Dressed for Thrills 100 Years of Halloween Costumes and Masquerade

by Galembo, Phyllis; Steele, Valerie; Durant, Mark Alice

• ISBN13: 9780810932913
• ISBN10: 0810932911
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-10-01
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams

Summary

A Whimsical array of ghosts and goblins, spooks and skeletons, animals and nursery-room characters parade through this unparalleled collection of more than one hundred years of American Halloween costumes and masquerade. Photographer Phyllis Galembo approaches her subjects with the delight and wonder of one who has discovered an entire cast of characters backstage in an abandoned theater. Through her lens, the costumes rise from the dead to once again dance, play, and amuse. Ranging from handmade to store-bought, satin to polyester, the masks, wigs, and costumes, whether recognizable figures or obscure, pique our childhood memories. In her celebration of Halloween revelry, Galembo never settles for the ordinary; instead she creates evocative scenes of dressed-to-scare young trick-or-treaters "modeling" their disguises and of undead spirits haunting their surroundings. The costumes, which span over a century, take on magical qualities through fanciful sets and specialized lighting effects. Accompanying the costumes is a history of this always-popular holiday and essays discussing Galembo's inspirations and techniques. Through her art, Galembo allows us to act out our youthful fantasies of transformation -- to become, or at least observe, what we most want to be: free of inhibitions, of fixed notions of identity. Her images make us laugh and dream and maybe even believe in ghosts. Book jacket.

Author Biography

Phyllis Galembo is a photographer and a Professor of Art at the University at Albany, State University of New York. She has had one-person exhibitions at the International Center of Photography and the American Museum of Natural History in New York City and the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, D.C. Mark Alice Durant has written extensively on photography, performance, and cultural phenomena, and his work has appeared in Art in America, Exposure, and The Boston Book Review, among other publications. He is Associate Professor in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Durant lives in Baltimore, Maryland Valerie Steele is the Chief Curator and Acting Director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York

Table of Contents

Foreword	12	(3)
Valeric Steele
Glowing Turnips, Pointy Black Hats & Insomniac Aliens: The Hybrid History of Halloween	15	(20)
Mark Alice Durant
The Theater of Halloween	35	(15)
Mark alice durant
Trick or Treat?	50	(75)
Phyllis galembo
Resources	125	(2)
Acknowledgments	127