Rachel White doesn’t usually make out with strangers at parties. But then, the 27-year-old writer isn’t usually dressed as a sexy ballerina.
“There was one Halloween in 2006 when my friends talked me into going to a house party,” recalls the Lower East Side resident. “I didn’t have a costume, and at the last minute — with the help of vodka — I decided to be a ‘slutty ballerina.’ The costume consisted of a tiny tutu and a bra. The outfit took over my personality! I think it was the first night I’d ever kissed multiple people in a single setting.”
She says she smooched around seven people that night: “I have to say I recommend it,” she says with a chuckle. Let couples have Valentine’s Day — singles have Halloween. With its skimpy costumes, abundant parties and easy pick-up lines, there’s no other night that lends itself so well to impromptu hookups.
Bushwick resident Jamie Peck agrees Halloween is the best night to go out as a no-strings-attached single. “I’ve got friends who’ve hooked up while dressed as Kool-Aid Man, the lady from ‘Coffee Talk’ on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ and a cheeseburger, just to name a few,” says the party promoter.
“Everyone acts slutty on Halloween, and uses costumes as a cover to ‘go wild’ and hook up with strangers,” says Frank (not his real name), a 24- year-old photographer from Williamsburg. “Pick any public service job, add the word ‘sexy’ in front of it and there you go — ‘sexy garbage man’!”
But Peck says it’s not just people dressed as slutty nurses who can get, ahem, full-body exams.
“A ridiculous or clever Halloween costume can be sexier than just going as a ‘sexy fill-in-theblank,’ ” says the 28-year-old. “It shows you have personality, plus it’s a good ice breaker.”
Either way, your odds of meetingcute on All Hallow’s Eve are pretty great. “If you see someone on a subway or at a party, use the fact that you’re both wearing costumes as a pick-up line,” Peck suggests. He’s tried it himself on the train — with a good deal of success. “I’ve picked up lots of girls on Halloween,” he says. “It’s a pretty easy time of year to meet women.”
But while your flirty costume might look good the night of Halloween, it can look downright scary in the cold morning light of Nov. 1.
Tyler Coates presents a different Halloween hook-up problem. The Lower East Side editor says he met his now-ex-boyfriend when he was dressed as Professor Plum from Clue; the ex was wearing lederhosen. “He was dressed as an ambiguous German youth, which, looking back on it, makes me kind of uncomfortable,” the 30-year-old recalls. “But I really just went home with him because he had a car and I knew he would drive me home in the morning — so I wouldn’t have to do the walk or bus ride of shame.”
But remember, it all can work out well.
“The only action I’ve ever gotten on Halloween led to a long-term relationship,” recalls Megan, a 29-year-old publicist who lives on the Upper East Side.
This year, she plans to wear a mermaid costume.
“I am going to hook up with someone this Halloween, in hopes that lightning strikes again!”