The 'It' Halloween costumes of 2019: Pennywise, Joker, Maleficent and more

If you want to know the Halloween costumes that will be popular in any given year, just take a look at what’s going on in pop culture. And think Hocus Pocus. Always Hocus Pocus.

At Spirit Halloween, which operates 1,300 seasonal stores across the country from August to November, there’s a team that’s constantly looking at movies, TV shows and games — even memes and emojis — to come up with ideas of what customers are going to want.

Sometimes the hot costumes of the season are unpredictable. Remember when Miley Cyrus infamously twerked onstage with Robin Thicke to his song “Blurred Lines” at the MTV Video Music Awards in Aug. 2013? Spirit Halloween offered a twerking Miley costume just two months later.

In 2019, though, the popular looks are coming from more expected places.

Here are some of them:

Creepy clowns

Thanks to the box office success of It Chapter Two and Joker, a lot of trick-or-treaters want to clown around this year.

Try either colorful, Joker-like threads (in dress or suit version) or an elaborate Pennywise costume.

The Sanderson Sisters

We told you. Just as the movie Hocus Pocus has become the It’s a Wonderful Life of Halloween, costumes based on the family film are staples.

Spirit Halloween offers home decor based on the Sarah Jessica Parker and Bette Midler classic, too, such as these dishcloths.

Maleficent

This month’s release of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil, starring Angelina Jolie, means that both the black dress and horned headpiece the Disney villain rocks are in high demand.

The Stranger Things gang

In Season 3, the Netflix show offered plenty of costume inspiration, including those embarrassing Scoops Ahoy uniforms and Eleven’s cool geometric romper.

The new classics

While vampires, Frankenstein and the like are still around, villains from the movies we watch every year around this time, such as Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger, have become favorites alongside them. Both Myers’s coveralls uniform, as depicted in Rob Zombie’s 2007 take on Halloween, and Krueger’s signature striped sweater are available.

Stars of Fortnite

The online video game is an obsession offline, too, so there are outfits to help you go as the Merry Marauder, the Skull Ranger or as many of the other bizarre characters.

The crew from The Office

You know, Dwight, Pam and... the hole punch. They’re not traditionally scary, but costumes based on the perennially popular mockumentary sitcom will go over as well as doughnuts for your co-workers on a Monday morning.

There’s always the option of wearing a cardboard box and going as a screen. Or, you know, Hocus Pocus.

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