My whole Halloween plan this year is a hoodie with ears on it, and I’m counting that as a win. Then I see what other parents pull off and I have to sit down. Somewhere a dad is up at 2 a.m. spray-painting his kid green, and he is thrilled about it. With trick-or-treat a few days out, these funny kids halloween costumes are proof that effort is optional, but wow, look at it.
Dad has been waiting his whole life for a legal reason to wear this.
Dinner is getting a little too confident.
Forty-seven is a lifestyle, not a number.
The fist is the costume. Everything else is accessories.
Somebody's dad lost a month of weekends and gained a legend.
The baby carries the whole pun.
She was told to pick one. She declined.
Nothing says trick-or-treat like the bottom of the ocean ringing your doorbell.
Tiny orphan, enormous confidence.
Finally, a kid who knows what's actually on top of the pole.
Footlong, with a pacifier.
The neighbors still can't explain what they saw.
The homemade halloween costumes are the ones that genuinely scare me, and not in the spooky way. Somebody built working tentacle arms. Somebody turned a kid into a glowing deep sea fish with a lure that lights up. I once hot-glued cotton balls to a sweatshirt to make a sheep, and the glue lasted until the end of the driveway, so I’m in no position to judge, only to clap.
Then there are the baby halloween costumes, where the baby has zero say and is having the best night of their life anyway. A newborn wrapped up as a sub sandwich does not know it’s a sandwich. That’s the beauty. And family halloween costumes are a whole separate sport, where Dad finally wears the outfit he’s wanted for years and swears it was the kid’s idea.
What I love about all of this is that nobody’s really doing it for the candy. The candy is the excuse. A kid says “I want to be the thing on top of a power pole,” and instead of laughing, some parent says “okay, let’s figure it out.” That’s love, measured in cardboard, spray paint and one missed night of sleep.
The glue is drying. The wings are crooked. The kid is thrilled.
Still hunting for an idea before the doorbell starts ringing? 40 Creative Halloween Costumes That Will Make Your Idea Look Like Crap has grown-up versions that will humble you all over again, and Bootleg Halloween Costumes Are Proof That a Lawyer Read the Box and a Child Did Not covers the other end of the effort scale. Both pair nicely with stolen candy.
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Phil co-founded Thunder Dungeon with Roy in 2012 and has been a meme tastemaker ever since, helping turn a page of funny finds into viral photo and video creations, one of the largest meme community apps and a daily home for memes. He's more than memes, too: Phil is an award-winning comedic actor and director whose feature films are on streaming platforms.
