When we think of horrifying, we imagine ghouls, beasts and other devilish creatures, but in reality there is nothing spookier than having a basic costume! As Halloween approaches, students reveal the most overrated costumes that horrifies them.

Despite Oct. 31 being a great escape from the mundane — the one day where slathering yourself in paint or wearing an extravagant outfit is socially acceptable — too many people seem to put in no effort. We have all seen a black cat costume or a horrifying amount of Avengers parading the streets on Halloween. And every year on this holiday, the worlds is flooded with repeats of the same trending characters or the same basic monsters that have existed for years. Just in time for Oct. 31, The Mercury decided to take a tour of the most overdone and overrated costumes so our readers know what to avoid.

Malia Camacho, a senior majoring in sociology, mentioned that overrated costumes can have an impact on the celebration of Halloween.

“You don’t have to be super creative or crafty or have the money for a cool costume,” Camacho said. “But when someone doesn’t even try to put effort in, especially at events where the theme is costume party, then it’s disheartening.”

Costumes inspired by shows and movies are not new, and often the trendiest costumes will arise from recent media. Everyone remembers when an annoying amount of Harley Quinns and Jokers were running rampant at every Halloween event, and with this year’s pop culture movie craze, the costume potential is high.

“I think it’s going to be something Barbie or Oppenheimer-related,” Sethia said. “I think Barbie is going to be more popular.”

Many costume shops, such as Spirit Halloween, are already selling some of Margo Robbie’s most iconic fits from Barbie, from her pink cowboy look to her gingham A-line dress. The movie also presents a variety of different Barbies and Kens, giving people more opportunities to opt out of an overrated costume.

“Costumes are fun because a lot of them may relate to your favorite movie/TV show, and having that connection with a complete stranger is always a great thing,” Vyom Sethia, a computer science sophomore, said.

Sethia said he finds devils and angels the most overrated rated, though the former is usually used by men and the latter by women. Pratham Shah, a computer science freshman, shed some light on why students have grown tired of the devil/angel dichotomy.

“Everyone does it,” Shah said. “There’s nothing new about it or unique.”

The Mercury conducted a poll on students’ opinions of the most overrated Halloween costumes; nine out of 48 respondents mentioned that the most overrated Halloween costumes were those that were “sexy,” “skimpy” or “slutty.” Other respondents mentioned common trends from the year, including Harley Quinn, Wednesday Addams and Fortnite.

“Sexy nurse, sexy cat kinda thing, or pirates,” Jay Miles, a literature senior, said.

“Harley Quinn and Joker; it’s overdone … if you want to be hot at least be creative,” one respondent said.

While repetitive costumes can be an annoyance, many students don’t even attempt to find a costume due to the high prices and inconvenience of the holiday being in the middle of the school week.

“Not dressing up [is overrated],” Camacho said. “I think any motivation to put any costume together is amazing and I can respect that. It’s when you don’t even try at all or are too scared to try.”

Certain Halloween costumes may receive criticism for being too mainstream or simple, but not every student has the resources to go out and buy expensive costumes or have the time to create an elaborate creation of a costume for a single holiday.

“People can get lazy with costumes, and I don’t fault it!” Camacho said. “We’re all busy and stressed. I’d rather see a boring last-minute costume than no costume at all! I have to respect that someone tried, especially if it’s out of their comfort zone to do so.”

The Mercury’s poll reflected that overrated costumes can make Halloween a boring holiday due to the lack of originality of costumes. A student even said that boring or overrated costumes “lower the standard” of Halloween.

“The whole point of Halloween is to display creativity and let people know what interests we have outside our normal daily lives,” Mile said. “It’s okay to be weird on Halloween!”