Halloween at work can be a fright show

by Alison Green on October 28, 2024

Pity your beleaguered colleagues in HR this week, because Halloween in offices can be frightening in all the wrong ways.

You’d think workplace Halloween celebrations would be enjoyable: It’s a holiday centered around costumes and candy, after all. And many offices do manage to make Halloween a good time. Sometimes, though, things go awry.

At Slate today, I wrote about what happens when Halloween at work doesn’t go quite as intended. You can read it here.

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  1. Anonymouse*

    Good colleagues don’t let clueless colleagues dress up as Tianna and trick or treat at meetings, and *really* don’t buy into the subtle bias of low expectations that a black woman just never coulda known better!

    Sigh. The racist comments on that post still give me the shivers.

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    1. Not Tom, Just Petty*

      Oh that WAS wild.
      Many suggestions of, “OP, you would be doing her a service by explaining how offices work” with the presumption of “because clearly, she obviously didn’t have professional role models growing up, and I have historical evidence to prove it.”
      Not, “because she was a spoiled rich kid who was able to do what she wants because she’s pretty and her family had money,” which would have made far more sense. The costume was described as movie quality. That stuff is expensive!

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  2. NoThanks*

    The article is showing as paywalled for me. Are they usually paywalled this early after publication? I always thought we could read for free after clicking the link through the site.

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          2. Jenesis*

            Sadly not working for me.

            This article is just a compilation of previous AAM stories, right? Would anyone be willing to post a list of those links?

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    2. Good Lord Ratty*

      This one seems to be a “Slate+ subscribers only” special. Unless you subscribe to Slate+ (whatever that is), you’re not going to be able to read it.

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    1. Putting the Dys in Dysfunction*

      I wonder whether all of Alison’s pieces in Slate will be that way from now on.

      No criticism meant, Slate is entitled to their business model. But it would be sad for us.

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    2. Huttj*

      In general the stuff off site is. On this site is free, off site is whatever the linked site does. Bills gotta be paid, etc.

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      1. Tio*

        The previous slate articles were at least part of the non-slate+ section before. You could at least read a few before you got locked out. But Slate+ is fully locked out without subscription.

        We already know most of the stories but kinda sad that they’re locking these away now too. I can only afford so many subscriptions.

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        1. Lab Rabbit*

          I can only afford so many subscriptions.

          Same here.

          Well, all good things come to an end. Time to leave here and find some other place on the internet with workplace mischief and misdeeds to read about.

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            1. Tippy*

              I believe that their point is that normally these public until the reader uses up their “monthly allotment”. At least that’s the way it has been in the past.

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              1. Good Lord Ratty*

                That’s the way it normally is. This specific article seems to be locked to “Slate+ subscribers” only. It’s not the regular “you hit your limit” message.

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        2. Dara*

          Full content of the page loaded for me with no issue, but I use NoScript, which fully blocks all scripts on sites I visit until I manually select which scripts to allow, and the uBlock Origin adbocker.

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  4. .*

    Ahh, to reflect back on the day when I was a college intern and our receptionist showed up with only pasties on her breasts. I was an enginerd….and assumed this was how exciting work would be every halloween!

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    5. A Simple Narwhal*

      Oh my, that…sure is something!

      It would be one thing if a fellow intern did that (not that it would be better but I’m willing to extend grace to a misguided person new to the workforce) but I’m guessing the receptionist was more experienced in the workplace and should know better! Was the rest of the office just as bananapants or was that exclusive to the receptionist?

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      4. J7*

        One of my memorable moments as a teacher was years ago when Diwali, Halloween and Eid al-Fitr all coincided over a short period. I had a combined party with my Year 5/6 class. We lit lots of candles, told ghost stories and admired the jack-o-lantern I had carved and had a total feast. I also provided alternative activities for anyone who didn’t want to participate – Halloween was the only one people had a problem with. Some of the kids brought costumes to put on and others wore their sarees.

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    2. Smurfette*

      I’d be interested to hear from people who observe Diwali, but this sounds disrespectful to me. I wouldn’t be pleased if my work had a 4th of July / Shavuot mashup party.

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      1. A Book about Metals*

        It doesn’t seem much different than calling a December work party a “holiday” party since in theory you’re celebrating multiple occasions

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        1. Wilbur*

          It seems a bit different because for most people Halloween is a not serious “just for funsies” holiday. I wouldn’t suggest a combined Ash Wednesday/St Patricks day party either.

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          1. UKDancer*

            Yes, I mean a lot of my Sikh and Hindu colleagues put the lights up for Diwali and keep them up for Christmas. I used to live in an area with a large Indian minority and really liked the consistent and widespread use of fairy lights up for November and December. I can kind of see that both being festivals of light it kind of works if people are wanting it to.

            Halloween isn’t a festival of lights and isn’t a festival most adult British people observe so a Diwali / Halloween party would be considered incredibly weird and inappropriate around here.

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            1. A Book about Metals*

              Well yes if Halloween isn’t normally celebrated, it wouldn’t make sense to celebrate it at all at work, let alone combine it with a different holiday.

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  8. George*

    I guess it doesn’t need to be spelled out but the scariest thing I’ve dealt with during office halloween is racism/cultural appropriation type offensiveness in costumes. Learn something bad about a coworker, and hope that HR steps in. They are often unaware that it fell in the ‘nothing offensive’ rule as well. Was surprised there wasn’t even a slight mention of that kind of problem – it slips in more easily that giant decorations in a cube etc.

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    1. Rainy*

      Back in grad school, me and my two besties were invited by one of our faculty members (we were all very close to her) to see her band play a show, which happened fairly often. It was Halloween and the event her band was playing for was costume, so we all wore low-key comfortable costumes. Most of the costumes of the event staff and attendees were pretty routine, but one of the staff working the event was wearing an absolutely breathtakingly offensive costume that I honestly still can’t believe anyone would go through the multiple stages of conceiving of and then executing the costume and never once say to themselves (or hear from anyone else) how completely inappropriate it was. I will not say what it was, but take my word for it, it was AWFUL. And yet, there it was, in the year of my patience 2011 or so.

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  9. restingbutchface*

    Years ago, I worked with a very unpopular manager who we will call Dave. He was unpopular for a reason – he did no work and was unpleasant to his peers, hateful to his direct reports. I wasn’t senior enough to do anything about it but his behaviour was completely out of line. Multiple, multiple HR complaints had been filed and ignored.

    It’s important to note that I’m in the UK and we don’t do Halloween like Americans. No workplace decorations and I had never seen a colleague in costume… until the year all nine of Dave’s reports came to work dressed as Dave. Including the women. Dave had a very, uh, distinctive style and I don’t know how they did it, but they replicated him perfectly, down to the facial hair.

    They spent the morning screaming at each other and avoiding work – just like Dave. I was half horrified and half incredibly impressed. Dave went to HR and the Daves all had the same response – if it’s okay for him, why isn’t it okay for us?

    Incredibly, this story has a happy ending! Dave was moved to another office where he interacted with nobody, HR apologised for not managing the situation in the past and the team thrived with a new manager at the helm. This was 15 years ago and when I bumped into one of my old colleagues last week, the first thing they said was, “do you remember the Daves?”. Legendary status.

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    2. CommanderBanana*

      I am amazed and delighted to read this. I have often fantasized about coming to work and behaving like coworkers who seem to get away with behavior that other people can’t (and shouldn’t!).

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    3. UKDancer*

      Oh my goodness that’s hilarious. Americans may not get this but dressing up for Halloween at work is really not a thing in the UK in most places so this will really have stood out.

      I am in awe of whoever thought of this and so glad it had a good result for everyone.

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      1. restingbutchface*

        Thank you, you get it! I have never seen anyone else dress up since, even in the most relaxed offices. The Daves were the first and last costumes in the entire company. But really, how would you even try to top that?

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        1. UKDancer*

          Yes I mean I wear spooky ghost earrings if I’m at work because I like rocking fun earrings but that’s it. I think one year I was going to a dance party afterwards so wore sparkly tights with broomsticks and cats on so I could change into a party dress with minimum effort. But that’s about as Halloween costume as it mostly gets around the white collar world I’ve worked in. I’ve never known anyone properly dress up.

          I mean I guess if you worked in a costume shop or somewhere that sold goth / witchy clothes you might. But otherwise its really not the norm.

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          1. Arrietty*

            When I worked in a supermarket, costumes were optional but encouraged – but with fairly strict parameters like no gore or revealing clothing. Mainly just cat ears, witches hats or sometimes those skeleton tshirts.

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  10. GoodNPlenty*

    I’m a US nurse and always felt it was not appropriate to costume up for Halloween except maybe in pediatrics. People are ill and while it may seem like fun, it’s not necessarily seen that way by the patients.

    I lost my father on 10/30 many years ago and was troubled that his death took place amidst a full costume Halloween party on the hospital unit he was on.

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    1. Nina*

      I went in to my doctor’s office to get a scary mole
      removed from my face. I did not appreciate the skull decor on the treatment room

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      1. Charlotte Lucas*

        This! I love skull decor, but there’s a time and a place! Pumpkins and fall leaves are a better choice, as well as spanning the entire fall season.

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    2. Three Cats in a Trenchcoat*

      Halloween is my favorite holiday and I absolutely agree that it does not belong in healthcare settings. I’ve seen it done well for the children’s hospital, but outside of that there is just too much potential to make light of a serious situation.

      Our waiting room has a few pumpkins and fall leaves, and I think that’s about how far you can go.

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    3. Pie Fight*

      GoodNPlenty, that is a horrible experience.

      I had a dermatology checkup on Halloween last year. My appointment was early, but I waited in the exam room (shivering in my paper gown) for about 30 minutes while the staff had a Halloween celebration of some kind. I think the office had a costume theme and they were taking pictures. I could hear everything that was going on. Parties are fun and all, but you can block off that time and not have patients waiting! They made my next appointment for Halloween this year, but I called and changed it later.

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    4. Zippity Doodah*

      My local old-folks home decorates for Halloween, as much as is possible without anything related to cemeteries, ghosts, or Death.

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  11. Anonymous Frankenlibrarian For This One*

    I’m a public librarian. My first year (last year) I dressed up as Frankenstein, green Spirit Halloween face paint and all. It went fine, but over the past year as I’ve had a chance to reflect on all the conversations I have with patrons over the course of the day – from arguments over lost materials, to disciplining teenagers, to trying my best to assist with serious life issues – I’ve decided to forgo the face paint in future years.

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    1. Esmae*

      My first year as a children’s librarian, I dressed up as a black cat — black dress, black cat ears, whiskers drawn on my cheeks in eyeliner. It seemed like the right amount of whimsy for the job description. And it was, but fully half the toddlers in my morning story time didn’t recognize me with the whiskers, and most of them didn’t trust this new whiskered lady.

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      1. namuh*

        This is delightful to me. My own toddler didn’t recognize me when I went from shoulder length hair to a pixie cut and the look of distrust on her face is seared into my brain.

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      2. SallyAnn*

        When my kid was in preschool, one of the teachers dressed in a polka-dot onesie, pointy cap with a pompon on top, and a red nose – the kind that’s a red ball with a hole in it that you just stick on your nose.
        The 3-year-olds were horrified when she took off her nose in front of them! Some started crying in fear.
        The following year a directive went out – costumes were OK but no masks or facial disguises like noses, teeth, beards, etc.

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  12. Jaya*

    This is my first Halloween in years without a job, so alas won’t have workplace fun either in-person or remotely :(. And I really liked when during the pandemic we dressed up for our daily meeting to get into the spirit.

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  13. Perihelion*

    I have found that a simple tan trenchcoat turns ordinary office attire into a detective costume, and can be removed just as easily.

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      1. Cedrus Libani*

        I tried that costume once in high school. That was the one time my mom stopped me at the door and made me go upstairs and change.

        I was wearing pants and a shirt underneath, but I’m the same color as a pair of khakis, so my improvised birthday suit costume was actually pretty convincing. I protested – I’m wearing more clothes than usual! – but alas, she still wouldn’t let me out of the house.

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    2. Charlotte Lucas*

      I was at a Halloween party many years ago where someone wore a suit and one of the old-style transistor radio earphones (they are for one ear and look similar to a modern wired ear buds). Instant Secret Service Agent. (He also was listening to scores for the game.)

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  14. Mostly Managing*

    I have a hairband with purple pompom bats on it (yes, it’s insane!) and I will wear it with a purple top and black pants. Because that way if I end up with a last-minute sensitive meeting, I’m not dealing with someone in tears while I’m wearing a silly costume.

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      1. UKDancer*

        Yes, for Christmas party days I have similar some antlers and some santa deelybobbers so I can remove them if needed. While we don’t go in for dressing up for Halloween the Christmas jumper contest in my company on party day is fierce and extremely competitive with people going to a lot of trouble.

        I opt out by having something very simple that can be removed if I need to go to an unexpected meeting.

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  15. It Ain't Me Babe*

    I was working at a company that had just undergone a merger with a more conservative company. Our receptionist, who had been working there for 20 years, dressed up for Halloween, as she always did. Completely covered, non-offensive, rated G costume. She was fired almost immediately.

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