Tired of going through racks of Halloween costumes and seeing the same old hockey masks and sexy nurse uniforms? Here are six scary DIY costumes guaranteed to make the most fearless revelers do a double-take—and then think twice about eating meat, wearing fur, or going to the circus.

Steal an idea from PETA Vice President Dan Mathews and go as KFC's purveyor of live-chicken scalding, Colonel Sanders. 

Instantly transform into bunny butcher Donna Karan by carrying some plush rabbits drenched in red paint. To complete the ensemble, lie all night about how you don't really use fur even while you're holding the evidence. 

Clowns are scary to a lot of people, and Ronald McDonald is one of the scariest of all. Follow in Andy Dick's footsteps and wave around a bloody knife as you illustrate how a chicken becomes a McNugget. (Hint: It's a lot more cruel than it has to be because McDonald's refuses to implement a less cruel slaughter method for chickens.) 

If you want the theme to your outfit to be "cold as ice," be a Canadian seal clubber. A plush seal, a club, and a red-stained shirt will have anyone with a heartbeat running and screaming for points south of the Great White North.

If splashy is more your style, don a top hat and tails or a tight Lycra jumpsuit and you can be a Ringling Bros. animal trainer abuser. It works best if accessorized with a bullhook and paired with a partner dressed as a helpless baby elephant.

For women who want to show that fur is a bad asset, pair a Sasquatch suit with two strategically placed pillows and a diva attitude to become Jennifer Lopez. Be sure to brag about how you burn through animals like you burn through husbands.

Written by Michelle Sherrow

Update 12/22/2008: Donna Karan has announced that her fall 2009 lines will be fur-free and that she has "no plans" to use fur in the future! Read more.

I'm not quite sure what Sag Harbor Village, New York—a self-proclaimed "spiritually oriented" town—is thinking by welcoming Donna Karan into their peace circle. But they have, and they are allowing her to set up shop near the wharf. So amongst the yoga shops and raw-food eateries, there will soon be Urban Zen, DK's yoga-inspired store, which plans to sell DK's fashions, amongst other things. Catch the details here.

The nagging question on deck is: Why would someone so relentless in the promotion of fur and the killing of innocent animals for their skins have any interest in associating herself with yoga and its quintessential beliefs? One just doesn't seem to go with the other. Yoga is, after all, a spiritual awakening and a practice of love and nonviolence. (Forgive me for getting all "hippie" on you, but it is.)

Somehow, I just don't think the practice of yoga will cleanse the karma of a desperate, bunny-butchering fashion designer who continues to use real fur in her collections when there are so many great alternatives out there. There's no violence in yoga, DK. And there definitely isn't any peace for animals who are skinned alive and anally electrocuted for your clothes. However, we do have a suggestion for you to turn your bad karma good: Stop killing animals! I know, you've never heard that before, right?

—Jen

Posted by Jennifer Cierlitsky, Membership Correspondence Coordinator