Your Halloween costume might reveal your personality

Costumes: Mirrors of the Soul?

7/13/2019

Cover of Crypt Suzette by Maya Corrigan with a black cat, jack o'lantern, candy corn, and shelves with books and Halloween decorationsPicture

Crypt Suzette is now available for pre-order and discounted at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Target, and BAM.

Does a costume disguise or reveal who you really are? That question comes up in Crypt Suzette, my sixth Five-Ingredient Mystery. When Val caters a Halloween party at Bayport’s bookshop, a costume contest is part of the festivities. The contestants are supposed to dress as fictional characters. When the prizewinner, Suzette, is murdered, her competitors are suspects. Val can't help wondering if they might have something in common with the violent characters they portray: Lady Macbeth, the Phantom of the Opera, Count Dracula, and Morgan le Fay, the evil sorceress from Camelot.

Val, who dresses as Nancy Drew, tells her friend Bethany, “People choose costumes that mirror their personalities.” Do you agree? Or is wearing a costume an excuse to take on a totally different personality? How do you choose a costume?

Comment by July 21st for a chance to win an advanced reader edition of Crypt Suzette.
UPDATE: The contest is over. The winner is Gail. Thank you to those who wrote about the costumes they've worn and their reasons for choosing them. It was fun to read the variety of comments. The common thread is that we express ourselves through costumes whether they represent who we are or who we would like to be.

30 Comments

Michelle Gross link

7/14/2019 12:51:15 pm

I dress up every year for the Jewish Holiday of Purim, and my costumes always reflect my personality. I’ve been a crazy cat lady, an 80’s chick, and once I dressed all in purple (my favorite color) and said I was 50 shades of grape! And I love your books!

amy guillaume linderman

7/14/2019 02:44:39 pm

i always dress up as something that goes with my personality, like a witch , ha ha , or lucy from the peanuts.

Candy Kennedy

7/14/2019 03:35:10 pm

I think costumes let us become someone else

Kim Autrey link

7/14/2019 04:43:06 pm

Costumes allow us to become something or someone we are not.

Margo Sue

7/14/2019 05:40:14 pm

I dress up regularly at work. I have a winery in a Victorian home. You never know when I'll be decked out a a dress, crinolines, hat and gloves!

Michele Hensley

7/14/2019 05:59:33 pm

I believe that costumes can offer us a chance to try out a different personality, if desired, but it's only temporary (thank goodness, maybe?).

holdenj

7/14/2019 06:13:02 pm

Love the idea is being Nancy Drew. I was a hippie one year, channeling my more free side!

bobbi makuch

7/14/2019 06:16:04 pm

Dressing up is fun and takes you out of yourself to be someone different.

Anne

7/14/2019 06:26:40 pm

I enjoy dressing up for Purim and I have always dressed up for my personality. Anne of green Gables, Annie Oakley, Esther.

Martha Brooks

7/14/2019 06:30:35 pm

I choose my costume based on how I feel for the year. One year I dressed up as a cat and the next year a dog then a witch. I also try to do something a little different than my kids.

Cheryl Arcemont

7/14/2019 06:38:40 pm

I think dressing up in costume is being someone you aren't. Most times this is for the occasion (Halloween, various plays.) This is a very common practice in many cultures for many reasons. I personally haven't done this since I was a very young child for the Halloween evening.

KarenM

7/14/2019 06:40:06 pm

I used to dress up for Halloween as a cowgirl. Since I hate horses and cows, I doubt I secretly wanted to be a cowgirl. I just had the outfit. And a wonderful purple hat!

David Bibb

7/14/2019 06:49:07 pm

Costumes allow us to explore other aspects of reality.

Donna Hinson

7/14/2019 07:21:07 pm

The costumes I've worn over the years have always been as a way to allow me to become, or pretend temporarily to be, someone/thing else.

Linda Semler link

7/14/2019 07:23:07 pm

I would love to be an ARC for you.

Janet Bailey

7/14/2019 07:40:45 pm

I think costumes can do either one. It depends on what you want them to do when you choose them.

Robert Barbour

7/14/2019 07:54:15 pm

I love holiday themed cozy mysteries and look forward to reading this one.

Merry Chapman

7/14/2019 09:01:51 pm

I have always dressed my kids up for halloween, but I too dressed when I took them around for trick or treat. It is true that you can act as someone else when dressed up. That led me to acting in theater groups where I could really come out of my shell! I love reading and reviewing books for authors, as right now it is my only hobby. I would LOVE to receive an ARC and review for you on both amazon and goodreads where I usually review as Merry a Vero Beach FL reviewer.

Ingrid

7/14/2019 09:23:04 pm

I've been an Indian maiden, a Spanish lady, a vampire. Fun stuff@@

Gail Ruber

7/14/2019 09:38:39 pm

Since children generally choose to dress up as something/someone they would like to be, ie: young girls often dress up as princesses and young boys as pirates or Star Wars/super heroes, I think maybe adults do the same. They dress up as things/people that either reflects their actual personalities or that represent what they would like to be.

Linda

7/14/2019 10:21:16 pm

Costume novels interest me.

Renee

7/14/2019 11:05:42 pm

It’s been so long since I dressed in any costume...I agree however, that changing costumes or outfits can provide confidence and try out the things you wouldn’t dare try as yourself. It’s sort of like puppets in therapy play with kids...some won’t talk at all...but once you get out the puppet..the child feels comfortable talking to anyone about anything...with outaskingleadingquestiins

Jackie link

7/14/2019 11:16:17 pm

I’ve dressed up as a cowgirl at a line dance party

Pat LaRaja

7/15/2019 07:02:33 am

I would love dressing up as up as what I would imagine. Sometimes a fictional magical creature. Sometimes as a dancer. But what I wasn’t good at in reality.

KellyL

7/14/2019 11:54:49 pm

I think dressing up can give you a chance to be someone or something that you're not. It's a chance to try something new.

Sharon

7/15/2019 12:51:40 am

I look at the costumes. What I pick out depends on how I feel that day.

Robin Coxon link

7/15/2019 11:03:17 am

I love dressing up in a costume because I can become anyone or thing. I've been Dolly Parton to The Cat in the Hat to a Pumpkin. When I worked as a church secretary that had a day care, it was fun to see the kids' faces when I was dressed up. It wormed my heart.

Valerie

7/15/2019 08:06:10 pm

You are a new author to me and I absolutely love Cozy Mystery’s! It would be awesome to win your first book to this series to get started. I’m a Nerd Girl (#NerdGirlVal) of Nerd Girl Official and I can post reviews there, Goodreads and Amazon.

Gina Schade

7/17/2019 01:33:37 pm

I think people use costumes to experiment or be something completely different from who they usually are.

Jeanne Kennedy

7/26/2019 04:09:08 pm

Dressing up in a costume is magical and fun. I would choose my costume based on a character from one of my favorite books. I love cozy romance and mysteries and thank you for the chance.

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Costumes: Mirrors of the Soul?

Leave a Reply.

Maya Corrigan

Archives

Categories

Contact Me