WHAT'S COOL WHAT'S HOT.

Byline: - Daily News staff writers

SCARING UP A GOOD COSTUME

Halloween costume buyers may be going for more gore this year, but among those who rent from Hollywood's premier costume shop, Western Costume, it's all about make believe. Hot selections available this season include women's wear from the movie ``Waterworld,'' Johnny Depp-inspired pirate gear (and wench frocks, of course) and Egyptian garb that would do King Tut proud. Looking for a group theme? There are enough gray-and-white striped convict ensembles to put together your own chain gang. Glam up with Suzy Wong silks, Greek goddess gowns, fringy flappers or harem getups, or flatter a not-so-spectacular physique with a pectorally endowed Centurion chest plate. Couple ensembles include French courtiers, and ``Maverick'' and a saloon girl. One-of-a-kind finds include pieces from the short-lived play ``The Dance of the Vampire,'' whose failure should not be blamed on the cool wardrobe. Prices start at $25 for children's costumes and some adult separates, and the costume is yours to keep until Nov. 3. Hours at the Halloween Shop (in the rear of the building) are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Western Costume is at 11041 Vanowen St. in North Hollywood. [phone]; www.westerncostume.com.

THE YOUNG PEKAR

Harvey Pekar became a cult figure for his ``American Splendor'' graphic novels celebrating - or, more precisely, kvetching about - his own ordinary life (Paul Giamatti portrayed him in the 2003 film of the same name). In Pekar's latest, ``The Quitter'' (Vertigo; $19.99), he for the first time explicates his childhood, in which he was a hot-tempered grouch (no surprises there) continuously if aimlessly fretting about his future (or there) but was a pretty decent athlete (a fair shocker). Covering 21 or so years in the space that he sometimes would devote to a couple of weeks, it's short on details but revealing nonetheless - and nicely illustrated by Dean Haspiel.

'ADULT SWIM' IN THE SHALLOW END

The Cartoon Network's ``Adult Swim'' made its anarchic reputation putting recycled cartoon characters from the '60s in humiliating situations, which can be goofy fun but doesn't earn money for the shows' creators in ancillary markets, since they don't own the copyrights. So now they're cooking up their own characters, though they're not spending much time learning how to draw them. Protagonists of two new shows debuting tonight, ``Squidbillies'' (midnight) and ``12 Oz. Mouse'' (12:30 a.m.), are scarcely more than scribbles; their intellectual coherence matches their aesthetic beauty. These shows suggest how a casual lack of effort can be surreally amusing, but it's unlikely that the next generation of ``Adult Swim'' efforts will get away with such an underachieving sensibility.

FINDING YOUR INNER DUDE

Life is cool if you're The Dude. Whenever you feel stressed - and it doesn't take much for that to happen - just kick back by soaking in a bubble bath, smoking a joint, listening to whale sounds and gazing out admiringly at that rug in the living room that ``really holds the room together.'' Yes, life for Jeff Lebowski was mellow until the world's most accomplished slacker was mistaken for ``The Big Lebowski,'' and a thug tossed an attack ferret into the tub. The 1998 Coen brothers bizarre fable has become a film classic - hey, we're not kidding. Played brilliantly by Jeff Bridges, The Dude is the kind of guy who would write a check for 69 cents while shopping in his bathrobe and make bowling the religion that pinned his life together. All that changes when the case of mistaken identity puts him in the middle of a sordid kidnapping case and sends him on a comic Ride of the Valkyries with conceptional artist Maude (Julianne Moore). As the cowboy (Sam Elliott) says at the end of The Dude's tale. ``It was a purty good story, don't you think? Made me laugh to beat the band. Parts, anyway.'' A collector's DVD edition of ``The Big Lebowski'' is out Tuesday (Universal, $19.98) and includes photography from Bridges.

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(1 -- 2 -- color) no caption (``The Big Lebowski'')

(3 -- 5 -- color) Get a head start on Halloween: Western Costume in North Hollywood has this witch get-up for children, some aliens and even a few one-of-a-kind numbers, like the costume at far right from the short-lived play ``Dance of the Vampire.''