Believe it or not, another year has passed, and like last year (and the year before, and the year before that) you didn’t think about your Halloween costume until now. Fortunately, unlike years past, you still have a little time to create a killer costume. Without a doubt, everyone’s favorite costumes are those that cleverly reference current events. If you want to get nods at this year’s Halloween parties, you should consider dressing up like any of the following news stories:
President Donald Trump
Donald Trump has recently captivated the nation with his unrelenting campaign to become the Republican presidential candidate. Though Trump currently leads the polls in the GOP race, the idea of the Donald as commander-in-chief is absolutely petrifying to most Americans. Dressing up as Donald the POTUS will surely get some shrieks of terror on October 31 — or whenever, really.
President Hilary Clinton
Then again, voters of a different type have different fears — namely that a certain former First Lady will assume the presidency in 2016. It seems as though Hilary Clinton has been running for president for decades, nearly missing out every year to one candidate or another. Seeing Clinton finally make it to the White House could send legions of Americans running for the hills.
Apple Watch
Apple hasn’t had a good streak of innovation since Steve Jobs passed in 2011, and this year’s big revelation, the Apple Watch, has been another significant flop. With slow response times, frequent distracting prompts, and untenable glitches, the watch is the disappointment from Apple in ages — which is why it continues to make headlines months after its release and descending sales figures. Scare all your Apple-loving friends by dressing as a giant version of this embarrassment.
U.S. Women’s Soccer Team
America earned a major international win when the U.S. women’s soccer team brought home the championship from the 2015 FIFA World Cup. For female athletes everywhere, this was a monumental victory which brought attention to the excitement and fun of women’s sports, which is typically ignored for misconceptions of weakness. You can dress up as Team U.S.A.’s star players (Hope Solo, Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, and others) or get a group together to form the whole team.
Indominus Rex
This year’s biggest movie was “Jurassic World,” the long-awaited reboot of beloved dinosaur flick “Jurassic Park.” The summer blockbuster introduced the world to the fictitious (but nonetheless frightening) Indominus rex, a manmade dinosaur with genetic modifications, including camouflage, thermal vision, and opposable thumbs. You can be indomitable this Halloween — as long as you promise to keep Chris Pratt alive for the sequel.
E-Cigarette
E-cig aficionados will argue that vaporizers have been around for decades, but no one can deny that tobacco-less cigarettes truly took off in 2015. Now, true smokers are nearly extinct, as more and more make the switch to customizable, tasty e-cigs. For extra irony, you could vape on electronic cigarettes while you are in costume as one.
Ashley Madison List
When well-known extramarital affair website Ashley Madison was hacked a few months ago, the liars and cheaters of the world panicked. You can pull a Halloween prank by masquerading as the list of Ashley Madison users, placing the names of your friends in plain sight. Or you can dress as Josh Duggar, who showed up on the infamous Ashley Madison list.
Google Car
As technologically advanced as the autonomous Google Car is, it sure looks funny. With wide, eye-like headlights and a silly grin, these vehicles could easily be straight out of a Pixar film. You can pretend to be a passenger in the driverless car, or you can dress up like the car itself and take people on rides around the neighborhood, since that’s all Google will allow until the car’s true release in 2020.
Miley Cyrus
Plenty of people prefer to imagine Miley Cyrus as the stable, sane Hannah Montana, but at the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Miley demonstrated that she has no wish to be any form of normal. Slipping a nipple, mimicking breastfeeding, using racial slurs, and more, Miley wants to get tongues wagging. This Halloween, you can dress up in any of Miley’s revealing VMA outfits — if you dare.
Ghost of Cecil the Lion
Poaching is still a significant problem in Africa — a fact most Americans only learned after a famously beloved lion was killed, beheaded, and skinned by one of our own. Cecil the Lion (and his hunter, Walter Palmer) made headlines this year, and you can bring new life to the debate by donning his likeness this October 31.
Donald Trump image by Gage Skidmore from Flickr.
Google car image by smoothgroover22 from Flickr.
