A great Halloween costume goes beyond silly clothes or a storebought mask. A great Halloween costume is lived.

For instance, you can't show up at a party as “Friday the 13th” fiend Jason Voorhees and hug your friends all night. You don't have to play “pin the machete on the partygoer” either, but at least try to be fearsome.

When a college roommate and I were hard up for a Halloween costume freshmen year, we clinged to this philosophy. Borrowing inspiration from one of our favorite films, we decided to be Jay and Silent Bob.

I lacked Jay's long blonde hair or even a wig, and my roommate didn't have enough notice to grow Bob's beard. But that didn't deter us.

I donned a ski cap, a long black T-shirt, black shorts and boots (like Jay wore in “Clerks”). My roommate, meanwhile, wrapped himself in Bob's signature overcoat and a backwards baseball hat.

We were even joined by a friend wearing Dante Hicks' (also from “Clerks”) hockey jersey and fu manchu.

The resemblance wasn't uncanny. But we went the extra mile to be Jay and Silent Bob. We stationed ourselves outside the residence hall - stereo and all - and recited our characters' dialogue from Kevin Smith's movies, me in my best hoarse-voiced Jay impersonation and my roommate in, well, silence.

Most people got the joke. Some said we were strange. But we made the night memorable nonetheless.

So if your Halloween budget is slim, turn to your acting skills.