Great topic idea, I adore Hallowe'en!
I have a perchance for literary and more cultural costumes, for some reason. Although I ended up not going last year, I was Ophelia the year before that. I've been Winter, while my sister was Autumn. Another year my brother and sister were Bonnie and Clyde, while I was their conscience.
Anyway, this year I was inspired by an opera that I watched, called
Lucia di Lammermoor...
"Against a backdrop of mist-shrouded Scottish highlands, Lucia is forced to betray the man she loves and to marry another. Torn between youthful desire and family honour, her broken heart and fractured mind are expressed in the most famous mad scene in all of opera.
The role of Lucia demands a soprano of vocal suppleness and dramatic intensity, and we have them both in the mesmerizing Marina Mescheriakova. The great Canadian baritone Russell Braun stars as her brother Enrico in Donizetti's bel canto masterpiece."
- from coc.ca
It was quite simply the most incredible mad scene that I've ever watched! The best insane female character ever, better than Ophelia or Lady Macbeth or any of the others. (I've got this thing for slightly demeted literary women). I got all of these images from it, of women in blood-stained gowns sweeping around and giggling strangely off to themselves. At the end of Lucia's major mad scene I just wanted to give a standing ovation right then. Thankfully, we did wait until the end though.
Anyway, I decided with my sister and a friend that I went with, that despite being much too old for candy, we're going to put together a bunch of themed costumes for this year's Hallowe'en. My younger sister, who's tall, strong, darker and busty is going to be a Valkryei. Since, we'd last seen the a segment of the Ring Cycle. She's planning out her outfit, with a black corset and a headress and some sort of pronged spear. My friend, who's also a redhead, but larger than me, is going to be the Queen of the Night from the Magic Flute. We're still figuring out that outfit, but she currently wants an enormous black horse with a chariot and a crown full of stars. And, of course, I'm going to be Lucia. Simple, mad, completely sweet Lucia.

I'm going to start searching the Salvation Army stores for wedding gowns that I can tear up and drench in buckets of fake blood. The sword might be a problem though... since I want something solid and heavy and real-looking. The makeup's going to be fabulous to do though!