15 concept costumes for Halloween

BY BROOKLYN MCKINNEY / Multimedia Journalist

Halloween has really snuck up on people this year and it’s unfortunate that it falls on a Thursday. That doesn’t mean that costumes have to be lacking, though.

Costumes are a way for people to escape reality and dress up. 

Whether it’s an iconic movie, a personal niche character or just to look cute, here are 15 costumes for you or your friends to celebrate the spooky holiday.

1. Beetlejuice

While Beetlejuice and Lydia Deetz are pretty overdone as a couple’s costume, there are new characters in the 2024 sequel to choose from. There is also Beetlejuice’s smokin’ hot crazy ex-girlfriend Delores, and she has a cool kind of Frankenstein vibe going on.

Another honorable mention would be Astrid, Lydia’s daughter played by Jenna Ortega. She wears some edgy grunge outfits throughout the film, as well as a silver dress during her journey to the afterlife.

This could also be a really good group costume theme, and if you need more characters from your group you could get pretty creative. For example, somebody could go as a sandworm.

2. Ty Beanie Babies

Like they said in Mean Girls, “the hardcore girls just wear lingerie and some kind of animal ears” but to put your own cute spin on it,wear one of those heart-shaped Ty tags that came with the plushie friends that we all know and love, boom! You are now an adorable stuffed animal.

You could be a bunny, a dog, a bear, the possibilities are endless. You can write your own original bio on the tag. If you’re going out, it might be fun to have people write their own messages or numbers inside.

I love this idea because not only is it adorable, but it’s very affordable. There are animal ears available on Amazon for as low as $3 and you can make or print out your own tag with paper and some string.

3. “Carrie”

It seems like everyone has dressed up as Pennywise and Georgie from Stephen King’s “It,” but what about Carrie, the world’s scariest prom queen?

I feel like Carrie has always been underrated as both a novel and a costume.

All you need is a pale pink dress, the classic prom queen accessories and a lot of fake blood. To get more creative with it, you could also make your own headpiece, with the bucket of blood tipping above your head.

4. Pop stars from the past

I’m sure plenty of girls will be dressed as the three hottest pop stars of the year: Chappel Roan, Sabrina Carpenter and Taylor Swift. But how about Avril Lavigne or Kesha? If you prefer a ‘70s vibe over the early 2000’s,options are endless, such as David Bowie, ABBA members or Dolly Parton. If pop music isn’t really your thing, you could even dress up as rock stars.

5. Alice in Chains

Lately, I’ve been seeing different variations of Alice in Chains costumes go viral. You could dress up as Alice as in Alice Cooper, or maybe Alice in Wonderland wearing chains.

For a couple’s costume, you could do a play on words with one of the band’s hit songs, the most popular examples being “Man in the Box” or “Rooster.” Personally, I haven’t seen “Frogs” or “Jar of Flies” done yet.

With all of these punny costumes, it could be a group theme with your friends.

6. “Hocus Pocus”

I will admit that the Sanderson Sisters are also overdone, but they’re so iconic that it doesn’t really matter. However, there are more characters from this movie that I would like to see more of.

For example, Danny with her adorable witch costume or Billy Butcherson, Winifred’s corpse ex-boyfriend. You could even add Binx the black cat, or Allison and Max into the mix. Even Ernie would be a humorous edition, with “Ice” shaved into the back of his buzz cut from the film.

This could also be cute as a group or family theme.

7. Hello Kitty/Cartoon Cats

What if instead of being a black cat, you dressed up as an adorable white cat who wears pink instead? I’m honestly surprised I haven’t seen more Hello Kitty costumes, because people love dressing up as characters from their childhood cartoons. We’ve seen Care Bears, Bugs and Lola Bunny from Space Jam and Mickey Mouse, but what about the world’s favorite white cat? If you want to be the world’s favorite orange cat, Garfield is always an option. If you wanted to be a pink cat you could dress up as Pink Panther.

Whether you like black, white, tabby, or pink cats, there’s a cat for you. I’m personally more of a dog person, and I also feel like Snoopy isn’t done a lot.

8. Charlie Brown

A lot of people enjoy bringing a Christmas theme into the Halloween season with Santa or Krampus costumes, but what about seasonal fall instead of spooky fall?

I don’t know about you, but Charlie Brown has always given me that Thanksgiving nostalgia, and I think dressing up as Charlie Brown characters would be perfect if you’re a fall person that prefers Thanksgiving over Halloween.

Add the iconic Charlie Brown theme song for the perfect Instagram post.

9. Top Gun

After “Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022, I feel like “Top Gun” is going to be the new “Ghostbusters” this Halloween. Nothing gets cooler than “Top Gun,” and all you need is a pair of aviators and a green cargo flight suit or bomber jacket. 

The cast is filled with iconic characters to dress up as. Reenacting scenes would make for a fun night.

10. Jareth the Goblin King and Sarah from “The Labyrinth”

If you’re the type to go all out for Halloween, I think this would be a really cool costume to do with a significant other/friend. I would take any excuse to wear an ethereal wedding dress with puff sleeves bigger than my face or to dress up as David Bowie.

“The Labyrinth” is a really good movie and if someone hasn’t seen the movie enough times to get this costume, then that’s really disappointing.

11. The other mother/other father from Coraline

With the 3D re-release of “Coraline” this summer becoming a box office hit, I’m sure we will see a lot of Coraline and Wybie costumes this year, but Coraline’s Other Mother and Other Father are both iconic characters that would make for great costumes.

In my opinion, these are the creepiest characters in the film and would be sure to stand out this year. With another 3D release from Laika Studios coming this Halloween, these costumes are sure to be a big hit.

12. Poison Ivy and Poison Ivy

If you want to wear a sexy costume this year and your partner doesn’t like to dress up or just doesn’t really care about costumes, one person can be DC Universe Poison Ivy and one can be the skin rash poison ivy. This would be pretty funny and a great compromise for couples where one partner doesn’t enjoy wearing costumes.

13. “Shrek” Characters

To dress up as Shrek, all you would really need is a white shirt, flannel pjs and some green face paint. Fiona is also a great option, especially for redheads.

There are countless iconic characters from this movie you could dress up as this Halloween, like Gingy or Puss in Boots.

Another cute couple’s costume in the Shrek universe that isn’t done that often is Donkey and the dragon. Overall, this is a great option for couples or larger groups of friends.

14. The Lorax

Depending on how you do it, dressing up as the Lorax could be really cute or really funny. This could also be another great couple's costume if you had someone to be the Onceler.

I don’t think you can go wrong with Dr. Seuss. If the Lorax wasn’t really your favorite Dr. Seuss story, you could even dress up as Cat in the Hat or the Grinch.

15. Three ghost children from “Nightmare Before Christmas”

For years now people have been dressing up as Jack and Sally from “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” but I haven’t seen anyone dress up as Oogie Boogie or his three ghost children assistants from the film.

I think this would be a really cute idea for triplet babies; you could even make their stroller resemble a bathtub with bubbles or rubber ducks.

At this point, this might as well be a list of underrated Tim Burton costumes, but there’s nothing better than a Tim Burton movie to get me into the Halloween spirit.

Whether you take my advice while shopping for a costume this year or not, please for the love of God don’t do one of those “concept costumes” that no one can tell is a costume.

I’m sorry, but if you’re just wearing a silver skirt and a white tank top with some red accessories on Halloween and your costume is “Diet Coke”, no it’s not. You’re just lame.