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Well i thought about Halloween, and the legend that spirits come out at night and such. When I thought of this I wondered, do werewolves come out and act like they are in costumes (If they can change at will)? Or maybe they wouldn't because their forms would look to real and almost impossible to make a costume out of. So what do you all think.

Didn't we talk about this last October too?

Anyway, I'm sure it's crossed a couple of werewolf's minds that they could theoretically assume their werewolf forms and pretend to be in costume, but that wouldn't work at all because A) they would look realistic, and B) everyone will assume there is a person inside the costume. People will talk to said werewolf (like the fabled "where'd you get your costume?" question) and expect to hear a muffled voice without seeing the werewolf's lips moving. It just wouldn't work.

So I think werewolves would celebrate it in a more adult way, either by dressing up as a celebrity or just by staying at home handing out candy. A werewolf generally shouldn't do anything to potentially say "hey, I'm a werewolf." Not even on Halloween.

It depends... Maybe if the werewolf was really caffinated or something... Or if they were a kid/teenager, they'd take the risk. And with modern robotics (ILM, anyone) there could be a feasibly realistic werewolf costume.

If I could shift I totally would come out in the fur.
Helps that I make costumes already. People would just think I got REALLY good! XD

I agree with Terastas. I think they would just stand by and get kicks out of seeing werewolf attempts than trying to show off that they are ones themselves.

Or they could try holding a sneer for hours on end and speek through their teeth. They'd have a contest to see who would last the longest on Halloween. XD

If I could change I would let Halloween be the one night where I would run around free in my fur and scare the little kids.

"Mom! I saw a werewolf! It chased us!"
"Lay off the candy bars, dear. You've been watching too many scary movies."

MoonKit wrote:If I could change I would let Halloween be the one night where I would run around free in my fur and scare the little kids.

"Mom! I saw a werewolf! It chased us!"
"Lay off the candy bars, dear. You've been watching too many scary movies."

LOL cool... "Maybe they were big kids trying to scare you" (That would be fun but I don't need to be a werewolf to do that just a good hockey mask and a bloody weapon would do the trick)

They could always wear a muzzle when shifted. That way the voice would be muffled and they couldn't see any lip movements. (Assuming weres would be able to speak like humans in that form)

They would win all the costume contests around, thats for sure

A too realistic costume would certainly be a huge exposure risk.

Besides, the legends suggest that the season for shifting is Christmas. It's weird, but it's there. There's the Neuri, who show up in an obscure paragraph or two of Greek lore, a group of people who shift for twelve days after Christmas. Brings to mind the inevitable parodies of the "partridge in a pair tree" song. There's also the one about the (did you hear the one about the) werewolves who are cursed with lycanthropy because they were born on Christmas. Apparently God in medieval Europe didn't like for other people to have the same birthday as His son (never mind whether or not Christ was actually born in the middle of Winter on a day coinciding with a Pagan Sun God rebirth ceremony), so he cursed them for being born by turning them into werewolves. Well, it was considered a curse then.

Then again, I'm not sure if that's actual folklore or if Hollywood just made that one up for the movie Curse of the Werewolf. It kind of contradicts my other readings that suggest that the idea of lycanthropy as a curse rather than a voluntary enrollment by sorcerers is a minority legend until the twentieth century movies.

Well, alot of concepts didn't become widespread until the end of the 19th century. The Were-wolf is older then that. But it wasn't until the early film years it became a household name, like Santa Claus (the image of the jolly man an his ride).

Actually, I would think that in many towns and villages in the old days of superstition, werewolf was quite a household name. But doubtfully one that was uttered nonchalantly.

I believe GoldenWulfen actually did a series of panels on the subject a few years ago.
On her website, only one remains; titled, I believe "Cute Costume". The main concept was that even Werewolves weren't taken all that seriously, and eventually wound up at a Halloween party: as Guests.
They were enjoying themselves, too.

I can just picture someone comming up to one of them, takeing a good long look, and then saying "Thats the fakest looking were-wolf costume Ive ever seen. "

The one I remember has a person wearing an obviously fake "wolf man" mask, showing up at a party of real werewolves. He stood at the doorway while they laughed.

Which brings up why real-world werewolves would NOT romp around shifted on Halloween. Even very realistic costumes still require a human inside. A shifted lycanthrope with digitigrade legs, moving ears, moving tail, realistic eyes without eye-holes, a mouth with a moving tongue with saliva, and so forth would instantly draw a LOT of attention. At the very least, people would ask how they made that outfit or where one could go to get one. At worst, I've found people unsettled by a well-crafted costume Shadowsaber made for me; something bona-fide real might not "fool" people presented with the assumption that it's a costume!

I can see it now, too. Werewolves reveal themselves in 2012. By October of 2014, a redesigned Verdun Manor advertises itself as the first Haunted House attraction featuring REAL werewolves!

Scott Gardener wrote: I can see it now, too. Werewolves reveal themselves in 2012. By October of 2014, a redesigned Verdun Manor advertises itself as the first Haunted House attraction featuring REAL werewolves!

Who have been involved with it since 2006, but in costume instead of just being themselves. They like to dress-up, too.
The guests are annoyed when they realize that, yes; there are real werewolves there, but they're selling tickets and running the snack bar.
Then, at the next full moon, some people discover that there was more than melted butter on the popcorn; and the "Deluxe Cider" had more than apples in it.

RedEye wrote:I believe GoldenWulfen actually did a series of panels on the subject a few years ago.
On her website, only one remains; titled, I believe "Cute Costume". The main concept was that even Werewolves weren't taken all that seriously, and eventually wound up at a Halloween party: as Guests.
They were enjoying themselves, too.

Yeah, that was her Wolves of Samhain series. Awesome stuff. My fav is the one of a huge hulking were nosing a kid in a puppy costume like "wtf? 0_o".

RedEye wrote:I believe GoldenWulfen actually did a series of panels on the subject a few years ago.
On her website, only one remains; titled, I believe "Cute Costume". The main concept was that even Werewolves weren't taken all that seriously, and eventually wound up at a Halloween party: as Guests.
They were enjoying themselves, too.

She recently put them up on her DevArt acct:
Trick or Treat?
Adorable?
Great Costumes, Man

Were I a werewolf, I think I'd definitely dress up as myself (go furry) during Halloween. Obviously I wouldn't go to parties or stay in the light too long, but it would be fun to see people's reactions! I mean, the one night of the year where you can be a werewolf in public with the least chance of being noticed for what you really are? I know it would be a risk, but that's one thing I don't think I'd be able to resist!

PS: Yes, I changed my name from Lazywolf to Celestialwolf. Do you like it?

If going full wolf is too risky, you can always just grow a tail, ears, or paws if you've got that kind of control.

maybe they could say they went to a makeup artist

Something else you might need to consider is that, even if your friends were dumb enough to believe you actually did have a realistic-looking werewolf costume. . . What do you do when they ask how much you payed for it?

Give a price too low and their response will be: "For real?! That is awesome -- where'd you get it?!"
Give a price too high and their response will be: "Where the frig did you get that kind of money?!"

Really, a werewolf going out as himself for Halloween would be too much risk for too little reward.

The only way I could picture a werewolf deliberately shifting on Halloween would be if he was going somewhere quiet or isolated. Halloween, like most holidays, entails somewhat predictable behavior, so a werewolf could take advantage of all the celebratory rituals by pleading opposite to them. Other than that, I can't envision a werewolf having any plans beyond the norm at all.

Terastas wrote:Something else you might need to consider is that, even if your friends were dumb enough to believe you actually did have a realistic-looking werewolf costume. . . What do you do when they ask how much you payed for it?

Give a price too low and their response will be: "For real?! That is awesome -- where'd you get it?!"
Give a price too high and their response will be: "Where the frig did you get that kind of money?!"

Really, a werewolf going out as himself for Halloween would be too much risk for too little reward.

The only way I could picture a werewolf deliberately shifting on Halloween would be if he was going somewhere quiet or isolated. Halloween, like most holidays, entails somewhat predictable behavior, so a werewolf could take advantage of all the celebratory rituals by pleading opposite to them. Other than that, I can't envision a werewolf having any plans beyond the norm at all.

Sadly very true. Gluing a zipper to your back will not make a convincing costume, and you know somebody will try pulling it down to see what that costume looked like inside.
That would definitely make for a sticky situation...

One more problem: Even if you inexplicably manage to pull it off. . . What happens next year?

Either
"You've worn that costume three years in a row now!"
Or
"Dude, what the hell? Your costume last year was awesome -- what the frig is this?"

Nobody is going to just forget the "best werewolf costume I've ever seen." Even if you managed to survive the night, you'd still have the morning to worry about too.

lunarwolf wrote:Well i thought about Halloween, and the legend that spirits come out at night and such. When I thought of this I wondered, do werewolves come out and act like they are in costumes (If they can change at will)? Or maybe they wouldn't because their forms would look to real and almost impossible to make a costume out of. So what do you all think.

... Unless the werewolf is situated outside the USA where Halloween is not a yearly tradition.

i would go too furry.

i had youst an idea what if WW-s look exacly like in movie aka. underworld(because it uses costume and stilts ) and you change(at home) people wont suspect too much but there are downsides:

-no way too remove a costume
-unable to talk
-you have to have mouth closed because of troath and saliva if you open them there will be to mouch realism
- winning an contest will couse huge troubles for you if they ask you too remove head part of costume

sorry for uderworld refrence

I would go furry but remain in darker areas so it would be hard for someone to spot me.