Costume foolery

America is in the throes of a serious and troubling trend that needs to stop and it needs to stop now. We’re talking about Halloween and adults dressing up in costumes. Enough!

The National Retail Federation reports that 48 percent of US adults will, on purpose, dress up as a pirate or flirty waitress or some other scary person.

We assume some of these folks have kids. Give it a break. Give the holiday back to the children. Grow up

We’re not saying you can’t get into the spirit of the holiday. Go ahead and dress up your house, concoct a Halloween-themed dessert or buy a pumpkin from the grocery store and place it outside your front door. Then stop. There are no better primers on how to behave on Halloween than Better Homes & Gardens and Good Housekeeping. Both mags give their entire cover over to the scary days. While both go a little overboard, Meredith’s BH&G does a better job. Reach for Stephen Orr’s title this month.

Orr, across 186 pages, covers ev- erything you need to know for Halloween, and beyond. Photos of food and home décor are bright and large. Recipes are detailed, like from a Blue Apron instruction card.

We heartily endorse the trend of not carving pumpkins — but rather painting them to give them a personal touch. Orr does a good job displaying several designs.

At GH, Editor-in-Chief Jane Francisco goes a little overboard with her “Boo-tiful” Halloween idea, like she’s eaten one too many of her “Boo-scotti” treats.

We do tip our pirate’s cap — ahoy, me hearties — for the exceptional idea of shooting the Kyra Sedgwick feature in and around Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood.

It is interesting to note that in both GH and BH&G’s Halloween coverage, they dedicate precious space to holiday cocktails to help mommy and daddy get through the day. But taking the time to make your own skull-topped stirrers or spider ice cubes? Not for us. We found the cocktails went down just as smoothly without the accessories.