No Trick-or-Treaters This Year (nice!)

I often forget about Halloween when I’m overseas. It seems that outside of North America, the holiday is only acknowledged by expat bars and club promoters pushing the costume thing. I’m not even a big dress-up person to begin with. Once I aged past the trick-or-treating stage, Halloween has always been an annual day of pressure to wear skimpy outfits and/or show off your shining creativity. It’s not really my thing anymore. And yet, every October 31st, even in another country, a little voice nags me to make the night extra-fun. 

Last night I went to a concert in Istanbul’s trendy Taksim area; a known expat go-to spot on weekends. As the concert fell on Halloween, I racked my brain beforehand. Should I dress up? Should I not? Will I be the only one in a costume? Will I be the only one not in a costume? My failsafe Monica Lewinsky disguise (beret, lipstick, cigar) could be donned or removed mid-evening, but it was getting more dated every year. 

I left the Lewinsky look at home and went downtown, plainclothed as usual. On the busy streets, everyone was dressed as if it were any other day. No fake cobwebs, no plastic pitchforks, no Scream masks. But the more I walked, the more I would catch glimpses of people’s funny costumes under their rain coats and umbrellas. A woman walked past in a Marge Simpson wig, grinning. An angel/devil pair were getting teased by smiling bar touts. A waiter in zombie makeup crouched behind a sandwich board on the sidewalk, waiting to jump out and scare passing customers. One girl tottered down the street laughing in an Amy Winehouse costume (I think). Maybe in some of Taksim’s hundreds of bars and clubs, costume parties and spooky-themed drink menus were happening. But on the street, it was fun to catch glimpses of people, costumed and happy (oh, and of course, I bought some candy for later). That was enough Halloween for me.