Halloween Costumes Sees Many Different Trends

Halloween is a popular holiday that is celebrated every year on October 31 by upwards of 190 million people in the United States alone. Additionally, there are many other countries around the world that have their own versions of Halloween with different traditions and customs. In the US, some of these traditions include trick or treating, parties and dressing up in fun costumes. In any given year, the most popular Halloween costumes are determined by many different factors including the aesthetics, durability, and trendiness of the costume.

According to “Halloween Statistics & Marketing Facts”, an article that was published on a Sender blog by copywriter Vesta Oldenburg, last year alone, Americans spent over $11.3 billion on Halloween. Another research page by Capitol One Shopping suggests that shoppers collectively spend over $4.1 billion on costumes, which is more than 36% of the total amount spent on Halloween!

That same website says that the most popular costume for kids in 2024 was “Spiderman”. This can be backed up by various other sources such as, “Halloween Statistics & Marketing Facts” by Vesta Oldenburg and “2025’s top Halloween costumes are a mix of new and old” by Katherine Cullen, who is the vice president of industry and consumer insights at the National Retail Federation (NRF).

In that same article by Katherine Cullen, it is reported that costumes from “Kpop Demon Hunters”, the vastly popular Netflix movie from this summer, are in high demand for this year's Halloween season. In a survey conducted at here at John F. Kennedy High School this October, students were asked what they were going to dress up as for Halloween. The survey has gotten over fifty responses from various grades. The results showed that the most common costumes at school this year were predominantly from the “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba” and “Wicked” franchises, most likely in excitement from the recent “Demon Slayer” movie and in anticipation of the upcoming “Wicked” movie. There are also many students plan on dressing up in group costumes with their friends. Some of these group costumes are derived from television shows and movies such as “My Little Pony” and “The Avengers”.

However, at our school, the most popular costume seems to be no costume at all. According to the survey, the most received answer from students is that they are not dressing up for Halloween. This is because many students don’t celebrate Halloween or choose not to dress up in costumes.

Whether it be across the country or at our very own school, the trends for Halloween costumes are constantly changing. “A lot of the time, Halloween costumes are used by people to express themselves and their hobbies. I think it's important, even if you don’t dress up for Halloween, to be yourself,” says Ariana Rahbar Yazdi (9).

Photos by Kelly Orozco Hernandez | Students and staffs dressed up for Halloween.