This year’s Halloween costumes did not disappoint. Although there was an overwhelming amount of vampires, firefighters, and western couple costumes, I did observe several new costumes that were both creative and original that exceeded my expectations. I will be conducting a thorough analysis of the best and worst costumes presented at the many Halloweekend celebrations this year.

Let’s start strong with the iconic couple costume of Harley Quinn and the Joker by Lily Hutson and Tate Brown. This costume was perfect. The red and black outfit coordination for Harley Quinn was outstanding, between the glamorous red corset, black choker, and red and black gloves and leg warmers, not to mention the classic baseball bat prop. Although I did notice several Joker costumes this year, none of them compared to Tate’s villainous makeup that imitated the Joker exactly. Tate was very scary. The dyed green hair and horrific makeup was the perfect match for his sidekick, Harley Quinn, although his suit could be improved by modeling the original purple and green or red and yellow outfit.

Overall Costume Rating: 9/10

Next up, we have Mrs. Grayson and Mrs. Roop! Mrs. Grayson dressed as a tacky tourist, and Mrs. Roop dressed as Queen Elizabeth! These costumes were both clever, creative, and strongly executed, and they were definitely in the top ranks for teacher costumes. When I walked into school on Monday, I was convinced that Queen Elizabeth had risen from the dead. Mrs. Roop’s dedication to the costume couldn’t have been more apparent. From covering her face in white makeup and wearing a curly gray wig topped with a shiny tiara, layers of pearls, crisp white gloves, a decadent blue cloak, and a makeshift black Launer handbag, Mrs. Roop nailed the Queen’s unprecedented appearance.  After seeing Mrs. Grayson’s tacky tourist costume, I was sure we were in Hawaii.  The creative Hawaiian shirt along with the sunglasses and bucket hat mastered the typical appearance of a tourist vacationing through the tropics.  

Mrs. Roop’s Costume Rating: 11/10

Mrs. Grayson’s Costume Rating: 10/10

Furthermore, there were several food-based costumes that were spotted, beginning with the classic hot dog costume.  If I’m being brutally honest, this costume is very basic, but also a pretty ambitious choice to wear to school.  You can never go wrong with a classic hotdog costume.  The hotdog was not alone, as an oversized cheeseburger was also treading through the AMHS halls.  I will give this one more props over the hotdog mainly because I’m a bigger fan of cheeseburgers, but still a pretty basic choice.  

Hotdog Costume Rating: 5/10

Hamburger Costume Rating: 6/10

Next we have Madelyn Hall’s Lady Gaga costume.  This outfit really made me feel like we had gone back in time about 10 years, experiencing Lady Gaga in her popstar prime.  The whig and dress perfectly matched what we would expect to see from a Lady Gaga appearance, I almost couldn’t tell the difference.  The blood was an additional touch that was definitely needed and fit the spooky halloween theme to perfection.  This touch to the costume is one of the reasons I rate this outfit so high.

Overall Costume Rating: 9.5/10

Another costume that served as a personal favorite was the Scream inspired mask and cape.  This costume genuinely freaked me out as soon as it caught my eye.  Even though I have never been a big fan of anything horror related, I have to admit that the creativity and effort devoted to this costume increases its ranking on my list. 

Overall Costume Rating: 8/10

Onto Mateu Bordas’ Joker inspired costume.  While this one was not “spot on” as Tate’s, some of the details and color coordination demonstrated utmost effort and dedication, along with a strong intent to win the Magnet costume contest by presenting the character imitation as school.  This costume definitely turned lots of heads including my own, causing me to rank this one in the top 5, along with the Scream inspired outfit.  

Overall Costume Rating: 8.5/10

Next up we have Alan and Riley’s wild west themed costume.  The sheriff and the cowboy were pretty superb choices, but I think Riley could have put in more effort while dressing as a sheriff, such as by adding a hat or badge.  Alan’s choice of the flannel and cowboy hat was awfully basic for the competition, as he could’ve been much more creative and thrown in a bandana, a lasso, or a stick-on mustache to help decipher from his everyday style. As previously stated, there was an abundance of western-themed costumes throughout the weekend, so this could have been greatly improved or changed entirely for additional originality. 

Overall Costume Rating: 5/10  

Saving the most anticipated and amusing costume for last, I present Officer Watson’s dinosaur costume.  The tyrannosaurus rex was especially great because it was seen by almost everyone who entered the school on Monday morning. This costume was successful in putting a smile on each student’s face because no one was quite expecting to see a large, jolly dinosaur at 8:30am.  I honestly thought it was Mr. McCormick at first because of his signature unicorn costume that was worn in recent years. Thankfully, Officer Watson saved the day by making up for Mr. McCormick’s lack of Halloween spirit and revealing himself as the mystery man underneath the iconic dinosaur costume.  

Overall Costume Rating: 10/10

In retrospect, I am pretty impressed with most of the Halloween costumes presented this year, but I would say there is definitely room for improvement next year. Now it’s time for Christmas!

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Trunk or treat!