Halloween is less than a month away, so it’s time to figure out your costume. Whether you are going to parties, hanging out with friends or attending events on campus, there are a lot of options to choose from, and figuring out what or who you want to be can be a headache. Luckily, I have compiled a comprehensive list of options for any and all Halloween plans.

Easy DIY options with no sewing, gluing and (hopefully) no spending:

1. A ghost. If you have only a white sheet and scissors, this is an easy option to put together. All you need is a white sheet and some scissors to cut holes for the eyes. If you want to spice it up, you can cut a lot of holes and pay homage to Charlie Brown—or call it Swiss cheese.
2. A style shake-up. If you want to be something different, but don’t like traditional costumes or want to avoid buying one, put together different pieces of clothing from your closet or a roommate’s with a different style. You can go from preppy to goth, from dark and mysterious to bright and bubbly or whatever change you’d like. This can allow you to play with different makeup looks while wearing those old pieces of clothing in your closet that you normally never wear.
3. Frat boy. It can be fun to mess around with gender roles and play with the “frat boy” stereotype. This look is complete with backward baseball caps, Sharpie-style facial hair, baggy shirts and tanks, low-rise pants, drawn-on six-packs and of course, fake “frat boy” names.
4. Teacher. Have some fun and dress up as your favorite—or least favorite—teacher or administrator on campus. You could even use some of the costumes multiple times and change the accessories or shoes for different days. A week’s worth of teacher costumes, anyone?

Movies:

1. “Barbie.” This can mean dressing up as Margot Robbie’s iconic Barbie, Ryan Gosling’s Ken or any of your other favorite characters from the film.
2. “Oppenheimer.” To look like J. Robert Oppenheimer, all you need is a suit, a fedora and maybe a fake cigarette.
3. “Spy Kids.” Whether you like the new version or the original, put on sleek black clothes and sunglasses to look like a spy from the “Spy Kids” movies. You can take it a step further and wear something from a later movie too, like the yellow robot suit.
4. “The Nun II.” White face paint and maybe cool accent makeup can sell this look along with the nun costume itself.
5. “Blue Beetle.” This costume is super cool, but maybe a little hard to find or make. To start, you are going to want to put glow light accents on a black and navy suit. Beetle arms are the hardest part of the costume to figure out—styrofoam or wire can help you with that, or you can try to make them out of foam and suspend them.
6. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.” For this one you will need either a turtle mask or green face paint, a colored eye mask and some way to make your body look like a turtle. This could be pillows or a hollow shell, or something from a costume store.
7. “Spider-Man.” Whether you like the animated version with Miles Morales or any of the live-action movies, it is always fun to dress up like your favorite superhero, villain or supporting character.

TV shows:

1. “Only Murders in the Building.” This can be a fun costume idea for a trio, where you dress up like the three main characters and have fun making a mystery out of the night.
2. “American Horror Story”/”Supernatural.” Pick your favorite mythical creature or heroine from one of these shows and carry around salt, a book of monsters and some silver just in case.
3. “The Bear.” Dressing up like an animal, whether it be a real one or a sexy one, can be interesting—or you can just dress up like the people in this TV show.
4. Anime. Whether you like “My Hero Academia,” “One-Punch Man,” dressing up like anime characters is a lot of fun, especially when you are around people who have no idea who you are.

Couples:

1. Barbie and Ken. You can do a couple’s costume, or even an “it’s complicated” costume.
2. “Monster High” dolls. These are the scariest dolls on the market. You can play around with the established couples from this brand, and complete the look with intricate makeup.
3. Salt and Pepper. Cheesy, but a classic.
4. Superman and Wonder Woman. Similar to Spider-Man, superhero couples are always a good idea.

Friend groups:

1. Barbies. You and your friends could be any notable Barbies from the past or characters in any Barbie movie—not just the 2023 version.
2. Dolls in general. There are a lot of fun things you could do with “Bratz” dolls, “Monster High” characters or any other doll brand. You will stand out amongst the Barbies in the crowd, while still playing around with childhood favorites.
3. 1980s. Dressing up in a different era’s clothes can be a lot of fun, especially with a big group. The 1980s teen movie aesthetic is a great place to start, but some other good ones are the 1950s and the 1920s.
4. “Bottoms.” This movie has a large ensemble cast, making it another perfect costume for a friend group.
5. Mario/”Mario Kart.” Pick your go-to character and dress like them. You could even host a race with fake items.
6. Pirates. Enjoy talking like a pirate and wearing sea dog clothes.
7. “Sailor Moon”/”Winx Club.” With a little creativity, your favorite magical team can be a great costume for you and your friends.
8. Renaissance. You can pick a favorite time period or even dress as historical figures to make your costume just a little “smarter” than your average Halloween-goer.
9. “Mean Girls.” Choose your favorite group or duo from the movie and make a statement with any of its iconic outfits. You CAN wear pink on Fridays.

Hopefully, you get some ideas or even choose a costume—or two—from our lovely list. If nothing here stands out to you, hopefully this list can function as a jumping-off point for your own costume ideas.

Be creative, and have fun!