Many Iowans will be donning creepy masks and spooky disguises as they head out for this weekend’s Halloween parties.
Dan Garst, who runs Party Productions in Fort Dodge, says one of this year’s top adult costumes isn’t scary at all, unless you’re a criminal. “We see policemen, men and women, officers seem to be very popular,” Garst says. “I’ve sold several outfits and I’ve rented some and I’ve seen them at the parties already.”
Store employees are getting into the spirit by slipping into costume to wait on customers. Garst notes there’s one costume category that’s a favorite every year, for adults and for kids. “If you get into the traditional, your Spiderman, Superman, any of the superheroes, they’re always popular,” Garst says. “Like I said, even our gals are dressed up. One day, we had the Hulk running around the store.”
While Star Wars characters are an annual fixture, so are Iron Man, Batman and Wonder Woman, along with other comic book figures. “We have the newer ones, the Black Panther is in, if you’re into that, and Venom if you’re a Venom fan,” Garst says. “We try to have the current as well as the traditional. You can go back and be a gypsy, you can be an Arabian knight.”
Garst says the store has costumes for those wishing to dress up from the 1800s or well into the future, or even as any of the characters from the Wizard of Oz.
(By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City)