Hmph. Galvin Halloween Dance. Hmph.

THERE WERE some very creative costumes on the dance floor at the Galvin Middle
School Dance the other night.

Mr. Gorski wins.

Salem is Spooky World!

SALEM - The broomstick-riding mistress of Halloween is everywhere in this city
of witches - on the police cruisers' emblem, the high school mascot, and the
masthead of a local newspaper. Visitors can buy Witch City shot glasses and
pointy hats; visit The Witch House, the city-owned home of a witch trials judge;
or buy Wychcraft beer.

But, as an expected 75,000 people converge on
Salem for Halloween tonight, an increasing number of locals are grumbling that
area businesses, and perhaps even Salem's mayor, have commercialized a quaint
city also known for Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Peabody Essex Museum.

During October, Salem "turns into Spooky World, which is difficult
because everyone walks around the street . . . like you're at Disney World,"
said longtime resident Michael Szczuka, who owns a dry-cleaning business near
the main Halloween retail street.

Well, Mr. Szczuka, think of this as Salem's payment for killing all those innocent "witches" all those years ago.

Halloween controversy at WHS

Today, after the usual morning announcements, Ms. Freedman got on the intercom and commended the students for how well Friday's Halloween Dance went. Good to know nobody showed up drunk to that one. She then mentioned the annual Scavenger Hunt that takes place each Halloween, an activity that is NOT sponsored, let alone condoned, by the school.
She warned that the school is working with the police to catch kids in the act of making mischief on Halloween, and that these troublemakers will be punished both by the police AND by the school. Is the school overstepping its boundaries? At least two students think so. One, a senior who wishes to remain anonymous, says he "understands where she's coming from when she says that she wants to cut down on the vandalism during Halloween...but that's what the cops are for...and I don't really think that the school takes actions for something you do off property." The other, sophomore Andrew Fallon, says, "...if it didn't happen in school or on school grounds, it's out of the school's jurisdiction."
All in all, maybe it wouldn't be wise to get together with your friends and toilet paper some houses. At least not tomorrow. I don't think any of you want the cops AND the school on your case.
UPDATE: Some more thoughts from the students... An anonymous junior says "...it's definitely kind of unfair to the kids who want to have fun, but then again...kidnapping? Last time I checked, that's illegal." He adds that kidnapping is usually part of the Scavenger Hunt...usually participants "target one person to be kidnapped."
Senior Tim Cushing says he is preparing an article for Spin about the announcement, and "if she does in fact punish anyone, I'm prepared to help that person appeal." As soon as he heard the announcement, he "yelled out in Math today, 'That's illegal.'" He adds, "I doubt she'll actually put it into place however, and until she does she hasn't committed a crime. That being said, she's setting the school up for a massive lawsuit if someone was to appeal."

Halloween trends...for adults?!?

Young trick-or-treaters are snapping up costumes inspired by the TV show Hannah Montana and High School Musical. But what about adults? What's their Halloween haberdashery of choice? According to one retailer, many adults will dress up as objects.

"Beer-keg outfits and whoopie-cushion outfits are very big this year," said Sal V. Perisano, chief executive of iParty Corp., a Dedham-based chain of 50 stores where the October merchandise is heavy with Halloween-themed goods.

What's more, many adult celebrants of Halloween are demanding outfits that are sexy, he added - though it's challenging to imagine an object of desire pinked out in high-decibel whoopie-cushion attire.

Adults hankering for Halloween hijinx comes as no surprise to Shopzilla.com, an online comparison shopping site. According to a Shopzilla.com survey, 65 percent of East Coast consumers feel that Halloween is shifting from a children's oriented holiday to more of an adult oriented holiday.

And with its large population of college students, Greater Boston seems particularly keen on celebrating Oct. 31 as an adult holiday, with no shortage of sophomores eager to go partying while masquerading as a beer keg.

At an iParty store, college kids will try on and model many costumes and wig-hats while one of their group records the scene with a Camcorder or a cellphone camera; later clips that are part fashion show, part horror show, will appear on Youtube, a website for sharing video content, Perisano said.

Many adults want to dress up as sexy celebrities, either real or imagined, he noted.

Dress as me for Halloween! It's easy. Just wear sneakers, jeans, a T-shirt, a dark blue sweater jacket, glasses, and a black scally cap. Don't forget the handkerchief, and, if you want, a harmonica. I mean, I'm a sexy celebrity, right?