Halloween

Packaged costumes, inflatable suits and the pieces that finish them:

a packaged costume is the jumpsuit or dress plus whatever the photo on the bag shows, a hat, gloves or a cape, and it is worth exactly as much as the pieces still in it. Inflatable suits stay up on a small battery fan, so they fit almost any adult but go flat the moment the fan dies. Latex masks, axe-through-the-head headbands and fake blood sell on their own. Decoration splits into pieces that sit still, such as foam tombstones and skull sets, and props that move: animatronics that light up and growl, and yard inflatables held up by a blower. Pumpkin garlands and dried-leaf wreaths do a second turn on a Thanksgiving table, and the same vinyl-and-blower inflatables come back as snowmen under Christmas.

Mascaradas and the school parade on 31 October:

the same date is the Día de la Mascarada Tradicional, and many schools hold a pasacalles with a cimarrona band instead of a Halloween party, so a child is often asked to come as the Segua, the Cadejo, the Llorona or the Padre sin Cabeza. Those outfits are put together at home, and a good one gets passed on to the next family. The giant heads, the mantudos, are another object altogether. Mascareros in Barva and Escazú shape each one over a hand-sculpted clay mould, build it up in layers of paper stuck with flour paste, and mount it on an iron frame that rests on the dancer’s shoulders. Some workshops use fibreglass instead, which takes the knocks of a parade better; paper is the traditional finish and the lighter one to dance in.

Unitalla labels and what a costume costs:

much of what is sold in Costa Rica is marked unitalla, one size, which tells you little. Ask for chest and length in centimetres and compare them with clothes that fit. For a child, buy for the height they will be at the end of October, not the size of last year’s costume. A packaged adult costume runs about ₡15,000 to ₡25,000 new, and once it has been out of the bag and worn to one party it rarely gets near that again, because the next buyer cannot see how it was washed. A Halloween yard inflatable is around ₡30,000 new and fetches something like ₡15,000 to ₡20,000 used, provided the blower still runs: the fabric outlasts the motor.

Latex masks, foam tombstones and blowers in the rainy season:

in the Central Valley, September and October are the wettest months, and the storms build in the afternoon, just when outdoor props get switched on. On a used inflatable, run the blower and open the folds: split seams and black mould are the usual faults. On an animatronic, open the battery compartment; green corrosion on the contacts is the commonest reason one stops moving. Latex turns sticky and cracks with heat and age, so ask the seller to flex the mask on video. On costumes, check collars and cuffs for face paint and fake blood, which rarely wash out, and try every zip and Velcro tab. Coloured contact lenses touch the eye, and an opened pair is not worth taking.

Listing a costume, a prop or a mascarada head:

demand runs from mid-September to the 31st and then stops. Lay every piece of a costume out together, add one photo of it worn, and give chest, length and whether it has been washed. For a prop, give the height, say whether it runs on batteries or a plug, and post a short clip of it moving. For a mascarada head, name the workshop that made it, say whether it is paper or fibreglass, and photograph the frame inside. Whoever comes for a head, a parade group or a collector, will want to set it on someone’s shoulders and watch it sway through a few dance steps before paying.