Frightgeist Presents 2016's Most Popular Halloween Costume Searches

Article by George Norman (Cybersecurity Editor)

on 28 Oct 2016

Last year, Google introduced Frightgeist, a Google Trends Halloween Hub that presented 2015’s most popular Halloween costume searches.

This year, Google updated Frightgeist to once again present Halloween’s most popular costumes. Things haven’t changed, not when it comes to the top spots on the list.

Superhero remains at #3, just like in 2015. Star Wars dropped to #8, being replaced by Joker at #2. And the #1 trending costume nationwide is… Harley Quinn, just like the year before.

Frightgeist 2016 – Top 10 Trending Costumes Nationwide
  1. Harley Quinn
  2. Joker
  3. Superhero
  4. Pirate
  5. Wonder Woman
  6. Witch
  7. Batman
  8. Star Wars
  9. Clown
  10. Dinosaur


Harley Quinn is popular on YouTube as well. Last year, she came in 8th on the list of most-searched costumes. This year, she came in 2nd.

Top 10 Most-searched Costumes on YouTube 2016
  1. Stick Figure
  2. Harley Quinn
  3. T-Rex
  4. Overwatch
  5. The Purge
  6. Clown
  7. Dive Nights at Freddy’s
  8. Deadpool
  9. Unicorn
  10. Mermaid


It’s worth noting that clown costumes have never made it into the top 10 most-searched costumes on YouTube. The fact that they made it into the top, is undoubtedly related to the increase in clown sightings and the increase in clown-related content on YouTube.

"YouTubers have been uploading footage of solitary clowns frightening passersby in droves, and as news of these unnerving encounters has spread, so have views of clown-related videos," says YouTube Trends. "Although bizarre clown sightings are reported as far back as 2014, their sharp increase only goes back to late August this year. The real peak, however, occurred on October 15th, after hundreds of news stories."


Top 5 Trending Couple Costumes Nationwide
  1. Purge couple costumes
  2. Bonnie and Clyde
  3. Grease couple costumes
  4. Vampire couple costumes
  5. 80's couple costumes



Top 5 Trending Halloween Sweets Nationwide
  1. Candy corn
  2. Halloween chocolate covered pretzels
  3. Halloween donuts with teeth
  4. Halloween M&M's
  5. Halloween chocolate covered strawberries



Top 5 Trending Dog Costumes Nationwide
  1. Spider
  2. Ewok
  3. Lion
  4. Chewbacca
  5. Pumpkin



Don't know what to wear on Halloween?

Frightgeist has a Costume Wizard. Pick a spookiness and uniqueness level, choose if you want something classic or something modern, and the wizard will bring up a costume suggestion.



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