Question: what are you being for Halloween? Sorry, you are not being a hippy again. Nor are you being a sexy nurse/maid/shepherd/skeleton/Viking (well, maybe the Viking) for a fifth consecutive October. We know, we know – who has time to sew a costume? Who has the time to travel to 34 different thrift shops in search of the perfect cheap costume opportunity? Not many people. And honestly, as great as Value Village is at this time of year, it sometimes won’t cover all your bases. So we’ve compiled a short list of fun Montreal-area costume shops that you may want to check out in the construction of (what we know will be) your most epic Halloween costume yet!

Located in the Old Port, Joseph Ponton Costumes (480 St-Francois-Xavier West) has been dressing people up since 1865. As their English (translated) website suggests, “forget your old rabbit costume and do something outrageous with a costume that is unusual”. Why not be Louis XVII? Or a Titanic-era business man? Yes, period costumes are their speciality. I, for one, will not get caught dressing as “an old rabbit” for yet another Halloween – and neither should you.

For those in the Plateau area, stop in at Imagine Le Fun (formerly known as Imagine In Accessories) at the corner of Mont-Royal and St-Dominique. They stock up on a more traditional and popular variety of wigs, accessories, morph suits, make-up and more.

Of course, if you are willing to dish out a little more dough, there is always our old stand-by: Malabar (5121 Parc). Malabar will literally have every crazy costume – or at least the pieces for every crazy costume – you can possibly think up. Almost every historical era is represented – Tudor England to the Babylonians to Star Trek (shut up, it’s basically a historical era). And if you can’t think of an original costume, simply walking into this store will suffice in your quest for a good idea.

The best part: all of these costume shops are basically open around the clock during the month of October, so that you can purchase fangs or fake blood at any hour of the day. Good luck and Happy Halloween! 

~ Tyler Yank