If you grew up in the 80s you probably grew up watching shows like Elvira’s Movie Macabre, where the Mistress of the Dark would host viewings of B movies that had horror themes and interject commentary throughout the film. Shows like Elvira’s Movie Macabre paved the way for shows like Mystery Science Theater 3000 which followed largely the same format although with a wider range of movies. While Cassandra Peterson, the actress who brought Elvira to life, had done stage work and some other performance work before landing the role of Elvira she became best known as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. After a strong cult following in the 80s that even led to her own feature film Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, she largely dropped out of sight except for occasional appearances on shows like VH1’s “I love the 80s” series of shows. Elvira is back though, and is bringing a new incarnation of her original TV show Elvira’s Movie Macabre with her. She is in production on the new show now.
In the 80s the business of horror movies was huge, and Elvira shot to fame as the host of Movie Macabre and through her appearances in other films like Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. She was featured in several Coors beer commercials and had her own line of Halloween themed products. She also starred in several Halloween specials for TV and music videos. The Mistress of the Dark was popular because of her unique cleavage baring costume and her giant black beehive hairdo as well as her witty and often sarcastic observations delivered in classic California Valley Girl style. Cassandra Peterson created the character of Elvira after she was brought into the show after classic 1950s horror icon Maila Nurmi quit the show over a casting issue. Maila insisted that actress Lola Falana be hired to play the character of Vampira and the producer refused to her. Maila Nurmi later sued the director and producer of Movie Macabre saying that the character of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, was a direct copy of her Vampira character and that even their signature exit lines were similar enough to constitute infringement. A court disagreed with her though, after the producer and director and Cassandra Peterson herself testified that the character of Elvira was based on Morticia Addams.
One of the projects that Elvira is best known for is her series of home videos with horror themes called Thriller Video. In the 80s video tapes were a hot commodity because VHS players had just become popular. Elvira was the featured host on the videos and she also selected the movies that were shown. She chose to stick to B movies and lesser known horror movies with a comedic edge instead of choosing the slasher films that were so popular in the 80s. In 2004 she did another series of videos like Thriller Video and the popularity of those videos is what led her to retool Movie Macabre for the new millennium.
No band defined Glam Rock the way that KISS did and the KISS Army will make sure that the legacy of KISS lives forever. Even though the band tried to retire their signature makeup and outrageous costumes along with their special effects drenched live show the fans wouldn’t let it happen and KISS remains best known as a Glam Rock band to this day. KISS has endured a lot of lineup changes over the years, with only Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons as the consistent original members. The other original members were Ace Frehley and Peter Criss. Ace and Peter stayed with the band throughout their most successful period and are considered to be a critical part of the band’s success even though they didn’t ultimately remain with KISS.
They came together as a band in 1973 when Glam Rock was just beginning to be popular. Originally KISS started out to be a Hard Rock band but when they saw the trend in popular music shifting towards Glam Rock they began playing around with outrageous costumes and makeup to make their live show more exciting. Through their brainstorming sessions they came up with the idea to create characters for themselves to play on stage. The famous make up designs they chose were inspired by their own personalities but designed to make them look as alien as possible. The combination of their party anthem hard rock sound and crowd pleasing hits like Rock and Roll All Nite along with their over the top special effects and costumes shot them to the top of the charts quickly. To this day KISS is the most successful rock band in history having sold more than 100 million albums. They are consistently ranked as one of the best bands of all time, one of the best hard rock bands of all time and one of the best metal bands of all time. They also have some of the most loyal fans of all time, called the KISS Army. Members of the KISS Army go to KISS shows dressed up and made up as their favorite member of the band, and many people dress up as the members of KISS for Halloween every year too.
In the 80s Glam Rock’s popularity waned, and the members of KISS knew they had to do something to revive interest in the band. They removed their famous makeup, which they had previously never taken off for public appearances so they always appeared in character, but the response was lukewarm. Eventually they put the makeup back on, stepped back into character, and rode a wave of Glam Rock nostalgia all the way to the bank with revived album and ticket sales. KISS is also considered to be the band with the best merchandizing campaign in history, licensing their name, logo and image to be used on everything from Halloween masks to towels to mugs and lunchboxes. KISS fans still buy KISS merchandise by the bucketload.
Pauly D on Jersey Shore is a rockin costume. Party, prowl and prove yourself a worthy guido. Muscles and all! Go forth and flexSarah Palin burst onto the American political scene practically overnight when she was selected as John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 
Presidential election. It was a shock to the press and to most of the American people that McCain selected her to be his running mate since she has very little national political experience. McCain’s staff and McCain himself said that Sarah Palin was selected as his running mate because of her common sense approach to politics and her ability to connect with real people.
Controversy about the choice started immediately. Palin has only been the governor of Alaska for a very short time, and had an unwed pregnant teenage daughter which pundits speculated would not play well with the Republican’s conservative Christian base. At the time she was introduced as McCain’s running mate and the Vice Presidential nominee Palin has almost no foreign policy or national political experience and made several notable blunders in her dealings with the press that almost cost her the nomination. Her lack of knowledge about the workings of government was skewered in the news and commented on frequently by the press.
However, Palin used her folksy charm and plain manner of speech to gather support and a large percentage of the Republican base did embrace her even though she was criticized in the press for her lack of experience and lack of knowledge about politics and national policy. As a former beauty pageant winner she was able to use her looks and charm to win the favor of most of the Republican party but not enough to beat then-Senator Obama . Some analysts say that the choice of Palin as a running mate may have cost John McCain the election, but Sarah Palin choose to stay in politics despite the fact that some Republicans didn’t have a lot of faith in her ability.
In 2009 she resigned her job as Governor of Alaska with eighteen months left to go in her term. She released a book, Going Rogue, which instantly became a best seller. She also became something of a spokesperson for the growing Tea Party movement. The Tea Party is a sub-sect of the Republican party made up of conservatives who believe that the government should have very little, if any, involvement in the day to day lives of citizens. She also works as a fundraiser for various Republican candidates who are seeking money for their re-election campaigns and acts as a political commentator on Fox News. It’s been speculated by the press and by some Democrats that she quit her job as the governor of Alaska to get herself ready for a Presidential campaign in 2012. While Palin herself denies that she has plans to run for the Presidency she doesn’t rule out the possibility and has been quoted saying that she will run if she thinks it is the best thing for the American people and for the Palin family.
The world was shocked by the sudden death of Michael Jackson in the early summer of 2009. Even though Michael Jackson’s legal problems were infamous and he was constant fodder for the tabloids people still loved and idolized him. People overlooked his eccentricities because of his troubled life, his contributions to charities around the world, and because of his unmatched talent. Still holding the Guinness Book record as the “Most Successful Entertainer of All Time” and still one of the best selling musical 
artists in history he made an indelible mark on pop culture, music, and the world.
In the early 1980s when Michael Jackson split from his siblings, the Jackson 5, to pursue his own solo career there were very few African American artists that were highly visible in popular music. His pop hits and his innovative videos reached across racial lines and earned him millions of fans all over the world. His most famous video, “Thriller”, is a bona fide piece of pop culture history. At the time when the Thriller video was made it was the most expensive music video that had been made to that point and it was longer than any other music video. Thriller became an instant Halloween classic because of its mimicry of classic horror movies, “Zombie” dance, and the voiceover done by horror icon Vincent Price.
Michael Jackson was as much of a fashion icon as he was a musical one. His unique personal style brought items that are iconic today into the mainstream consciousness. The red leather jacket he wore in the Beat It video, the black fedora hat he wore in several videos, and his military themed outfits all found a place in 80′s fashion. But what he will always be remembered for the most is his trademark white sparkly glove. That glove has come to symbolize the 1980s Michael Jackson who was a hitmaker, extraordinary performer, and an entertainer who was beloved by millions. Despite the problems he had later in life more than a billion people around the world tuned in to watch his memorial and say goodbye to the King of Pop.
As time goes on the legal troubles and financial troubles that he had, his troubled childhood and eccentricities will fade into the background. What will be left is the music. Even after the 80s he continued to produce solid hit songs and albums, although he will always be known the most for his 80s hits. His music and style have influenced several generations of African American performers who came after him, all of which credit him as being an inspiration for them to pursue their dreams of becoming entertainers. Because there were so few visible African American entertainers who were successful enough to be called icons his presence in the pop culture world made it possible for thousands of African Americans to believe that mainstream society was ready to accept them and that they too could have a place in the entertainment world that wasn’t limited to just one segment of society. The King of Pop proved that talent will always be the most important factor in determining success.
Lady Gaga is everywhere. She will no doubt be a costume choice for the upcoming Halloween season.
Who is Lady Gaga?
Almost everyone has heard of the chart topping glam rocking songstress known as much for her unique, fashion forward style as for her music, but who the singer behind the persona? Like David Bowie and Freddy Mercury, two of the artists that she cites as influences, she has managed to create a 
highly successful showy persona that her fans adore without giving away too much her own personal life or history. She performs often, and is often in the press, but manages to keep up her persona most of the time.
Lady Gaga is Stephanie Germanotta, an Italian girl born in New York City. Adept at the piano from age 4 she had a solid grounding in the performing arts by the age of 11, when she was accepted the famous Julliard school in New York City. Instead she went to a private Catholic school, although she didn’t stop performing and writing her own songs. She went to the elite Tisch School of the Arts, but despite getting high marks and doing very well in school she dropped out to focus on becoming a pop star and pop culture icon. A longtime denizen of the underground club scene in New York City she hooked up with a performance artist named Lady Starlight, who helped her define and refine her Lady Gaga style and clothing. Originally the pair performed a unique blend of burlesque show and musical act that focused primarily on electronic music and performance art. Lady Gaga’s style and music were a bit too underground to achieve mainstream success at that point so she started to write music that used a lot more recognizable pop elements and used catchy pop melodies to get mainstream attention. By channeling the style of her idols like David Bowie and giving her music and performances more of a pop sensibility she was able to cross over into the mainstream arena.
Once she made the jump into the mainstream music world and signed with an imprint of Interscope Records she was on the path to pop stardom. The combination of her outrageous and futuristic clothing, a blend of 80s pop fashion and pop music, and her own unique electronic music compositions hit the mainstream hard and she was an overnight success. Her singles started climbing the charts and after a few tours supporting other artists she mounted her first solo tour and now strictly tours as a headliner.
Lady Gaga owes much of her success to finding a solid fanbase in the gay and lesbian community. She acknowledges that their support was critical to her mainstream success because their support of her music in clubs and on radio was one of the few chances she had to get large scale exposure for her music. She is an avid and open gay right supporter and continues to work for and champion gay rights. She performed at the National Equality March on Washington in 2009 and was quoted in the press as saying that it was the “single most important event” of her career.
There is a clearance sale at http://www.SpiritHalloween.com
Everything Halloween is on sale. The costumes are on sale through November 15.
Nintendo put out one of the first popular gaming consoles but was overshadowed by the arrival of technologically advanced game consoles in the first part of the decade. Nintendo fought back with one of the most popular video game consoles of all time, the Wii. These days kids love playing Wii but their parents probably played their first video games on one of the early Nintendo gaming systems that only played one game or had clunky game cartridges. Originally Nintendo was a playing card company that had relatively good success for many decades. As card games became less and less popular with the public the company started to flounder. In the early 70s when the company was in real danger of going under developers started working on electronic game consoles, joysticks, and video games. In the early 80s Nintendo dropped all its other products to concentrate on developing new video games.
Video game characters are great Halloween costumes and can be a great way to come up with family costume ideas. Nintendo game characters from both 
the early days of Nintendo gaming and today’s current Nintendo smash hit the Nintendo Wii can be the basis for many different fun character costumes. Kids today might not have grown up playing Super Mario Brothers, but it’s a good bet that their parents did. Super Mario Brothers costumes are still popular for Halloween because Mario and Luigi are now classic gaming characters who are widely known. ( Mario Bros.Mario Adult Costume ) Here are some other great ideas for Halloween costumes based on Nintendo characters:
Yoshi – In addition to Mario and Luigi costumes Yoshi costumes from the Super Mario Brothers are very popular. To make your Yoshi costume a real hit start practicing your flutter jump and trying to copy Yoshi’s unique speech pattern so that you stay in character all night.
Donkey Kong – Old school gamers will love dressing up as Donkey Kong, the original video game bad boy. Even though Donkey Kong was originally a character in the Super Mario and Mario Brothers games he was spun off into his own series of more than 20 games. If you are going out Trick or Treating with your kids have one of your kids dress as Donkey Kong Jr and one dress as Mario to have a fun family Halloween theme.
Princess Zelda – In the Legend of Zelda series of games Zelda gets into trouble in many adventures. She was one of the first major female video game characters and was the role model for many of today’s female characters. In the Legend of Zelda series she is usually rescued by Link, her longtime suitor, who fights the evil Ganon for Zelda’s freedom time after time.
Pokemon characters – Pokemon is still wildly popular with kids and the characters and species from the Pokeman games make great Halloween costumes. Pokemon costumes usually need a lot of accessories in order to pull off the complete look so don’t forget wigs, makeup and other accessories that will transform you or your child into a beloved Pokemon character.
Among the ghoulish horror of vampires, witches and zombies, adults and children will likely be dressed as their favorite president or political figure. With a new president in office for this Halloween, Barack Obama, political masks and costumes are sure to be a popular choice.
Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii. His father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas. In addition to his parents, Obama was raised by his grandfather and grandmother.
He worked his way through college with scholarships and student loans. After college, he moved to Chicago to assist local churches in rebuilding communities that were devastated financially by the closure of local steel plants.
The first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, he successfully completed law school. After graduating, he returned to Chicago where he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He also remained active in the community by leading a voter registration drive among other volunteer activities. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago, and in 1997, he took a seat in the Illinois Senate which he held until 2004.
Obama met his wife, Michelle Robinson during their time at the law firm of Sidley Austin. She was assigned to mentor Obama as he was a summer associate. Their first date found Obama and Michelle at the movies where they watched Do the Right Thing. They married in 1992, and have two children, Malia Ann who was born on July 4, 1998 and Natasha who was born on June 10, 2001. When they moved to Washington D.C. after Obama’s presidential win, the girls started school at the private Sidwell Friends School.
He ran for the U.S. senate in 2004, and won by the largest margin in the history of Illinois. Three years later in 2007, he began his run for the presidency. He won the Democratic Party primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, and then defeated Republican nominee John McCain becoming the first African American President in U.S. history.
Obama’s public image is unique and is quite different from his predecessors. It is also believed that his calm demeanor and conservative support won him the presidency. His campaign set a multitude of fundraising records specifically in the quantity of small donations. He was the first presidential candidate to turn down public financing since the system was created in 1976.
An Obama mask and costume is sure to be a popular choice this Halloween, but also you’ll find an array of selections including John McCain, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush and his father George HW Bush. In addition, popular choices include JFK, Richard Nixon, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
Among presidents, consumers also find other political figures as great choices for their Halloween costumes. These include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudy Giuliani, Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
No matter who you wish “to be” for Halloween, there are many choices on the market. By choosing a political mask or costume you can show your admiration or have a blast poking fun!
Halloween Political Masks and Costumes
Among the ghoulish horror of vampires, witches and zombies, adults and children will likely be dressed as their favorite president or political figure. With a new president in office for this Halloween, Barack Obama, political masks and costumes are sure to be a popular choice.
Obama was born in 1961 in Hawaii. His father was from Kenya and his mother from Kansas. In addition to his parents, Obama was raised by his grandfather and grandmother.
He worked his way through college with scholarships and student loans. After college, he moved to Chicago to assist local churches in rebuilding communities that were devastated financially by the closure of local steel plants.
The first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, he successfully completed law school. After graduating, he returned to Chicago where he taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago. He also remained active in the community by leading a voter registration drive among other volunteer activities. He worked as a civil rights attorney in Chicago, and in 1997, he took a seat in the Illinois Senate which he held until 2004.
Obama met his wife, Michelle Robinson during their time at the law firm of Sidley Austin. She was assigned to mentor Obama as he was a summer associate. Their first date found Obama and Michelle at the movies where they watched Do the Right Thing. They married in 1992, and have two children, Malia Ann who was born on July 4, 1998 and Natasha who was born on June 10, 2001. When they moved to Washington D.C. after Obama’s presidential win, the girls started school at the private Sidwell Friends School.
He ran for the U.S. senate in 2004, and won by the largest margin in the history of Illinois. Three years later in 2007, he began his run for the presidency. He won the Democratic Party primaries against Hillary Rodham Clinton, and then defeated Republican nominee John McCain becoming the first African American President in U.S. history.
Obama’s public image is unique and is quite different from his predecessors. It is also believed that his calm demeanor and conservative support won him the presidency. His campaign set a multitude of fundraising records specifically in the quantity of small donations. He was the first presidential candidate to turn down public financing since the system was created in 1976.
An Obama mask and costume is sure to be a popular choice this Halloween, but also you’ll find an array of selections including John McCain, Sarah Palin, George W. Bush and his father George HW Bush. In addition, popular choices include JFK, Richard Nixon, Abraham Lincoln and George Washington.
Among presidents, consumers also find other political figures as great choices for their Halloween costumes. These include Arnold Schwarzenegger, Rudy Giuliani, Al Gore, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld.
No matter who you wish “to be” for Halloween, there are many choices on the market. By choosing a political mask or costume you can show your admiration or have a blast poking fun!
Britney Spears Halloween costumes from each period of her life are extremely popular for different reasons. Fans who really like Britney Spears or who want a very sexy Halloween costume usually dress like Britney 
Spearks from the beginning of her career. The schoolgirl outfit she wore in the Baby One More Time video is a great Halloween costume when combined with a blond pig tailed wig. As Britney got older and started exploring her sexuality her style got a lot sexier but in a very unfashionable way. Fashion analysts trashed her choices of vinyl catsuits and leather bondage gear but they make great Halloween costumes. The personal and professional breakdown that followed is the inspiration for many Halloween costumes worn by people who aren’t fans of the pop tart.
Britney Spears h it big while she was still very young, which is sometimes blamed as the reason for her eventual breakdown. But she trained from early childhood for show business success. She spent years taking gymnastics and also taking singing and dancing lessons. She tried out for the Mickey Mouse Club when she was eight but the producers thought she was too young. Undaunted she tried out for Star Search, a popular talent competition in the 80s. She won the first round but lost in subsequent rounds. When she was older she tried out for the Mickey Mouse Club show again and made it along with several of her peers who would also go on to be huge pop successes like Christina Aguilera.
Her first pop single was Baby One More Time. It was written and created for a young adult market but women of all ages embraced it and the single went platinum fourteen times, meaning more than fourteen million copies were sold. Almost instantly young Britney Spears became a pop sensation. Parents and legislators were concerned with the over-sexualization of the underage star and there was a lot of controversy about Britney Spears’ music videos, photographs in magazines, and fashion choices.
Britney’s downfall continued through the years. Two failed marriages led to two children who were nearly taken away from her after a photo surfaced in the media of her driving a car with one of the babies in her lap instead of in a car seat. Other questionable parenting practices were given as the reason for a Department of Family Services investigation although the children were left in her care. Mediocre album sales and continued stress in her personal life led her to have some type of a breakdown eventually. The court intervened and appointed her father to manage her estate and look out of her. After a lot of drama and months of recovery she started working on a new album and started trying to stage a comeback. After a few false starts she launched a new album and a new tour. The media criticized her ballooning weight and costume changes, and she continues to battle bad press but it seems as if her fans still support her and she still wants to make music.