Best Last-Minute Halloween Costume Ideas for 2022

Another year, another list of costume ideas for the individual who needs a costume but is short on both money and time. Let’s get started:

Wordle

Wordle is a scrabble-like mobile word game where players have to guess a daily 5-letter word in 6 turns or less.

I was obsessed with this game at the start of 2022, but I had to force myself to stop playing so that I could keep my undefeated streak. (I swear by the strategy of using HEART as my first guess) .

If you’re partying or trick-or-treating as a crew, get five of your best buddies to color wear a box coloured either yellow, green or grey. Bonus points for selecting a difficult word and forcing others to guess (remember SHIRE? *shudders*)

Chris Rock at the 94th Academy Awards

For about a week after the Oscars, the slap heard ‘round the world was all anyone would talk about.

To recreate this costume, dust off your black suit and tie and draw a red, hand-shaped mark across the cheek. Complete the look by making some really tepid, G.I. Jane -related jokes and running in sheer terror if anyone makes a mention of Will Smith.

Monkeypox

While the pandemic appears to be winding down, the threat of monkeypox in the earlier half of 2022 kept a lot of hypochondriacs on their toes, preparing for the worst.

Why not embrace that which you fear and embody this unsightly yet uncommon virus? Go the literal route and dress as a monkey with dots on your face resembling chickenpox.

Random DALL-E Generations

2022 was the year that AI-generated art took the Internet by storm. Sites like DALL-E showed the immense possibility of AI and created some wacky imagery, some of which have the potential to be some pretty unique costume ideas. A few of the best:

Hulk Hogan elected as the new Pope

Gollum signs for Arsenal

Eddie from STRANGER THINGS

If you haven’t yet watched Season 4 of Stranger Things on Netflix, seriously, what’s wrong with you?

This season brought us one of the best and most charismatic characters in the entire series, Dungeons & Dragons DM metalhead Eddie Munson.

Thankfully, such an awesome character has an incredibly low-impact costume; simply abstain from cutting your hair, slap on a jean jacket and a Hellfire Club t-shirt and you’re good to go. Move over, Eleven.

Pink Sauce and Nyquil Chicken

2022 was the year social media platform TikTok graced the world with some of the most nauseating culinary abominations known to mankind.

Two such examples would make a great couple outfit, or you choose one of the horrible concoctions for a solo costume.

Pink Sauce was created by a woman in Florida (need I say more?). A ranch-like concoction that got its Pepto-Bismol hue from the addition of pitaya (aka dragonfruit), this unique condiment dominated the news waves not just for its colour, but for its potential to make curious buyers allegedly very ill.

Pro-tip: poorly packaged foodstuffs containing dairy that are shipped halfway across the country during record-breaking summer heat might not bode well for safe human consumption.

Anyway, a fairly easy costume to pull off: wear all the pink clothing you own, and bonus points for authenticity if you can affix the erroneous nutritional facts table indicating 444 servings per container.

Nyquil Chicken feels like a 4chan troll post gone horribly, irresponsibly wrong. This trend became so prevalent the FDA had to publicly go on record to tell people to not recreate the recipe lest they do serious, irreparable harm to their bodies. This is why the aliens won’t visit us, folks.

Conceptually, a bit more difficult to pull off, go for a dark green colour scheme with your outfit choice (or red if you prefer cherry-flavoured Nyquil) and combine it with a chicken suit or a chicken head mask. It’s not so much the presentation that matters here, but the execution of the concept. The key — like with poultry and cold medicine — is to egregiously clash.

Madisynn and Wongers from SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW

Finally, another costume idea inspired by one of this year’s TV obsessions. The team-up of Madisynn and Wong (or Wongers, as he liked to be called) became the unexpected smash hit of SHE-HULK: ATTORNEY AT LAW.

One half of the duo dons some robes (shaving the head is optional), while the other half should wear their most skank-tastic dress and constantly spell out their name in a singsong voice (“it’s like Pennsylvania without the Pen, but the other n is 🎶not where you think….🎶”)

Martha Stewart Hawking Disposable Coffee Cups (WITH Sexy Results!)

And finally, if you’re looking for something classy and sexy, you can recreate Martha’s Stewart look from her promo for her Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Pumpkin Spice Latte. All you need is a mug, an apron…and not much else.

Here’s hoping you all have an amazingly safe and spooky Halloween season, and for the love of God, watch HOCUS POCUS 2 — let’s show Disney that we want an HCPCU!

Sylvie is a dual American/Canadian citizen living in Toronto, Canada. She has written for numerous sites, including Screen Rant, The Spool and Midnight & Indigo. Sylvie is currently writing her first YA novel; follow her writing journey at https://sylviesoul.com and @sylvsoulwriter on Twitter.