Ghosties and ghoulies may be passé this Halloween, but long-legged beasties are in vogue if you count Vikings.
At Premier Party Rentals, 1409 E. First St., in Port Angeles, owner Mae Graves said the morbid side of Halloween — the Christianized version of the Celtic festival of Samhain — isn’t the trend this year among the adults who rent her costumes.
“Halloween can be so dark, but it doesn’t have to be,” Graves said.
Verna Stephens, an employee at Awesome Costumes Rentals, 214 E. Lauridsen Blvd., Port Angeles, agreed that people are drawn to the lighter side of Halloween this year.
“The Viking costumes have been really hot,” she said.
Traci Hutt, Awesome’s owner, said the Viking costumes are “cool” possibly because they’re warm.
“They’re fur costumes with big, furry boots,” she said.
“If I had 10 more Viking costumes this year, I would have rented them.”
Other popular guises include Roaring ’20s flappers and wizards.
“They’ve been requesting Gandalf and those types of things,” said Stephens.
“And Renaissance costumes have been real popular too this year.”
Premier Party Rentals avoids the spooky side of Halloween.
“We choose not to have the dark, demonic or creepy,” Graves said.
Pirates are big this year, and anything to do with the Middle East, including pharaohs and sheiks, are hits, she said.
Adults more active
While antique and second-hand clothing stores are popular in Port Townsend and east Jefferson County, Swain’s Outdoor in Port Townsend sells much of the new costumes as do grocery stores.
“I’ve noticed there are a lot more adults getting more things this year for some reason,” said Swain’s Outdoors Manager Cathy Mosher.
“Maybe there are more parties out there.”
She said women seem to buying more “sexy witch” or “spooky witch” costumes.
Children are gravitating more to the traditional “Star Wars” Darth Vader and fairy princess costumes, she said.
The store still had “tons” of costumes on Friday, Mosher said.
“It seems that just about anything goes this year,” she said.