Scary Stuff: Denver-Themed Halloween Costume Ideas for 2025

It can be daunting to come up with a creative Halloween costume, so many people fall back on the trusty old pieces in the back of their closet — we’re looking at you, cat ears, witch hats and character onesies.

But if you want to shine at Halloween get-togethers this year, you actually don’t have to look any further than the Mile High City itself, with its never-ending stream of icons, archetypes and inside jokes. Here are fifteen scary, sexy and stupid Denver-inspired costume ideas (most of them thrift-able) that are sure to earn you some laughs (or groans):

Beer
Crack open a cold one and then become one. As we know, beer is a huge part of Denver’s culture, with breweries all over the metro area, including Coors Brewery in Golden. Beer events happen nearly every weekend, and beer bros are one of Denver’s top resident archetypes. Plus, the beverages are sure to make an appearance at most Halloween parties you’ll go to. You are what you…drink.

Big Blue Bear
“I See What You Mean,” otherwise known as the Big Blue Bear, is an iconic piece of Denver public art depicting a bear looking into the Colorado Convention Center. A few weeks ago, the bear served as inspiration for Westword’s cover story on the best green chile in Denver. Why not put a Westword spin on your costume and bring green chile to the Halloween shindig?

Blucifer
Blucifer is low-hanging fruit, but it would be a crime to leave the giant blue horse statue stationed outside Denver International Airport off this list. With his glowing red eyes and backstory of killing his creator, “Mustang” (his real name) is an actually terrifying but well-loved Denver icon.

Colfax Avenue
You can get as creative as you want, but all you really need is a green shirt with “Colfax Ave” written on it and an impish personality. Maybe carry around a prop axe with “BRT” written on it for good measure. Already famous for its historic establishments and general air of chaos, the street has been on our minds (whether we like it or not) this year as it undergoes the construction of a Bus Rapid Transit project that has made driving on it even more of a nightmare and has caused a lot of trouble for businesses.

Cornerstone Sign
Walk around any Denver neighborhood and you’ll see these signs everywhere, sometimes taking up whole blocks. If you’ve rented an apartment in the city lately, there’s a high chance you’ve dealt with Cornerstone. Easily replicate one of the property management company’s signs with a bright yellow T-shirt.

Do Better Denver Stalkers
Put on your best Karen outfit (and attitude) and hold up your smartphone to record any behavior you deem socially unacceptable. No journalism degree needed! @DoBetterDnvr, a viral social media account known for posting disparaging photos and videos of homeless people so that other NIMBYs can comment about what a disgusting city they think Denver is, recently posted a stalker-like video of Westword editor-in-chief Patty Calhoun at a meeting with Mayor Mike Johnston after Calhoun made the point on PBS12 that posting videos of people in crisis without context isn’t productive (or real journalism).

Dog Shit
Another scary thing about Denver is the amount of dog poop everywhere — sometimes raw-dogging it in the grass or in the middle of the sidewalk, but oftentimes left carelessly in plastic bags (why go to the effort of putting it in a bag if you’re not going to throw that bag away?). The issue inspired a whole story in a Westword project this summer, “Has Denver Gone to the Dogs?” and would be an easy costume. Dress yourself in brown and then wrap up in a plastic bag…if you want to be more socially responsible.

Lauren Boebert’s Son
Last year, we recommended going as Lauren Boebert, and that’s still a good option, but this year, the Colorado congresswoman’s eldest son has been in the news quite a bit. White boys with access to black-and-white stripes, this one’s for you. Tyler Boebert flipped his father’s SUV in 2022, was hit with felony charges for a series of thefts from vehicles and for using stolen credit cards at local gas stations last year, and now faces child abuse charges.

Love Is Blind
The hit Netflix show Love is Blind made its way to Denver for its latest season, and it’s been the hot mess we all expected (i.e., filming in a recently uninhabitable apartment building and leaving viewers of the latest episodes wondering if it will be the first season of the show to result in zero marriages). Could be a good couple’s costume…or not.

Margaret Brown
There are plenty of historic Denver figures to choose from, but Margaret Brown is one of our favorites. The famous socialite who survived the Titanic and inspired The Unsinkable Molly Brown made a splash again this year with a new Titanic exhibit at the Molly Brown House Museum (which, in our opinion, was better than the somewhat controversial immersive one that opened at the same time).

Mayor Mike Johnston
Earlier this year, a baby dressed as Denver Mayor Mike Johnston won a City Cast Denver costume contest. The award was kind of a slap in the face for the contestants who’d obviously spent hours on their Blucifer costumes, but you have to admit that the mayor, who’s usually sporting some kind of boots (see that Do Better Denver video) and tan jacket combo, makes for easy costume inspo.

Pete from Pete’s Kitchen
Pete Contos, a Greek entrepreneur and Denver restaurateur who ran businesses like the Satire Lounge, Olympic Flame, Pete’s Kitchen, Pete’s Gyros Place, Pete’s University Park Cafe, Pete’s Central, Pete’s Ice Cream & Coffee and Pete’s Greektown Cafe, passed away in 2019, but his likeness is still all over Pete’s Kitchen on Colfax Avenue, one of the last true diners in the city. Friendly photos of Contos hanging on the walls and even plastered on the bottles of hot sauce gaze at people as they eat at the beloved establishment.

Populus Hotel
Denver’s Populus Hotel is an architectural marvel (and a horror, for people with trypophobia). Earlier this year, Esquire named the Populus the Hotel of the Year for 2025 in the magazine’s annual Best New Hotels in the World list. Recreate this look by cutting holes in a white T-shirt.

Sexy Cash Register Building
As we know from Mean Girls, Halloween is the one night a year that you can dress like a total slut and no one can say anything about it. So, of course, we needed to put at least one sexy costume idea on this list, and you have to admit, the Wells Fargo building (aka the Cash Register Building) is kinda sexy. The endearing skyscraper is one of the most recognizable pieces of Denver’s skyline and can be spotted from almost anywhere in the city. There’s just something about her…

South Park Characters
We couldn’t forget South Park, created by former Colorado residents Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who draw tons of inspiration from the Denver area for episodes across all 27 of the show’s seasons. This year, the show made a major comeback with the first episode of season 27, which poked fun at President Donald Trump (the episode ended with an AI and live-action cinematography to show Trump stripping off his clothes in the desert, with a cameo by his talking, googly-eyed micropenis) and gave a rare bout of hope to viewers everywhere.

What did we miss? Email us at editorial@westword.com with your ideas (or photos of your costume if you try any of these out).