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"I'm going to be a witch, and I have everything for my costume, even a witch's hat, but I don't have a nose or anything for my face," she said, looking over a selection of masks at Party America between Kohls and Target in Onalaska.
Party America assistant manager Kari Anderson showed her the latest in Halloween makeup, an accessory kit that lets you build your own devil, vampire or other fiendish face out of reusable, realistic-looking
rubber.
Julson, who said her husband was an aisle or two away looking for a costume, plans to go trick or treating at her grandchildren's home in Sparta.
"They love it," she said, noting that in past years, she and her spouse have dressed as "an old lady and an old man," when Halloweening with the grandkids.
Lizzie Hansen, sales associate, said the hottest sellers in the adult costume line included a "beer garden girl or nurse for women and a pirate for men."
This being an election year, people have been requesting John Kerry and George Bush masks, but Anderson said the store hasn't been carrying the facial likeness of either of the candidates.
"For boys, the most popular costumes have been Spider-Man, Power Rangers, and the Ninja Turtles have been making a come-back," Hansen said.
"Girls like to dress as princesses or fairies," she added.
Kathy Viner has been pop singer Cher, but this year is opting for the "mystical fairy" look.
Viner, owner of Emma's Diner in Holmen, said she thinks adults have gotten into the Halloween habit because "it lets them jump out of character for a day."
"There is so much stress for grown-ups today," she said. "Halloween lets you act like a kid again."
Viner said she enjoys Halloween so much she wishes it happened more often.
"It's so much fun, I'd like to celebrate it three times a year," she said.
Viner has thrown Halloween parties at the diner and has been amazed at how clever people are when it comes to costuming.
"We've had a scarecrow, a Christmas tree, a belly dancer and a group of guys who all came dressed as Miss Piggy," she said, laughing at the memory.
"Some people are so into it, they think about their costumes for a couple of months before Halloween," Viner said.
Troy Lesky of La Crosse said his costume partying days are behind him so he enjoys dressing up his house, instead.
"I've got tombstones, fog, strobe lights, spooky music, an eyeball, skull and ghost lights," he said of his lawn ornamentation.
"For me, it's all about the kids," he said, adding that one year, he greeted trick or treaters as wrestling star The Undertaker.
"Kids were just buggy-eyed over that costume," he chuckled.
Outside decorations have come a long way from just a couple of carved pumpkins on the stoop.
Anderson said they've had a run on such items as a 12-foot tall inflatable Frankenstein and a stack of huge inflatable pumpkins with ghosts streaming out of them.
For indoors, there is the dancing skeleton.
Dressed in a tuxedo, complete with top hat and horrific grin, he shakes his bones to "Born to be Wild" and "Shake Your Groove Thing."
"Our rats have been popular, but I think they're gross," Anderson said, lifting one of the rubber 16-inch tall black rodents with gleaming red eyes, barred teeth and claws off the shelf.
Looking down the aisle full of a variety of Halloween-themed paper and plastic products, from plates, napkins, table cloths to skeleton hands salad servers, Anderson sighed.
"Monday, most of this will be gone and we'll be putting out things for Christmas," she said.
Linda McAlpine can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or lmcalpine@lacrossetribune.com.
