The best Halloween costume trends for 2026, and everything you need to pull them off

From 'The Traitors' finale to Miranda Priestly's white bob, these are the pop culture-inspired looks you'll likely see this year

For most people, sweater weather signals the start of fall. For the Spooky season lovers out there, however, it means one thing: Planning the perfect Halloween costume. As luck would have it, October 31 lands on a Saturday, which is great if you're throwing a party and worse if you're hoping to get by with cat ears. Not everyone is crafty, and you may not want to spend $100 on something you'll wear once. Luckily, 2026 gave you far more options to choose from. Spider-Man returned to the big screen, Christopher Nolan made The Odyssey, Bad Bunny played the Super Bowl halftime show (which just won seven Emmys, a record for a halftime show) and the Scooby-Doo gang is coming to Netflix. Plus, Nikki's party outfit from Obsession is already all over TikTok.

Searches for Halloween costume ideas are up 220% over the past three months, but the 31st is still about five weeks away, so there's no need to panic-buy. Below are the 10 costumes worth planning for, along with how to put each one together. Most start with clothes you already own, so you're buying only the one or two pieces that make it obvious who you're supposed to be. (And if you need a costume for the dog, we handle that separately.)

Nikki from Obsession

Nikki's party look in Obsession.

Obsession was the horror hit nobody saw coming: 94% on Rotten Tomatoes, half a billion at the box office and a premise built around one wish that goes catastrophically wrong. The costume boards are already going up, which almost never happens this early.

The look is what Nikki Freeman, the unwilling object of Bear's wish, wears to the party: red-and-black animal print, black leather shorts, knee-high boots and whatever silver necklace you already own. Costume designer Blair James built it to clash with everything else Nikki wears, tailored around what Bear wants rather than anything she'd choose. She's since posted her own tutorial for it. Add a little fake blood and people will clock it immediately. (The exact top is from Princess Polly, currently available for preorder.)

Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada

Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada.

Twenty years on, The Devil Wears Prada finally got a sequel, and Molly Rogers, who took the costumes over from Patricia Field, even puts Miranda in sneakers at one point. Nobody is dressing as that.

What stuck in pop culture is her entrance, arriving at Runway and dropping her coat on the nearest desk. Start with the wig: a sharp silver bob makes the whole costume, and nothing else works without it. Then a purple dress, a black faux-fur coat and oversized black sunglasses. Sheer tights and black gloves you probably have. Carry a marked-up magazine and end every conversation with "that's all."

If someone's coming as Andy Sachs, that's a blue cable-knit sweater and a blunt set of bangs — and yes, it should be cerulean.

Rob & Maura, The Traitors

Rob and Maura in The Traitors.

Maura Higgins closed The Traitors finale in head-to-toe latex: a dress, gloves and a beret, plus sleek hair and a smoky eye. Rob Rausch won the whole thing in the light-blue Dickies overalls he'd worn all season.

This duo costume is all about contrast. One of you goes full glamour, the other looks like they came to fix a deck. His half is easy: overalls, a silver chain and a white tank (if you want one). The snake tattoos are the detail people will recognize: buy temporary ones, or just draw them on with liquid eyeliner.

Rausch spent some of the winnings on a $16,000 Birkin for her, which is probably the most expensive apology in reality TV history.

Athena & Odysseus, The Odyssey

Matt Damon and Zendaya in The Odyssey.

Leave the gold laurel crown at home. Nolan shot The Odyssey entirely on IMAX film cameras, and his Greece is dark leather, dull bronze and a lot of dirt.

Zendaya's Athena is the one exception and the easiest costume in this story: off-white hooded linen and nothing else. Costume designer Ellen Mirojnick stuck to period-accurate materials, telling W magazine that the linen made Zendaya feel "100% as if she was a real person" rather than a goddess. A sleeveless linen maxi and a cream shawl pulled over your head is the entire look.

If you'd rather be Odysseus, Matt Damon's look is weathered leather armor, a red-crested helmet and a draped cloak over black trousers. Add a leather kilt and a fake bow if you want to go all out.

Dean & Allie (as JLo and Maverick), Off Campus

Allie and Dean's Halloween costumes in Off Campus.

JLo's green Versace dress is the reason Google Images exists, according to former CEO Eric Schmidt. She wore it to the 2000 Grammys, and it became the most-searched query the company had ever seen. Off Campus, Prime Video's new hockey-romance series, hands you that like a couple's costume. Allie Hayes turns up to the season's Halloween party as JLo and immediately has Dean Di Laurentis' full attention. He's come as Maverick from Top Gun.

Ready to dance the night away? Find a palm or jungle print, add the biggest gold hoops you can find and strappy heels you already own will finish it. For Maverick, spend $14 on the Top Gun patch set — an olive flight suit without patches is just a coverall.

Michael Jackson in Thriller

The Thriller costume in Michael.

The biopic Michael put the red leather suit back in circulation this year, and fans were moonwalking in the aisles on opening weekend. Most people recreate it as a jacket plus whatever trousers they already own, but the real look is fully monochromatic and the pants are what separates it from a guy in a red jacket.

The chevrons on the jacket are worth matching if you can find them, though black duct tape will get you close enough if you already own something red. Wear red pants rather than black, add white socks and black loafers, and you're there. A little grey-green cream with some shadow under the eyes will take you into the zombie half of the video if you want it.

Mystery Inc.

The Mystery Inc. gang from Scooby-Doo.

Netflix revealed the first look at its live-action Scooby-Doo: Origins this summer, and for the first time in the franchise's history, Scooby is played by a real Great Dane puppy. The series doesn't arrive until 2027, but the gang is a perennial anyway, and the looks are ones you already know.

That makes this an easy group costume, since four people can pull it together without coordination. Velma needs an orange turtleneck, Daphne a purple dress, Shaggy a green tee and Fred really just needs the ascot.

The rest you can mostly improvise: a red pleated skirt and knee socks, purple tights and a headband, baggy brown pants, white sweater. Someone still has to be Scooby, which is a conversation for the group.

Spider-Man & MJ

Spider-Man and MJ in No Way Home.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is the highest-grossing movie of the year, and the press tour was its own event. It was Tom Holland and Zendaya's first as a married couple, and, as usual, she themed nearly every red carpet look to the film.

The easier half of the costume is Spider-Man himself, and a hoodie-and-pants set is a lot more comfortable than the skintight version in the movie. The other is MJ's signature graphic tee and black denim from No Way Home, which means a black button-down over a white Joan of Arc tee, black skinny jeans and black sneakers. Converse are the accurate pick if you already own a pair.

Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl

Bad Bunny performs during the Super Bowl LX halftime show.

Bad Bunny played the Super Bowl halftime show in February, and his team built a whole field of real grass, sugar cane and plantains in the middle of the stadium, with 383 extras dressed as grass. What he wore was simpler than the set: an all-cream outfit including chinos, a button-down, a short jersey layered over it, gloves, sneakers and the headset mic that makes it a performance. His jersey was custom, featuring his mother's family name, Ocasio, and his late uncle's birth year, 1964. A plain, cropped tee and a set of iron-on letters will work fine.

The aliens from Toy Story

The aliens in Toy Story.

Toy Story never really leaves us. The fifth movie came out in June, and this time the threat isn't a rival toy but technology, in the form of a tablet. Bad Bunny also voices a character named Pizza with Sunglasses, which is worth knowing if you read the entry above this one.

The easiest way in is to skip the cowboy hats and go like the aliens. A blue long-sleeve tee, green leggings or joggers and a three-eyed headband is the whole costume, and it lands under $30. It works for a group of any size.