Monster

Just because you can’t go out to Halloween parties this year doesn’t mean you can’t get dressed up. Whether you’re going to an outdoor movie night with friends, a fall activity in your town, or just greeting the trick-or-treaters from a distance, wearing costumes is a Halloween must. This year, take advantage of COVID-19-necessitated face masks to create your own creepy getup.

Lady Gaga is constantly being called out for selling out, and maybe it's because we had, and continue to have, such high hopes for her. Her vocal chops are solid and her songwriting more inspired and creative than that of many of her pop peers. Her music videos, performances, and red-carpet walks are a delicious mix of glamour and macabre, of haute couture and Hannibal Lecter. As an outspoken and actually fairly effective gay-rights activist, she ushered in an era of politically and socially active pop stars—like Beyoncé and Katy Perry (who was trying her darnedest to be political with that Obama dress). Lady Gaga has done things that are interesting and provocative and possibly even genuine, so with her recent somewhat lackluster and commercial-pop record, it's hard not to think she's become a sellout.

So, it's October 31, and you have no plans for your Halloween costume. Maybe you were gonna go as ketchup and mustard—what an adorable couples costume!—with someone, but then he [insert 'squirting' euphemism here]. Or you had plans with a group of friends but then remembered that you will look like an idiot the second you get separated from those five people (and do you really want to walk around with just them all night?). Obviously you don't have time to make anything elaborate. (You do have time to read the Editorial Board's suggestions for a super clever Columbia-themed costume.) So here are some ideas for a costume you can throw together in less time than it takes you to finish a bag of Westside cookies. 1. Morningside Cookie Monster This might seem like it takes a little effort at first, but if you were going to get cookies sometime today anyway, you're just killing two birds with one cookie. Tie or attach bags of cookies to yourself—Westside, Insomnia, whatever floats your boat—and get ready to make lots of friends. (Alternatively, you can get an actual Cookie Monster costume.)