Going to corn mazes, carving pumpkins, drinking hot apple cider and visiting a haunted house that will leave you shrieking. Spooky season is full of wonderful activities! And if you’re planning on donning an awesome costume on Halloween night, you’re in good company, pandas. According to Statista, a whopping 73% of Americans have plans to participate in Halloween festivities this year.

And when it comes to dressing up in costume, US News reports that 47% of Americans have an outfit planned. The top ten most common costumes people search for on Google are witches, Spider-Man, dinosaurs, Stranger Things characters, fairies, pirates, rabbits, cheerleaders, cowboys, and Harley Quinn. But if I had to guess, I would say that Barbie, Ken, Taylor Swift and Oppenheimer will be popular looks this year as well.  

Halloween costumes can be for people of all ages, as dressing up is fun for anyone! But if you’re a child who’s hoping to get some great trick-or-treating sweets, you better show up in an excellent look. Apparently, there were a whopping 41 million trick-or-treaters between the ages of 5 and 14 in the US in 2021, and there’s likely to be even more now, as the pandemic has calmed down quite a bit.

Unsurprisingly, California has the most children in costumes knocking on doors, with 5 million, and Texas is not far behind, with 4.3 million. And while Americans spend about $10.6 billion on Halloween annually, about $3.6 billion of that was spent on costumes during 2022. So if you’re planning on entering a costume contest, know that you’re going to have some stiff competition!

To learn more about Halloween costumes from a certified spooky season expert, we reached out to Deepak, a content creator at Munchkins Planet who has created many blog posts on Halloween looks. Deepak was kind enough to answer some questions for Bored Panda about what makes an excellent costume.

"The thing that makes a great Halloween costume is based on one’s imagination, you don’t need to find a unique costume idea," he shared. "Pick something from the existing popular ideas, but give it a personal touch by adding DIY things like the accessories or makeup. Let your creative juices flow."

As far as what factors we should consider when choosing a Halloween costume, Deepak says to keep it simple. "Select a costume that is comfortable to wear and move around in. Stay within your budget, and try to avoid expensive Halloween outfits, instead be creative with DIY," the expert recommended. "By adding a few accessories like LED lights, makeup, or face paint you can make any boring costume a stunning masterpiece."

We were also curious about some of the most impressive Halloween costumes Deepak has ever seen. "One of the best Halloween costumes I've come across is the Jack Skellington created by (Royal Goyal) in this article," he shared. "What makes it special is it’s all DIY. He painted the blazer and pants with white stripes, made the bow tie, and did an outstanding job on the makeup."

But if you need even more inspiration, there are plenty of other costumes you can view that have been shared on Munchins Planet. Deepak also shared this article, which includes a weeping angel statue, a jellyfish, a headless boy, a Marshmello costume and many more brilliant and creative looks.

As far as advice for choosing a costume, Deepak says his best tip is to not try to reinvent the wheel. "I’m not discouraging thinking out of the box," he explained. "What I’m saying is we already have a lot of popular costume ideas from famous Disney characters – Ariel from The Little Mermaid, Beetlejuice, Jack and Sally from The Nightmare Before Christmas... The list goes on and on. Pick anything from the existing popular ideas, and give it your own DIY touch to look different from the crowd."

Are you feeling inspired to create a magical costume for Halloween this year, pandas? We hope you’re enjoying all of these impressive pics, and please remember to keep upvoting your favorites. Let us know in the comments what you plan to dress up as this year, and then if you’re interested in checking out even more amazing costumes, you can find Bored Panda’s article on the same topic from last year right here!