“It is believed that the tradition comes from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, a time when people lit bonfires and wore costumes to scare off ghosts,” consumer psychologist Cathrine Jansson-Boyd told Bored Panda, explaining why people tend to dress up for Halloween. She added that later, the pope designated November 1st as the day to honor all saints, which over time incorporated some of the traditions of the Celtic festival and grew from there.

Even though likely not in order to scare away ghosts, people dress up for Halloween to this day. Not only that, their interest in the celebration only seems to be growing. A survey by the National Retail Federation revealed that except for the brief but rather significant drop during the pandemic, the number of Americans planning on celebrating Halloween has been growing for the last couple of decades.

The data provided by the National Retail Federation also showed a significant increase in Halloween-related expenditure. The total spendings related to this spooky occasion that stood at roughly $3.3 billion back in 2005 have reached $12.2 billion now in 2023.

One might think that costumes are what comprise the largest part of these expenses, but it is actually third on the list, preceded by candy and decorations.

With people spending billions of dollars on Halloween every year—be it on costumes, decorations, candy, or anything else—it’s no surprise that they might be affected by certain ads or trends. Barbie is a great example of that, expected to be one of the most popular costumes this Halloween, which is far from surprising, considering the craze the movie brought.

According to the Visual Capitalist’s list based on the most searched Halloween costumes in the US, other popular options include princesses, Spider-Man, witches, and fairies, among others.

In a piece for Psychology Today, Cathrine Jansson-Boyd pointed out that despite people often choosing costumes that are not defined by their sexes, some of them still conform to certain gender roles, which can be affected by ads or popular trends.

“Making people continuously exposed to stereotypical images can influence how genders are viewed more widely in society,” she told Bored Panda. “It has long been known that gender-targeted products inform consumers of traits and values that are expected of the gender.”

“Many costumes include sex-related cues; if people did not buy or wear them, they clearly would not be sold,” the consumer psychologist added. “As we live in a society where being seen as sexually attractive can be positive, many wish to wear clothes and costumes to enhance sexualized appearances.”

The mastermind behind one of the costumes on this list, Valentina—known to her TikTok followers as ‘the.art.of’—told Bored Panda that she enjoys seeing people express themselves through costumes.

“People love to dress provocatively for Halloween and I’m all for it! It’s really great seeing people feel confident in themselves,” she said in a recent interview. 

Valentina’s video of her dancing in a Vector—a character from the animated movie Despicable Me—costume has already attracted nearly 19 million views. She told Bored Panda that she prefers funny costumes, because making people laugh is her goal.

“I love seeing people’s faces when they see creative and funny costumes I’ve put together,” she shared, adding that she loves Despicable Me. “It’s such a wholesome and funny movie and Vector’s character is hilarious. No one likes a boring villain!”

As for other funny and unique costumes, Valentina revealed that there was one that caught her attention: “My favorite costume at the moment would have to be Meredith Blake from the Parent Trap. I saw a girl wearing a black workout set with a backpack, and she had a fake lizard on the top of her head. I screamed out loud when I saw her! It was genius!”

Another proud owner of one of the costumes on the list, known on TikTok as ‘Love, RyanGirl’, has become viral for her Balloon Dog costume. “I wish there was a more exciting backstory to this, but a few years ago I saw a video of someone wearing a version of this costume and it sparked so much joy for me,” she told Bored Panda, revealing what made her choose such an outfit for Halloween. “I never stopped thinking about it, so when I saw it in the costume store in person this year I knew I had to buy it.”

Ryan shared that back in elementary school, she had a friend who would go trick-or-treating with her in a costume she made herself. “Two years in a row she made them out of cardboard; one year, she was a die—singular of ‘dice!’—and another year she was Mrs. Pac-Man. She looked awesome.

“I almost took a page from her book and made a costume out of cardboard this year, but then I saw Balloon Animal and the rest is history. I feel like she would be proud of this costume, though,” the TikToker said.

The description of Ryan’s viral video of the Balloon Dog costume read “Hottest Girl Halloween Costume if you ask me,” and even though it was more of a joke, she agreed that quite a few people tend to use Halloween as a chance to dress rather provocatively. 

“Absolutely, [but] no judgment from me, because I understand the mentality of wanting to look and feel attractive; and Halloween certainly offers people the opportunity to embrace looks they may not normally. 

“While I’ve observed provocative looks tend to be the go-to, I’ve also observed the excuse to dress a certain way totally looks different for everyone. Maybe someone wants to live out their favorite book or movie and that makes them feel attractive or brings them joy. For me, the Balloon Animal costume brought me joy and I wanted to bring that same joy to others. So it seems the common thread we all share is that we use Halloween as an opportunity to make people feel something,” Ryan told Bored Panda.

It is difficult to determine how important Halloween traditions, such as wearing a costume, are for society nowadays. According to Dr. Jansson-Boyd, they might not be very important for people, but they do bring a bit of fun into their lives.

“Having said that, it can help foster a community feeling if people are welcoming and engage in the trick-or-treat tradition. Additionally, it can help with social interactions—albeit in a monster way—which is good for people’s well-being,” she added.

If you enjoy all things Halloween or are maybe looking for inspiration for a last-minute costume, feel free to continue to this list of clever costumes or open Bored Panda’s collection of spooky Halloween foods for more.