Here Are Denver’s Most Popular Halloween Costumes This Year

It's not too late to avoid a basic costume before Halloween on Thursday.

October 29, 2024

Image: Halloween rave crowd dancing and smiling

None of Denver's top five favorite costumes made it on the national list. Collective 360

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Did you notice an abundance of orange sweaters and black square glasses in Denver over Halloweekend?

If so, that's because Velma Dinkley from Scooby-Doo is the most popular costume in the Denver area this year, according to Google's analysis of costume searches in September and October.

Behind the Mystery Incorporated member, Wolverine comes in second place for the Mile High City's top costume, with the recent Deadpool & Wolverine movie landing several characters on this year's national list. After that, Maleficent is third for Denver, Harley Quinn is fourth and a generic race-car driver is fifth.

None of Denver's favorite costumes made it on the top five lists for the United States or for the other two Colorado locations included in the analysis.

click to enlarge

Denver bars were crawling with these kinds of Velma costumes over Halloweekend.

Yick Chong Lam/Pexels

In Colorado Springs, the number-one costume search is "falcon mascot," likely related to the falcon mascot of the United States Air Force Academy, which is located near the city. Vidia from Tinker Bell takes second, a tree is third, Alice from Alice: Madness Returns is fourth, and Hermione Granger from Harry Potter comes in fifth.

Grand Junction's top costume this year is "candy," according to the analysis, followed by a lion mane, Deadpool, Mater from Cars and the gingerbread man.

Nationwide, the most popular Halloween costume search is Shrunken Head Bob from Beetlejuice, one of multiple characters from the movie that landed on the top 25 list following the release of the Beetlejuice Beetlejuice sequel film.

Here's how the country's top ten stacks up:

Shrunken Head Bob (from Beetlejuice)
Raygun (the Australian breakdancer behind the viral controversial Olympic performance)
CatNap (from Poppy Playtime)
Delores LaFerve (from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
Pomni (from The Amazing Digital Circus)
Envy (from Inside Out 2)
Red (from Descendants: The Rise of Red)
Doctor Doom
Sabrina Carpenter
Lady Deadpool (from Deadpool & Wolverine)

Honorable mentions go to a Chipotle burrito in eleventh place, Soulja Boy in 24th place and numerous other movie characters who ranked in the top 25 — including four more Inside Out emotions, Wolverine and Gambit from Deadpool & Wolverine, and Delia and Lydia Deetz from Beetlejuice.

For kids, the top costume is Red from Descendants; for dogs, it's Dogpool from Deadpool & Wolverine; and for duos, it's Deadpool and Wolverine.

Velma didn't crack any of the national lists, but outside of Denver, she is also the most popular costume in Memphis, Tennessee, and Harrisonburg, Virginia. Velma is also the second-favored costume in San Francisco, California, and Tupelo, Mississippi; third in Cape Girardeau, Missouri; and fifth in Meridian, Mississippi.

Jinkies!

Hannah Metzger is a staff writer at Westword, reporting on news, arts and culture since joining the staff in October 2023. She previously worked at publications including Colorado Politics and the Denver Gazette, where she covered the Colorado Legislature, the Denver and Aurora city councils and breaking news. Hannah has been honored with numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, Colorado Press Association, Colorado Student Media Association and Denver Press Club. She graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder with a major in journalism and a minor in political science.

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