If you plan to dress up as a superhero or old-fashioned monster this Halloween, you probably won’t be the only friendly neighborhood Spider-Man or fearsome fanged vampire on the block. They’re two of the most popular costumes this October.
From beloved characters Harley Quinn and the “Stranger Things” gang to tried-and-true favorites like witches and dinosaurs, the most popular costume searches run the gamut from generic spooky to instantly recognizable IP, per Google Trends’ Frightgeist, a tool that analyzes the most-searched costume ideas nationwide.
Americans are sticking to what they know this Halloween, it seems: Witches, pirates, Harley Quinn and Batman all appeared in the top 10 costumes back in 2015, as well. To be fair, Halloween festivities have been muted since 2020, when Covid-19 made even the concept of candy-collecting scary.
The trends also reflect the times, and this year “Stranger Things” dominated streaming (but will fans dress up as Eleven or Vecna?). Batman appeared in a new film in March, and the Sanderson sisters of “Hocus Pocus” made their grand return in a sequel to the original Halloween classic.
The top 100 most popular costumes become more macabre, with infamous horror villains like Michael Myers of “Halloween” and “Nightmare on Elm Street’s” Freddy Krueger making appearances, as well as more lovable, cuddly characters like the Minions and Baby Yoda.
Frightgeist breaks down local trends, too: “Spider-Man” is the top search in both Atlanta and Los Angeles, while in New York, “fairy” is the most popular costume. Chicago is hooked on “Stranger Things,” and Dallas is choosing “dinosaur.”
Here are the top 19 costumes of 2022 (minus the 20th, which Google Trends curiously omitted from its rankings.)
- Witch
- Spider-Man
- Dinosaur
- “Stranger Things”
- Fairy
- Pirate
- Rabbit
- Cheerleader
- Cowboy
- Harley Quinn
- Clown
- Vampire
- 1980s
- “Hocus Pocus”
- Pumpkin
- Chucky
- Doll
- Angel
- Batman
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