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Room with a view

Candy corn makes my teeth sensitive. I guess you’re either a Halloween person or you’re not. And I’m not. I can’t even remember the last one I enjoyed. It’s kind of like New Year’s Eve for me. I either don’t plan anything good, or I get my hopes up and it’s no fun anyway.It probably started early on in life. My family didn’t shop for trendy costumes. I remember one Halloween night when I had to walk my little sister around town to collect candy. My mom tied my hair up in a hat, threw one of my dad’s old hunting jackets on me, rubbed some mascara on my upper lip and cheeks for facial-hair effect and found some fake teeth in a "crafty Mom box" somewhere. "There, you’re a vagrant," she said. "Watch for cars … and save some Butterfingers for me."Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I look back at some costumes and realize how good they really were. The clown, the tiger with a wired tail that stood up — there were a few gems in my past.But Halloween evidently isn’t my holiday. I don’t even own a pumpkin decoration, even though some were only 30¢ at Loopy’s.In an effort to step up my Halloween spirit this week, I looked up the most popular costumes this year. Americans are spending $3 billion on costumes. The best-selling are still fashioned after hit movies like the "Batman," "Spiderman" and "Star Wars" series. "The Incredibles" and "Shrek" are also big.Here are the top sellers: 1. Darth Vader2. Batman3. Corpse Bride4. Fantastic Four for kids5. Harry Potter characters6. Dora The Explorer7. Disney Princesses8. Power Rangers9. Divas and fairies10. Dorothy from the "Wizard of Oz"Renaissance costumes, such as wenches and jousters, are popular. Babies apparently wear lots of pumpkins, skunks and bumble bees. If you actually want to dress up, there are many options. A couple of easier, trendy ideas I found were Donald Trump (fun hair options) and Martha Stuart (crocheted poncho and a ball and chain). I just have one last thought on Halloween: If I’m the Scrooge of a wicked holiday, does that mean I’m an extra good person?Maybe I’ll have Mom come up with an angel outfit for me next year.

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