Instead of buying your costume online, why don’t you try one of Seattle’s indie-owned costume shops? You can roll into Costume & Display (one of the best holiday stores for 62 frickin’ years) with a nary an idea and, after going through their Costco-sized aisles, you’ll walk out with some sort of excellent scary-sexy-trendy-oddball outfit for All Hallows’ Eve. The same goes for Champion Party Supply. They have everything, including costume rentals! If you’re still at a loss after these two places, your brain may have been replaced with a pink, jiggly Jell-O one, made from one of those plastic brain-shaped gelatin molds. (Locations and hours at displaycostume.com and championparty.com)

Kelly O—formerly a Stranger staff photographer, music writer, Drunk of the Week columnist, and more!—finished art school and a soul-crushing internship at a corporate advertising agency in Detroit,...