The Halloween party was in full swing and Doug and Marie were pleased with the results. The basement was almost packed wall to wall with friends in costumes of every variety. Doug handed Marie a cup of punch and they watched as one of the couples strolled passed, he dressed as an Arabian sheik and she dressed as a belly dancer, the jewels and trinkets of her costume jingling merrily.
Doug had spent a couple of months scaring up all of the things he’d used to decorate their large finished basement for the party. In fact, he’d been very secretive and had gone to great lengths to keep Marie out of the basement altogether until he was finished. She’d been willing to go along and indulge him at first, but became mildly annoyed after the first month. But she had to admit, as she looked around, she was glad that she had waited. He couldn’t have done a more perfect job if he’d hired a Hollywood set designer to decorate the basement in the style of an old B horror movie. Spider webs hung from the ceiling, black lights replaced the regular bulbs in the table lamps and red lights shown up from behind the furniture. Orange, black and purple streamers hung from the walls and ceiling, along with a variety of rubber bats and large spiders. Propped in one corner was a stereotypical wooden coffin. The lid was hanging open and a very realistic dummy vampire was lying within, blood dripping from his fangs.
He’d even set up a mad scientist’s laboratory in another corner next to their built in bar. Marie had marveled over his eye for detail. He had taken the time to find some sort of material that looked like stone blocks and hung it up in the corner where he’d constructed the lab. Small colored lights shined on glass beakers, which bubbled and dry ice provided a smoking effect. Clear tubes ran everywhere and ended in various containers full of colored liquid. One of the containers housed a very realistic looking human brain and a pair of eyeballs. The lab was the hit of the party!
Marie had likewise outdone herself in the food and drink department. Everyone commented on the wonderful food set out on long tables and Doug was eventually relieved at the bar by one of their friends so he could grab a bite to eat and mingle with the guests.
As they stood near the punch bowl, they commented to each other on how creative their friends had been with their costumes. They really weren’t sure how well a costume party would go over, but it looked like everyone was having a great time and some were even acting out their costumes, which got some laughs from the rest of the crowd. In fact, their friends Frank and Liz had shown up dressed as Robin Hood and Maid Marian. Frank was strolling around the party, robbing the rich of their food and drinks and giving to the poor. He attempted to talk several partygoers into letting him shoot an apple off their head with an arrow until Marie had told him that had been William Tell, not Robin Hood. Of course, Frank had then tried to sweet talk Marie into accompanying him to his tree house in the words where he would introduce her to his "merry man".
Since Doug had made the basement off limits, Marie had decided that she would keep her costume idea a secret and not reveal it until she had to get dressed for the party. Doug had been amused, but he played along just as Marie had with his decorating project. Marie even refused to get dressed in front of him and he was sent to the guest room to change into his costume.
Doug had decided to dress as Batman for the party and the costume he had found on the internet was first rate. It looked identical to the costume worn by Adam West in the original tv series from the sixties. Doug wished he could have gotten his hands on a Batmobile to complete the ensemble, as he wanted to look as real as possible.
After dressing, Doug made his way to the kitchen, his dark blue cape flowing out behind him as he walked through the house. There was about an hour to go before guests would start arriving and he wanted to be ready. He was gathering up a few more things to take to the basement when he heard their bedroom door open at the other end of the house.
"Doug," Marie called to him. "Where are you?"
"Kitchen," Doug responded.
"Okay. I’m coming out there. But you have to close your eyes. I want this to be a surprise," Marie said with a giggle.
"Alright," Doug said with a smile. He was always a good sport about Marie’s surprises and this time would be no different. He closed his eyes and waited as he heard Marie walking across the hardwood floor of the living room and dining room toward the kitchen. Her footsteps stopped near the doorway and she suddenly burst out laughing.
"What’s so funny?" Doug asked, his eyes still closed.
"Open your eyes and you’ll see!" Marie said, still laughing.
Doug opened his eyes, looked at Marie and started to grin. She turned in a circle, her laughter settling to a giggle. It was almost like looking in a mirror; Marie was dressed as Batgirl, from the original sixties tv series, not from the recent movie with Alicia Silverstone.
"You like?" she asked, holding out her cape, turning from side to side. The dark purple spandex outfit fit her curvy body like a second skin and accentuated her bust, hips and butt very nicely. The hood covered her head so only her auburn hair spilled out the back and the mask covered her eyes and nose. She was wearing dark makeup around her eyes where the mask didn’t cover and bright red lipstick.
Doug laughed and took Marie in his arms, planting a kiss on her lips. "Great minds think alike!" he said. "This ought to give everyone else a good laugh too. What a great surprise!"
"I think tonight will be filled with surprises," she said with a wink.
As the party went on, the couple greeted friends and guests and surveyed the crowed. Marie saw their close friends Tom and Amy and quickly worked her way through the crowd to say hello. Doug emptied his glass, then walked over to the bar and asked Frankenstein for a couple of beers and to whip up a couple of Love Potion #9s, then headed back to a corner of the basement where Marie was talking with the other couple. Tom had shown up in a very elaborate Dracula outfit that he proudly claimed took him several months to put together. Amy had decided to throw caution to the wind and come dressed as a very sexy version of Zorro, complete with a cape, flat broad-brimmed hat, black mask, and a foil. The two of them looked fantastic. Marie grabbed her camera and snapped a few pictures for the photo album.
Amy and Marie left Tom and Doug and made their way over to the table loaded down with snacks to grab something to munch on. Doug and Tom watched them from their vantage point across the room.
"Marie looks incredible in that Batgirl outfit," he said with a grin. "She looks like she just stepped out of that old television show. Did you two plan to dress the same?"
