The Best Halloween Costumes For 2019

Halloween is like an annual cultural-reference test. You show up at a party dressed as your favorite character, or the creepiest character you encountered this year, or as a joke you find amusing. Part of you really wants to know if everyone relates to your sense of the macabre or humor.

Because if you get to the party — or the street where everyone goes trick-or-treating — dressed as the politician, movie character, game character, or whatever you find creepy and no one gets it, you might need new friends, right?

This year was full of creeps. So we rounded up the costumes we think are the best.

The Joker

There seems to be universal agreement that Joaquin Phoenix killed it as The Joker. If you really want to scare people, channel his chilling performance and put on this suit. You have to be skinny, haunted, manic, medicated, and absolutely mad, of course.

Phoenix lost more than 50 pounds to get the look and hungry mindset of that maniac interpretation of this unhinged criminal. But you don’t need to get an Academy Award or anything. It’s just a costume.

Derry Girls Skirt

The uniforms in Derry Girls are a big deal. Don’t try to get away with going to school in something else! But growing up in Northern Ireland in the 80s — during “the Troubles” — was scarier than most Halloween movies. So you could easily wear one of those uniforms as a costume and demonstrate not only your knowledge of recent history and amusing British comedies but also scare the c**p out of everyone. You will need a green blazer, baggy black socks, a green tie, and a white shirt. A cricket bat wouldn’t hurt the look either.

Zombieland 2 Double Tap Tallahassee Hat

Zombieland is back (Zombieland 2 Double Tap)! It’s just in time for Halloween and there is nothing more frightening than having to keep your sense of humor while the entire world has been overrun by brain-eating undead. You’ll need a good hat for that.

You will also need a bad-ass leather jacket (or a utility jacket, if you can’t abide leather), black combat boots,, and your weapon of choice because these Zombies have evolved!

Sharon Tate

The Haunting of Sharon Tate tells the terrifying story of actress Sharon Tate who was murdered by the Manson Family while she was eight months pregnant with Roman Polanski’s child. She had premonitions before it all happened. And then…well, then the Manson Family showed up. That’s a Halloween nightmare right there. (Even if the movie is a bit of a letdown.)

You will need a blond wig, for this costume, big brown eyes, an innocent expression, and a pregnant belly.

The Tethered from Us

If you are on a horror-film-watching binge in the lead-up to Halloween, don’t miss Us, starring the inimitable Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide who encounters her terrifying (And aggressive) doppelgänger in a fun house in Santa Cruz and is never the same. A costume from this film is so easy to replicate, it’s hard to understand why you wouldn’t.

Terrifying, comfortable, and easily aquired? These are the hallmarks of an excellent costume.

You will need this Us Costume Red Jumpsuit and little else. Though one brown glove and a pair of scissors would add to the look.

The Scoops Ahoy Uniform from Stranger Things

There was so much genius in the image of those kids running around in terror, fighting evil, while dressed in those absurd Scoops Ahoy uniforms. Wearing that same uniform for Halloween is our pick for the best Halloween costume possible this year.

You can’t have too many of them, either! There was an entire staff working at Scoops Ahoy and they all had to wear that costume.

Get one for everyone on your team!