At Value Village, you can build your own Halloween costume

Boo.

Now that we have the formalities out of the way, let's get down to business. The business of what the heck to wear on Halloween.

A pimp, hippie, devil, monster, pirate, ninja, vampire, princess, fairy, pumpkin, witch or someone from the Man family — Spider, Super, Bat and Iron.

Who ya gonna be this year?

"My husband and I, for our first Halloween as a married couple — I bought a $20 wedding dress, and he got a cheap white suit. In August. We buried them in the yard, and right before Halloween we dug them up, and got masks and makeup and went as zombies."

And this was before Heidi Cecil became a costume professional.

"It's my favorite holiday. Truly. That's probably why they put me in this position." And that position is a promotion up the Value Village corporate ladder to "costume consultant supervisor," the boss of the consultants the store provides to help the uninspired conjure up a costume quick, cheap and recycled.

"My son is going to be Spiderman this year. He already thinks he is Spiderman. My daughter is going to be something disgustingly adorable," Cecil says of Aiden, 3, and Ava, 7 months, the kids that she, as the mom, gets to dress up funny.

Within 10 minutes Cecil can outfit a cowboy, lumberjack, baseball player, 1980s prom date, rock star or go-go dancer for less than 20 bucks.

For our interview, Cecil has chosen really cute red-glitter devil horns with matching red-glitter lipstick. Won't say who she'll be this year, but last year she overspent, about $75 on a pre-made getup, because she had her heart set on being Alice in Wonderland. Aiden was the white rabbit.

"My son's gonna hate me for that when he gets older," she laughs.

Here's a tip: Bring your costume to any Value Village after Fright Night for a 20 percent-off coupon on your next purchase.

And, next year? Shop in August: Cecil says the costumes are out and the best ones go fast. Wings and boas, especially, do not last long.

The woman loves to play dress-up.