Is this meme dead yet? No, because according to the Internet, Harambe never dies. This one is ridiculously easy to pull off as a costume: wear a gorilla suit and carry around a small child doll. (Yommon22/Wikimedia, Creative Commons)
2016, so far, has been an interesting year.
That is to say, the majority of us want it to be over as soon as humanly possible.
Of course, there is an advantage to living through the so-called Year of Weird, and that’s the fact that the Halloween costumes are going to be entertaining, to say the least. So, here are my predictions for Halloween 2016. Knowing how this year has been, by the time this article’s been published, some new and ridiculous thing will have happened that will overshadow everything else. But I’ll try anyways.
Presidential Candidates
This is a given for any Halloween right before an election. And what’s scarier than seeing the soulless eyes of a masked Trump or Hillary on the night of your Halloween party? Oh, wait. You just left the TV on to debate coverage. Yikes, they actually look like that?
In any case, expect at least a few doppelgangers roaming the streets. Extra points if they get into a fistfight.
Harambe
Is this meme dead yet? No, because according to the Internet, Harambe never dies. This one is ridiculously easy to pull off as a costume: wear a gorilla suit and carry around a small child doll. If I am right about how twisted the world is, there will be at least one person dressed as the sexy version.
Super Heroes
“Captain America: Civil War” just came out. So did “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice”. Now is the time for people to don their capes, pull on their masks and argue over whether they really needed to reboot “Spider-Man” for the third time. But cosplay has never been easier now.
Harley Quinn
I am including this category separately because Harley Quinn is technically a villain, and the sheer volume of Harleys you will see on Halloween will probably outweigh the number of regular old standard comic book characters. With the popularity of “Suicide Squad,” there will most likely be an overabundance of Harleys, as well as a disproportionately large amount of pre-teen girls wearing this costume, for some reason. The real fun comes the morning after, though, when you see who used the cheap hair color dye that doesn’t wash out easily.
Deadpool
“Deadpool” technically wasn’t a superhero movie, either, if you’d listen to Ryan Reynolds say it. That, and with so many Deadpool cosplayers taking over various comic conventions, it’s only logical that they spill over into the real world and wreak havoc, now that the movie has made the character mainstream.
Minion
Despite your wishing, the popular and obnoxious little sidekicks that your aunt/neighbor/family friend won’t stop posting on Facebook will most likely be back this Halloween season to terrorize you and your family. Unfortunately, they will probably keep being popular as long as Universal Pictures keeps releasing sequels, which will most likely be forever.
Ghostbusters
As controversial as the reboot was, the franchise is still a Halloween classic, now with the canonical availability to ladies with the release of the 2016 movie. As much as people may try and politicize it, it’s still fun to strap on a proton pack, get yourself a Twinkie and kick some ghost butt.
Stranger Things Character
This show was a massive hit over the summer. Even if you didn’t binge-watch it, you’re probably still aware of its existence. Expect that one bald weird guy you know to dress up as Millie Bobby Brown’s character. He thinks it’s hilarious. Just go along with it.
Star Wars Characters
Since “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” was released in December, the movie finally has a chance to shine on the Halloween stage. Kylo Ren fans out there should be fine, but I feel very sorry for all the people dressing up as Rey; it’s probably going to be cold this year. Try Chewbacca instead, people. Wookie fur is a great insulator.
Dead Celebrities
This is one of the things that really sucked about 2016. Though, at least, if you go down this route you have plenty to choose from. The Goblin King, Willy Wonka, Prince, Snape. Now I’m sad again.
Clowns
As ill-advised as this is, someone’s going to try it anyways. Whether this will cause a mass panic is unknown to me, though I really don’t recommend lurking around North Graveyard on Halloween, unless you enjoy being chased by a mob wielding hockey sticks.
Torrey Life Sciences Squirrel
OK, I don’t think this will actually be a costume. Everyone, however, remembers the brave rodent that perished in the name of giving us students some additional procrastination time during midterm season. If anyone actually dresses up as this, singed fur and all, I will give you infinite kudos.
Anything I missed? Did anyone actually dress up as any of these? If you did, send me a picture and I’ll post it on Twitter.
Have a happy and safe Halloween everyone!
Marlese Lessing is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. She can be reached via email at marlese.lessing@uconn.edu. She tweets @marlese_lessing
