abu Ghraib
uncool.

If it's not all right for GWB to make jokes about losing those darn WMDs, (and it's not), then this is not all right.
posted by Miles Long at 1:56 PM on October 28, 2004

If it's not all right for GWB to make jokes about losing those darn WMDs, (and it's not), then this is not all right.

It is awfully black humor. However, the editors of The Stranger not the President of the United States of America, so I think it's probably fair to view their jokes in a slightly different context...
posted by mr_roboto at 2:41 PM on October 28, 2004

So much for the lefties being PC...

that said, HA!
posted by Busithoth at 4:18 PM on October 28, 2004

They had better looking Lynndie England costume in Mad Magazine's last issue. But these are fun too- I think I'll be seeing a lot of black hooded costumes this year.
posted by obloquy at 4:21 PM on October 28, 2004

It is awfully black humor. However, the editors of The Stranger not the President of the United States of America, so I think it's probably fair to view their jokes in a slightly different context...

I wouldn't be so fast to exonerate The Stranger. It is quite possible that they were part of the chain of command for the Iraq post-war plan. As an involved party it would be both inappropriate for them to joke about it and a conflict of interest to profit from it. Perhaps they engineered the whole war just so they could sell these costumes.
posted by srboisvert at 4:22 PM on October 28, 2004

Mad's had some pretty cutting articles recently, it seems.
posted by kenko at 5:06 PM on October 28, 2004

Q. -- What did George W. Bush get on his doorstep for Halloween?

A. - An explosive bag of Qaqaa and 100,000 dead Iraqis.

That's what you get for not leaving any candy out, I guess...
posted by insomnia_lj at 5:09 PM on October 28, 2004

Perhaps they engineered the whole war just so they could sell these costumes.
Ah! Like these folks being investigated by the FBI?
posted by amberglow at 5:22 PM on October 28, 2004

Those smilin' kids are so darn cute!

They really make this work, IMHO...
posted by BobFrapples at 5:39 PM on October 28, 2004

Yes, kenko, this political issue on the stands now gets a bit biting- I recommend picking it up if only to see the Seuss cover story (drawings of Wolfowitz as the Lorax, etc). Spy vs. Spy has also become quite brutal (think Itchy & Scratchy).
my 12-year-old neighbor recently moved without forwarding his subscription and I'm lovin' it
I really like the lil' protester costume- Maybe I'll go out trick-or-treating as a "free speech zone"!
posted by obloquy at 6:19 PM on October 28, 2004

Tasteless.
posted by whoshotwho at 9:52 PM on October 28, 2004

Perhaps a little context for those who aren't from Seattle: The Stranger is one of our two alternative newsweeklies (the other one being the more conservative Seattle Weekly -- owned by Village Voice), and is edited by Dan Savage, who also writes the nationally syndicated "Savage Love" column. Back in the day, every Savage Love letter started, "Hey Faggot..."

Dan Savage is the one who wrote a book about adopting a son with his partner, joking that part of the reason why the adoption seemed like a good idea was because he really needed to write a book and hey! great topic.

Dan Savage is also the one who was accused of "viral terrorism" for intentionally trying to infect a republican presidential candidate with his flu.

Ooh, and Dan Savage was the one has campaigned to have the word Santorum (as in infamously anti-gay Sentator Rick Santorum) synonymous with a messy anal sex by-product.

I say these things not because I don't like Dan Savage (I adore his writing, and read The Stranger regularly) but to emphasis that yes, this halloween costume feature is tasteless, but no, they probably won't get many letters because it's The Stranger and Seattle's pretty used to it by now. With my beloved (and reviled) Dan at the helm, this is actually nothing all that remarkable.
posted by arielmeadow at 11:23 PM on October 28, 2004

Oh and I think that's Dan's son modeling the "littlest prisoner" outfit.
posted by arielmeadow at 11:26 PM on October 28, 2004

I haven't laughed this much all week. Thanks.
posted by Devils Slide at 12:16 AM on October 29, 2004

the devil in dick cheney
posted by nyoki at 11:30 AM on October 29, 2004

We were going to dress my 22 month old in a flight suit, and the Man and I were going to stand behind him with a banner that said "Mission Accomplished"...then we remembered that we're the only Non-Republican-SuperXtians on the block...and that these were the people that planted flags on our lawn regularly for the last 3 years...so we figured it wasn't going to go over well.

So the boy is dressing as a tiger. I'm dressing as a NeoCon. Full business suit, blonde bob wig (to hide the waist length chaos tresses), heels, string of pearls, ugly big earrings, blue eyeshadow, pink lipstick, a sheaf of no-bid contracts, and the blood of the innocent.
posted by dejah420 at 2:56 PM on October 29, 2004

This is the scariest.
posted by LeLiLo at 1:11 AM on October 30, 2004