In many ways, there's a great modern mystery that lurks throughout our cities, but only for a scant month or so every year. It's a place that seems to be there one moment and is gone again the next, returning once again a year later. Sometimes they're in the same space, other times they seem to move at random, but they always seem to inhabit old and abandoned buildings. Nobody really seems to know where they disappear to in their off season, they're simply empty and gone. Most people barely think about these places even during their season, and nobody seems to truly question their appearance and disappearance.
Perhaps it has something to do with the magic of the season. Perhaps there's something more sinister afoot. In either case, they seem to leave our collective consciousness just as fast as they arrive and disappear.
I'm talking, of course, about Halloween Stores.
To be sure, there's something weird about them. But they're not the actual subject of my story today. It is, however, closely related. There is just something about those stores that has entered the cultural zeitgeist, something that I'm not sure is original to them. In a similar respect, there is another type of store that has entered the cultural zeitgeist in much the same way. It's the shop known for its cursed items or the sacrifice made to be able to purchase exotic and occult items. Those stores that sell you items that might as well be deals with the devil himself. While Mr. King does spin a fanciful tale, I believe that he, too, is not the originator of this mythos.
Personally, I believe that what I have come to call "The Wandering Costume Shop" to be the originator of both of those myths. In fact, I fully believe that the stories I have heard are true, spoken from the lips of its very victims.
What neither of those more known myths seems to get straight, however, is what the shop actually does.
Generally, it appears at the edge of town. It's either a curiosity or basically the only option around when its victim needs it. It entices the curious with an odd and eclectic assortment of sensual and stylish wear. For others, it offers the more traditional "slutty" halloween costumes one would expect. It's almost always the only shop of its kind in the area. It's definitely the only thing open late and/or close enough for those who desperately need something for a costume party.
In either case, once a victim is lured in, they are given an "offer" they can't refuse. In exchange for an outfit that fits their desires or needs, they must give up something of themselves. For a great many of its victims, this is at least their manhood. For others, they lose something more ethereal such as their intelligence, career choices, or even something as simple as their sense of fashion. Truly, I don't believe that anyone who enters the shop can ever get out unchanged.
These claims are very difficult to track down, and most definitely impossible to prove. The only individual that ever believes something has been taken away is the victim. Every other individual in their lives, every scrap of physical or digital evidence shows them to have always been the person that they are now. One and all, it seems as though the victims were always the over-sexualized pictures of humanity that they appear to be. Further, the store is always gone before the victim has a chance to return. Disappeared as if it had never been there at all.
These are the stories of the shop's victims.
***
I wasn't the most popular kid in school, but I wasn't exactly the worst off. I was somewhere in the middle, maybe a little higher. I wasn't a jock, or a band geek, or even part of the "weird" group. I didn't owe any allegiance to the chess club, the art students, the nerds, the geeks, or any of the less well known sports. In many ways, I was more average than anything. Too average if I'm being completely honest.
I never seemed to make any real friends, to stand out at anything. Throughout my entire high school journey, even a few years into college, my life had been defined almost entirely by its utter banality.
Sure, I had a few acquaintances, but nobody was really close to me. I was never in a romantic relationship, and certainly no sex. Not that I wasn't interested. I was, and I had quite the appetite. But I was just too awkward and socially inept. I could never manage to talk to any girls long enough to garner any interest in myself.
I had been determined that would all change during this, my senior year in college. I was old enough to drink, to go to all the parties that mattered. I could go to the gym and sculpt myself, get in shape, and finally get the attention that I craved. Except none of that motivation lasted in the absolute lack of opportunity I was presented.
See, to go to one of those parties, you had to be invited. Being the antisocial creature that I was, I never got those. So, here I was, once again floating through a boring, average, banal life. That was, until I got invited to a party out of absolutely nowhere.
It was a Friday night. I was sitting in my dorm room, bored. My roommate was off at his girlfriend's place, so I had the dorm all to myself, just like I usually did. I was browsing through social media on my laptop, feeling a little left out once again. As I watched everyone post pictures from their various outings, I suddenly had an alert.
A friend had posted something on my feed. Normally, I had to manually follow and unfollow the people that I did or didn't like. This time, however, my name just appeared in the feed, and the person had posted a video. The video was an invitation to a costume party.
It was long after Halloween, almost to spring break actually, so a costume party was well outside the norm. Apparently, this whole thing was supposed to be something like a masquerade, all of the flirting and socializing with none of the stigma of who you were outside the party. The hosts seemed to treat it as an excuse to go out of their way to invite anyone that didn't normally show to things, but wasn't so far down the social ladder as to be an insult to anyone else they invited.But the real kicker was that the invite was a short clip of the party's location, the building's address, and the party's time. It was only a couple hours from then.
I was, naturally, incredibly excited. It had been ages since I'd been invited to anything. Granted, this wasn't an actual invitation. I was getting the scraps from someone else's table, but I'd take what I could get.
It wasn't like I was going to be winning any kind of personality contest, but this is exactly the kind of opportunity I'd been waiting for all year. Somewhere that I could make actual use of the social practice and tiny bit of gym work I'd managed to work through. I could reinvent myself!
Except... I didn't have any kind of appropriate costume. Certainly not one that would make the right kind of impression. I did have an acquaintance or two in the drama department... Maybe I could snag a costume from one of them in exchange for a ride to the party?
I pulled out my phone and called the first number that came to mind.
"Hello?" the voice on the other end said.
"Hey, this is Jake," I said.
"Oh, Jake!"
"Yeah, from that Algebra study group last year. John, did you hear about the big costume party tonight?"
"The one on the east side of campus? Yeah, I did. Did you see the invite? I'm not going. I have a major project due and-"
"Listen, I need a costume. I'll help with your project, and give you some free time to come to the party. I'll even act as your wingman tonight." I said, my desperation almost certainly apparent.
There was a moment of silence, before he said "Sure. We can work out the details on the way to the party."
"Oh thank god. You're a lifesaver, John. Honestly, I'm surprised the drama club has anything available." I sighed in relief.
"They don't," John said, and my heart dropped. "Lucky for you, I've heard about this odd shop on the other side of town that I swear nobody else will have raided yet. I've wanted to visit myself and see what's up with it, but haven't had the chance."
His tone had started getting excited as he explained about the shop. It was clear that not only did he really want to go to this party, but he really was a tailoring nerd. I'm honestly surprised he didn't have any cosplays or anything already set up.
"Don't you already have a costume you can wear? I could swear that everything the drama department wears is your work." I blurted without thinking.
John let out a deep sigh.
"That's because I'm the best they have, and I always have to fix and adjust everything that's handed off to me. I've barely had the time or energy to make a proper costume for myself. That's actually the big project I was working on, I wanted it to be ready for comic con over spring break."
"Shit, I know how that can be. To be honest, I was mostly just hoping to get invited to a beach or pool this year." I said, thinking back to the pictures from the various parties last year.
"You just want some arm candy, Jake." He said teasingly.
"Don't we all?" I asked, laughing. "If we're heading across town, it might be faster if I come and pick you up."
"Alright, works for me. See you soon." He said, hanging up the phone.
I scrambled to get ready as quickly as I could. We needed to have as much time as possible to figure out the perfect outfits this place could have before the party. This party was my chance to reinvent myself, and would be well worth the time helping John on his cosplay.
Honestly, it surprised me that John was willing to go to the party with me. I could understand that he might be excited about a costume event like this, but it would probably be frustrating not having a costume he made himself. More than that, I always got the feeling that he didn't really like me all that much. He always seemed to clam up and stay quiet around me. Heck, it was probably the main reason I wouldn't consider myself truly friends with him or the rest of the drama group. They were probably the people I came the closest to truly liking around campus outside of that nagging sense of isolation.
As I pulled up to the dorms, John was already standing outside, waiting. He was dressed casually, a light jacket and dark jeans. His hair was a dark blonde, and his face was freshly shaved. His thin frame was something I thought of as typical for the drama department. Seeing him outside the hustle and bustle of fabric that always seemed pervasive around him, though, it really struck me how small and effeminate he looked. He looked nervous, but his eyes lit up when he saw the car.
"Jake! Thanks so much for picking me up. Sorry I couldn't get a costume out of the drama department, but I'm sure we'll find something good at the shop." He patted a bag that hung at his side before he spoke again, "I brought my emergency alteration kit just in case!"
I nodded to him, "Hop in man! No worries about the department costumes, I figured it was a long shot anyways. Honestly, I'm just glad there's a chance we can find something. Also, fantastic idea bringing your kit with you."
He climbed into the passenger seat, setting his bag carefully behind him. Once he was settled, we pulled away and started driving.
"So, what's the deal with this place anyway? How do you know about it?" I asked, "I mean, I looked it up while I was getting ready. Not only is this place brand new and advertised absolutely nowhere, but it's out of the way and in that old strip mall that I swear was supposed to be torn down already."
John was silent for a few moments.
