I never know what I want to be for Halloween. For as long as I can remember, Oct. 31 remains unequivocally one of the most complicated days in my life. Why is this? It’s more or less because every year I try to find a way to embarrass myself even more than the year before.

I’ve always loved the concept of the holiday, even when I grew up in a small town where notions of Halloween as a “heathen holiday” kept half of the kids locked up and banned from trick-or-treating. There’s just so much to like about the holiday. What other time of the year do you get to pretend to be someone else? It’s one of the few times of the year everyone has a full license to become an actor. Yes, Halloween can for adults be used for other purposes (I’m looking at you, Mr. and Mrs. “our costume is being half-naked”), but to me the holiday is still at its core a celebration of goofy disguises and enough candy to make a dentist curse.

Unfortunately, the fact that I’m 22 years old, bearded, and without a little brother probably means I’m not going to be picking up much candy this year. Instead I’ll be the guy answering the door to 2,000 Batmans and Hannah Montanas. Of course, I will initiate a sort of candy-giving policy based on how awesome the costume is (this of course includes originality-Batman, as much fun as he was to watch in theaters, isn’t exactly a new idea for a costume). What fun is Halloween without costume contests? I always remember there being one guy walking around in street clothes and at the Halloween parties in elementary school, claiming he was just “there as himself.” He never won any contests, and I always considered “that guy” to be the Scrooge of October.

This is why it pains me to say that this Halloween will be the first year of my life I’m going to be “that guy,” parading around town dressed like any normal guy. Trust me, it’s not like I’m trying to make some sort of anti-Halloween statement. I just haven’t thought of anything original, and the price of a good costume for adults makes it a little tough to shop around. The last costume I bought cost close to $100, and I have a tough time justifying spending more when I’m probably only going to wear it for a couple of days.

I know it’s too late to get anything together at this point. Therefore, I’m opening up my personal suggestion box to costumes for next year. Sure it’s 365 days away until Halloween 2009, but I promise not to forget any ideas thrown my way (meaning I’ll write them down). Keep in mind that in the past I’ve already been both Mario Brothers, Batman, Spider-man, one of the Ninja Turtles, Frankenstein, Shaggy from “Scooby-Doo,” a scientist (easiest costume ever with my glasses), a zombie, Jack the Ripper, Auron from “Final Fantasy,” at least five other nerdy costumes I can’t mention, and a businessman (okay, that time I was just wearing a suit for an interview). I’m ready and open for any other suggestions. All I have to say is that it’s going to be hard to trump the anime-themed get-up I wore around campus last year. Maybe I should be moving past that and onto something a little more traditional…like Dracula or one of those serial killers from the movies with a giant chain saw. I don’t think anyone would really be afraid of me, though-I just don’t carry one of those faces.

I’m hoping I’ll be able to celebrate Halloween in my own little way apart from the parties and walking around in the dark-I’ll make caramel apples, some pumpkin-shaped cookies. Maybe I’ll invite some of my pals over and play enough survival-horror video games to make us scream for weeks. Even without a costume, there’s always a way to keep the spirit of Halloween alive. I may be taking this year off from parading around in a mask, but I promise my fellow frights in costume on this lovely day that I’ll return with a vengeance. After all, I have a good year to prepare.

Happy Halloween, everybody.

Matt Carter is a senior creative writing, journalism and Asian studies triple major. He can be reached for comment as [email protected].