By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – What's the funniest costume you've worn for Halloween? How about the scariest? When it comes to dressing up for one of America's favorite holidays, it seems there is no limit to what people will think of.
Although ghosts and goblins still seem to be a favorite, people are turning to unique ideas that stand out and give people a laugh, or tend to scare the pants off them – literally!
This week, the Daily Star hit the streets to ask people about the funniest or scariest costume people have ever dressed up in or have seen. We also asked about favorite scary movies.
Eric Overmyer is around Halloween costumes all the time. An employee at Fun F/X in South Bend, Ind., he says when it comes to costumes, he's seen plenty. However, one year his costume choice was labeled as both scary and funny.
"I was Barbie one year and wore a hot pink mini dress. I even had a Janet Jackson moment at one point and didn't realize I had an uneven chest that was exposed until my friend told me. That was a fun Halloween," he said.
When it comes to scary movies, Overmyer, along with co-worker Jason West, both agreed that the 1990s remake of "House on Haunted Hill" is their favorite.
"Physiologically it was better than the first. There was more to it than the original movie," Overmyer said.
"It gave me an erie feeling. It was demented and the overall setting was better," West said.
When it comes to costumes, West said his scariest thing was a serial killer clown.
"I had an orange jump suit like the outfits they wear in jail and a scary clown mask. As far as the funniest, I would probably say Jar Jar Binks from 'Star Wars.'"
For Shelley Gordon of Niles, she couldn't recall an outfit she wore that made a statement, but a friend of hers had one that was a hit.
"He was a male and he dressed up as Aunt Jemima. He had the long dress, a do-rag and he painted himself. The costume was amazing and I had never seen anything like it," she said.
"As far as scary movies, "Saw.' It was very intense. And Chucky still gives me the willies to this day."
For Carol Harman of Niles, "Friday the 13th" is a movie that will always be scary to her.
"The movie itself was good, but I went to see it at the movie theatre and I was eight months pregnant at the time. My husband went out to get something to drink and when he came back he scared me so bad. He actually came up behind me and put his hands around my neck. That's something I will never forget," she said.
Cathie Durnman of Cassopolis said she will never forget the Halloween party she attended nine years ago.
"My friends and I got all dressed up and had talked about this party for weeks because none of us really ever dressed up as we got older.
"When we got there, everything was dark and it looked like no one was home. We knocked on the door and the people told us they lost power, but the party was still going on. I started wondering because there were only a few people there and no one was dressed up. Talk about an awkward moment," she said.
Durnman said about 10 minutes after arriving, and with nothing really going on, she and some friends stepped outside for a few minutes and began talking.
"We were going to leave. No one was there, the five people that were started acting kind of strange and were just staring at us, so we were outside talking about where to go next. I thought I kept seeing something out of the corner of my eye, but when I turned around, nothing was there. A few minutes later something started tickling my neck and when I turned around all I saw was a mask with blood all over it. I screamed so loud and ran so fast that I tripped over a lawn chair and landed face first in a pile of wet leaves. My friends all took off the other way and I was by myself. The guy with the mask was laughing so hard that he couldn't control himself and had to tell me what was going on because I was crying."
It turns out, that was the whole idea of the party. The hosts purposely put the wrong address on the invitations to give people a scare before coming to the party.
"The goal was to make people freak out a little bit before going to the actual party. It worked, because when I got up from the leaves I realized the bottom to my costume had fallen to my ankles. Embarrassing," she said.
Laura York and Laura Lewellen both of Niles, said "Wrong Turn" was one of their scariest movies.
As far as costumes, York won first place at a costume contest one year for coming dressed as a skunk. Lewellen enjoyed seeing someone dressed as Marge Simpson.
"They had the tall blue hair, it was pretty funny," she said.
No matter what age, it seems people will never get tired of Halloween.