Alicia Predicts… 2012’s Popular Halloween Costume Picks

Every year there are “sleeper hit” Halloween costumes that all randomly pop up at the same time, even if they aren’t topically relevant to pop culture right at that moment. For instance, for the past two years I’ve gone to the Silver Snail Halloween Party (which  GEEKPR0N is co-hosting this year) and last year I literally saw three Slap Chop Vince’s, four Patrick Bateman’s and two Shaun’s from Shaun of the Dead (one of which who was my good friend, Mitch).

I’ve decided to play a little game and try and predict what I think will be popular costume choices this year. For me to be correct, there has to be two or more of each costume at any event. I encourage anyone who is reading this and wants to participate to send me photographs of popular costume choices at their respective party venues! I will then post the results on GEEKPR0N and you can win….

The satisfaction of knowing that you participated and had fun! Yeah, yeah, yeah! And a few horror DVD’s just to spicen the pot up a bit. But really, I’ll be randomly selecting three people out of all participants to receive the prize packages so I hope everyone enters!

My Picks

10. Baby Doll from Sucker Punch

It is beyond me why anybody likes this shit excuse for a feature film. Sucker Punch is literally one of the worst feature films I’ve ever seen in theatres, let alone in Imax. I nearly walked out and demanded my money back halfway through the film. I could write an entire article on why I hate this movie, but that would require me having to watch it again and research talking points, so I’d rather just say “this movie sucks, don’t see it, it is super terrible” and leave it at that.

Baby Doll is portrayed by Emily Browning, who I actually really love. She starred in The Uninvited, the American adaptation of one of my favourite Korean horror films, A Tale of Two Sisters, and despite the fact that most American adaptations suck, I really enjoyed it.

Baby Doll is a “broken” character who is unlawfully sent to an asylum for girls after trying to protect her younger sister from her pedophile stepfather. While trying to shoot her stepfather, she ends up shooting her younger sister instead, giving her creep of a stepdad reason enough to have her locked up. That is about where the “story” of this film ends, unless you count a drug-induced romp around a steampunk universe with her asylum friends, trying to find “items” that can help them “escape” the asylum where they live. Except they think they are all sex workers and burlesque dancers because, you know… sex sells? I guess?

Baby Doll is a cute character and I have seen her “schoolgirl” outfit on female cosplayers at various conventions. I predict some seller on Amazon is going to make a lot of money off of girls wanting to dress up as her for Halloween. She’s cute, she’s blonde, she wears a steampunk-ish schoolgirl outfit, she has a katana; Baby Doll is a creepy brought-to-life anime character, so be prepared to see at least one halloween enthusiast dressed up as her.

9. Sailor Moon from… Sailor Moon, duh

All of us Sailor Moon fans are pretty through the roof right now, what with the manga being re-released and the shocking announcement that an animation team is taking another whack at the series, crafting a new animated spectacular for all us shoujo nuts to drool after. I feel like this will be a hot year for Sailor Moon Halloween costumes because not only is Usagi (Serena) already an iconic figure in pop culture, dressing up as her (and any other sailor senshi, really) is a pretty popular Halloween costume already.

Usagi is bubbly, blonde, clumsy and adorable. The anime kind of “dumbed her up” a little in comparison to the manga, but most Sailor Moon fans will admit they love both interpretations of their beloved Moon Princess. Usagi, when she is not Sailor Moon, is clumsy, loves food and is hopelessly lovestruck. Yet, when she transforms, the moment she needs to buckle down, she emerges as a strong, a kickass and a fiercely beautiful warrior who with the help of her friends and Tuxedo Mask, can destroy any foe.

Usagi’s outfit changes from season-to-season, but always remains the iconic school-girl fuku: sailor-style, cute boots and odango (bun) covers. Can’t forget her tiara, either!

8. Lara Croft from Tomb Raider

Two years ago a middle-aged woman dressed as Lara Croft tried to start a fight with me at the Halloween party I was attending. I bumped into her and apologized, and somehow that spiraled into her yelling at me, telling me that she could beat me up and me staring at her confused, telling her that I would love for her to try because I have to pay off my school bills somehow. Alcohol makes people a little bit loopsy, and I often wonder how much I would have to drink to effectively become violent and aggressive, so a part of me wants to ask said Lara Croft Halloween party atendee how much she had drank that night.

The new Tomb Raider comes out in 2013 and there has been a lot of (necessary) controversy this past year around a villain attempting to sexually assault Lara at one point in the game. But in all honestly, Lara Croft will always be a popular costume choice, especially among women. It’s an easy, cost effective costume to pull off: brown shorts, tank top and some strappy strap things that can probably be made out of belts.

The Tomb Raider canon has changed a multitude of times, so all you need to know about Lara is that she is an inquisitive, Indiana-Jones-style lady archaeologist and adventurer who you play as, searching for ancient relics and kicking ass along the way. The Tomb Raider series is lot of fun and Lara is a fun, easy costume. I bet you’ll see a lot of her this year!

7. Commander Shepard from Mass Effect

Shepard is a great costume because really, both men and women can portray the costume easily. Because Mass Effect allows complete character customization, you can have ten Shepard’s in one room together at Halloween and have all of them be racially diverse, portraying different Mass Effect classes and one gender won’t dominate the other one. Think of the possibilities!

Mass Effect 3 came out this past year and I’ve heard some chatter around the internet that many men and women alike are excited to dress up like their own portrayal of Shepard.

Mass Effects centers around you, Commander <Insert Name Here> Shepard, a human who is trying to save the universe from dark, mechanical beings known as the Reapers. You and your chosen team of followers will scour the universe completing quests, solving problems and ultimately trying to find a way to destroy the reapers before they destroy all of mankind and the rest of the universe. It’s a third-person shooter created by BioWare, a Canadian-founded company who also created Dragon Age, a fantasy roleplaying game with similar game mechanics to Mass Effect.

6. Ten (David Tennant) and Eleven (Matt Smith) from Doctor Who

I don’t even need to make a prediction about this one, nor do I feel like I even need to write anything. It’s just going to happen. For the past two years, every costume-related event has been filled with more Doctors than I can count on one hand. Dr. Who merchandise sells like hotcakes online and at various sci-fi conventions; every person and their mother owns a sonic screwdriver these days; the Canadian science fiction and fantasy channel, Space Channel, is jumping for joy ever since they bought the distribution rights for the series in Canada. D.r Who is a huge hit and will continue to be one.

The series centers around a time-traveling time lord, the last of his species, since he had an accidental hand in destroying the rest of the time lords. The Doctor is always a little wacky and kooky, but he always goes out of his way to help other species and people get themselves out of sticky problems. In reality, he just wants to travel around and have fun with his companions, but as we all know, nothing ever goes as planned when the Doctor and his Tardis arrives.

But there has literally been eleven doctors worth of canon, so if you expect me to get into all of it in a few paragraphs, you’re sorely mistaken.

5. Joker & Harley Quinn from Arkham City

I am going to just say it straight out of the gate: I love when people dress up as Harley and the Joker. They’re honestly the cutest couple costumes I can think of. I mean, it is kind of deranged that what gets my heart strings strumming is a homicidal psychopath and his brainwashed, loopsy sidekick/love interest, but I can’t help but love! It also doesn’t help that Harley is probably my favourite lady villain in the DC universe.

These two costumes, individually or together, are probably some of the most popular Halloween picks every year to begin with, but whenever a new Arkham game comes out, the amount of Joker’s and Harley’s I see at various Halloween events triples.

In this game, Arkham Asylum and Blackgate Penitentiary have been shut down, labeled as insufficient to control Gotham’s worst. The slums of Gotham are transformed into an open-air penitentiary facility, called Arkham City, by newly-appointed mayor and former Arkham Asylum warden, Quincy Sharp.

In this game, the Joker’s physical appearance is a little more “ravaged” than normal, due to his consumption of a serum called the “Titan formula”. I am expecting to see some grossly mutated Joker’s this year, as well as some two-toned dipped pig-tailed Harley’s. Harley’s design in Arkham City is about ten times better than the outfit she was given for Arkham Asylum. She is a little more “biker chic” and a little less “crazy kid playing nurse”.

4. Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games

Thanks to the Hunger Games, be prepared to see a horde of brunette braided bad-ass babes with bows lining the floors of every Halloween event. Katniss Everdeen is pretty damn awesome and thanks to her cool-demeanor, fresh-faced beauty and incredible strength, many women this year will gladly be stepping out in the night as the warrior woman who won the Hunger Games.

Katniss don’t need a man to make things happen: she successfully manipulates everyone around her (male and female alike; and yes, Peeta too) to her advantage. There is a possibility she can win as long as she proclaims love for Peeta, despite her actually not feeling that way? Done. What if Katniss doesn’t feel like exhausting herself in the games? She just sits up in a tree and lets most of the other contestants kill each other off. That’s how Katniss roles, and quite frankly, because of it she comes out on top.

Katniss’ costume is fairly easy to pull off and I’ve seen a lot of eBay sellers selling them on the cheap. Even if you don’t have a credit card to buy online… do you have a black shirt? Green khaki pants? A black jacket? Great, you’re already 90% of the way there!

3. Slenderman from A Something Awful Meme/Indie Video Game

It’s 2009; you’re a Something Awful goon trolling the message boards when you come across a thread: “Create Paranormal Images“! It’s a thread dedicating to trolling the rest of the internet with fabricated “supernatural” photos. Whoever can convince the most people online that their fabricated photos are real wins the interwebs! On there, you see something that terrifies you: user Victor Surge‘s Slenderman! A weird skinny tall dude with a white, featureless face who steals children! YEEAAUUGGHH!

In all honesty, I think Slenderman is a really stupid meme. I remember when it was created back in 2009. It was stupid then and it’s stupid now. There are people these days who genuinely believe it’s some sort of urban legend and the fact that they exist in reality annoys me even more. There is an indie video game recently made starring Slenderman that I have yet to play (it’s downloaded, though) although I doubt I will ever get around to playing it.

Slenderman is really big this year with the highschool Reddit-meme crowd. While I was working a booth at Fan Expo in Toronto this year, I saw around three Slenderman cosplayers, all of which were teenage boys. So chances are there will be a bunch of college-aged dudes doing their best “Slendy” this year.

Slenderman is an easy costume: be tall, own a suit and put a white stretchy bag thing over your head. DONE.

2. Heisenberg (aka: Walter White) from Breaking Bad

I only really started watching Breaking Bad this year, which was a mistake. I should have started from the beginning because I could have been fangirling about it all this time. I love Breaking Bad! It’s a perfect mix of drama and black comedy, which I love. The moment I committed myself to the show totally was the scene where Walter strolls into Jesse’s house, asking him if he bought the plastic tub necessary to dissolve the body of the dead drug dealer in hydrofluoric acid. Jesse says no, but that he just dissolved the body in the tub. Walt, knowing that the acid is a corrosive that will eat through anything other than plastic, looks up just in time to see the roof collapse, partially-dissolved body parts and guts falling all over the floor.

While Jesse Pinkman is probably my favourite character in the series, Walter is definitely a strongly identifiable “character”. He’s a bold, a direct, and a narcissistic asshole with a perchance for power and control. I love his “Heisenberg” hat and glasses because they are so dapper, yet don’t really match his school-teacher wardrobe.

Heisenberg is an easily identifiable character and I bet you anything you’ll see a lot of Walter White costumes this year.

1. Psy

“Gangnam Style” is the surprise pop hit of 2012. Psy, a veteran of K-Pop, shocked all of South Korea by going internationally viral with “Gangnam Style”, a cheeky club song. South Korean pop groups, such as Wonder Girls and 2NE1, have all attempted to break into the Western market with limited success. Psy, on the other hand, a “joke” of the Kpop universe, managed to break through with a bang, causing heads to turn. Thanks to “Gangnam Style” doing so well on YouTube and skyrocketing to the top of the Billboard Hot 100, Justin Bieber’s manager has snagged Psy, signing him onto his American label.

To quote Psy, while he was on the Ellen show, “Dress classy and dance cheesy!” That pretty much sums up his performance personality. Psy is an incredibly talented performer as well as a musician. He attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, which is a respected college for musicians, and has five studio albums and two EP’s released so far.

Also, thanks to “Gangnam Style”, he is an extremely recognizable personality. Be prepared to hear “Gangnam Style” at every Halloween party you attend and have fun dancing with all the Psy lookalikes that show up!