I suppose this should have been a poll. Oh, well. Maybe next year.
Qwilleran - Clichéd though it may be, I do think Qwill would look good as Sherlock Holmes, in deerstalker and gray plaid shoulder cape.
Polly - I suppose a green-eyed monster is too facile a choice, especially in view of Polly's recent apparent reform. If I were better-versed in Shakespeare, I could suggest a suitable heroine from the Bard's works. Regardless, I do think a Shakespearean costume would suit Polly well - classy, distinguished - yet one, with her literary interests, that she would have fun with.
Chief Brodie - As both a policeman and a bagpiper, he has two quite serviceable costume choices at hand already.
Mountclemens - Could go as himself. No costume needed.
Mary Duckworth - Again, she could go as herself, in her Eastern porcelain-doll garb. But would she make a better decoration than party guest? Sitting on the porch statue-still, until the trick-or-treaters and party guests come *right* up to the door - her sudden, cold voice and icy stare could give anyone a good spook.
Lori Bamba - With her trademark long, golden braids, Heidi does naturally come to mind, but, though Lori has a buoyant disposition and can be rather girlish, the precious Swiss Miss image doesn't suit her and, to be honest, strikes me as uncomfortably...age-regressive. How about Rapunzel instead? I think Lori would both look and feel good in the luxuriant beauty of princess robes.
Susan Exbridge - Something dramatic, it goes without saying. And classy - but not so restrained that it wouldn't ensure she'd be noticed. A flapper, maybe? Bedecked in showy rhinestones and art-deco jewelry taken from her shop...
Amanda Goodwinter - Especially considering that she built her entire mayoral campaign image around the symbol, Amanda would be proud to go as a traditional broom-riding witch.
Thornton Haggis - I don't much care for Thornton, but considering his appearance - his scraggly white hair, his wire-rimmed specs, and his craggy countenance - I think he'd make a fine powder-white, chain rattling ghost in the Jacob Marley tradition. That's getting into Christmas, but still.
Mayor Blythe - With this guy's penchant for ceaselessly and equally maladroitly trying to gladhand his constituency and his utter lack of class, propriety, or common sense, I could see him going as the ghost of Ephraim Goodwinter or something equally tasteless in an "subtle" attempt to remind voters of his foremost (and only) qualification for office.
Wetherby Goode - Something jolly and goofy to go along with his media persona. Coming as an actual bee would be ridiculous. But I wouldn't put it past him. (Perhaps Wetherby could have some fun masquerading as his hero, John Philip Sousa, but the pictures suggest both the look and the attitude are too arch and formal to fit Mr. Goode.)
Celia Robinson - Celia'd be delighted to go as a spy - but she'd never dress as one; heaven forbid she blow her identity! She'd instead go undercover, in a costume not instantly recognizable for what it was - Mrs. Polifax, maybe, or Mrs. Froy from Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes?
Derek Cuttlebrink - Derek's been culturally refined a bit from his theater work and has sound taste, but he's still Derek. I can see him choosing to come as the Headless Horseman, a fine balance of the scary, the literary, and the just plain fun, but grandly malapropos for Derek. To make such a costume, one has to extend the neck area of the jacket and cravat up to cover the head, in effect constructing a fake upper torso that teeters on your shoulders and muffles your noggin. Combine the ill-advisedness of building upon Derek's already seven-foot frame with the limited visibility afforded by the coverings which maintain the "headless" illusion, and the opportunities for trip-and-fall-triggered disasters are endless.
Hixie Rice - As Hixie's job hinges on her unfathomably formidable imagination and talent for promotion, self- or otherwise, any clever costume I could think up for her would not be half as ingenious as the one she'd think up herself.
Koko - Macavity! Were there a party, he'd be an ace at being "not there" - at least until 11:00 p.m., when he'd materialize to shoo all the guests home.
Addendum: Ben (and Smokey) write -
"Might I respectfully dissent from your recommendation that Qwill
costume himself as Sherlock Holmes?
Of the best-known Holmes portraitists, neither Sidney Paget nor
Frederick Doore Steele depict him with a mustache. Qwill, as we all
know, has a luxurient mustache, and I can't quite see him sacrificing
it for the sake of versimilitude in his costume.
Might I suggest, then, that Qwill disguise himself as Dr. John
Watson's literary agent, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle? Sir Arthur *did* have
a mustache, though not as prominent a one as Qwill's."
And here Ben provides a picture of Doyle himself. Pretty convincing, isn't it?
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