Costumes · TrendsNo. 3803 · The 2026 edition
The most popular Halloween costumes of 2026, ranked by the NRF.
In the National Retail Federation’s 2026 ranking, the top costume is a witch for adults, Spider-Man for kids and a pumpkin for pets. Here are 30 costumes, each with a quick idea for pulling it off.
Here are the most popular Halloween costumes of 2026, according to the National Retail Federation (NRF) and its annual Halloween survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. The NRF polled 7,889 U.S. consumers from Sept. 1 to 9, 2026, and projects $13.5 billion in Halloween spending, with 74% of consumers planning to celebrate and 71% of Halloween shoppers expecting to buy costumes.
The ranks are the NRF’s, not ours, and the cards keep its order within three groups: adults, kids and pets, with ties marked as ties. We cover ten costumes per group, so a few lower spots in the NRF’s top ten aren’t here. Whether you’re dressing yourself, a kid or the dog, each blurb says what the costume is and a quick way to pull it off, and most link to a free tutorial; the few that don’t are ones where we couldn’t verify a good one.
Thirty costumes, top-ranked first
Adults: a witch, a vampire and Batman up top
- Witch — Black dress, tall pointed hat, broom: the classic witch, with lace, tulle or a dab of green face paint for flair. The tutorial’s example is a child’s dress, but its T-shirt-and-skirt method works for teens and women too; you’ll need a sewing machine. The tutorial
- Vampire — Dracula-style evening wear works two ways: a black suit with a red vest, or a dark gothic gown. A dark sheet pinned on works as the cape, says the wikiHow guide, and the face is pale foundation, red lipstick and dark eye makeup. The tutorial
- Batman — Gotham’s caped crusader is a black suit, long cape, utility belt and a pointy-eared cowl with the bat emblem. Expect to buy or build a few pieces, such as the suit, belt and mask; the wikiHow guide covers two versions. The tutorial
- Spider-Man — Marvel’s web-slinger goes no-sew here: the wikiHow guide uses a blue long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, a red T-shirt to cut up, a red ski mask, gloves and socks, with black marker or puffy paint for the webbing. The tutorial
- Ghost — Skip the eyehole bedsheet and go floaty: all-white clothes from your closet, a sheer curtain turned into a cape with ribbon ties, and a fake chain for effect. Only the cape needs sewing, and the tutorial keeps it simple. The tutorial
- Clown — Pick goofy or creepy, then build the big-top clown from bright mismatched clothes, a red nose and a painted smile. Start, as the wikiHow guide does, with a plain white T-shirt, pom-poms or buttons, and a big polka-dot bow tie. The tutorial
- Cat — Over all-black clothes, ears, a tail, a painted nose and whiskers make the cat. A black headband and craft foam become the ears in the wikiHow guide, while eyeliner or a face-paint pencil handles the face. The tutorial
- Pirate — Add an eye patch or toy sword to a striped shirt, vest, boots and bandana for a swashbuckler. The tutorial adds elastic, felt and faux leather for the lace-up shirt and accessories; its photos show kids, but it says adults can wear it too. The tutorial
- Ghostface — The Scream films’ black-robed slasher is known above all for a white, stretched-out mask caught mid-scream. Pair that mask with a black robe, and since this is a slasher villain, we’d keep the look on the grown-ups’ side of the party.
- Zombie — Torn, dirt-streaked clothes, gray-green skin and fake wounds make a convincing walking corpse. Old jeans and T-shirts you distress yourself form the wikiHow guide’s base, with makeup and stage blood to finish. The tutorial
Kids: Spider-Man ahead of a superhero and a princess
- Spider-Man — The NRF expects nearly 11% of kids to dress as the friendly neighborhood web-slinger, more than double last year’s share. No sewing is needed, and the wikiHow guide works at any size, though it isn’t written for kids specifically. The tutorial
- Superhero — Generic by design, and counted by the NRF separately from Spider-Man and Batman: the kid invents the hero and the emblem. The tutorial pairs leggings, a T-shirt, cape fabric and a foam mask, with pleather or similar for the logo. The tutorial
- Princess — Storybook, Disney-style or entirely made up, a princess is a gown or twirly dress plus a tiara. The wikiHow guide is a general one, so treat it as a starting point for whichever princess your kid has in mind. The tutorial
- Witch — For a pint-size witch, HGTV’s tutorial stays no-sew: a black T-shirt, a tulle tutu, a craft-foam hat, striped tights and a broom of sticks and twigs. If you’d rather sew, the adult witch’s dress works for kids too. The tutorial
- Ghost — The classic bedsheet ghost, eyeholes and all, takes just one twin-size sheet for a kid. An optional baseball cap, per the wikiHow guide, holds the sheet in place. The tutorial
- Batman — This kid-sized Batman leans on ordinary clothes: a black long-sleeve shirt and leggings, a cape cut from a big black T-shirt, a yellow belt or yellow duct tape, and an iron-on bat logo. A dollar-store bat mask finishes the tutorial’s version. The tutorial
- Vampire — A mini Dracula is a white button-up, black pants and shoes, and a black cape, finished with pale makeup. Any black cape you already own will do, the tutorial says, and boys and girls can both wear it. The tutorial
- KPop Demon Hunters — Huntrix is the K-pop trio of Rumi, Mira and Zoey, who secretly fight demons in the animated film, and costumes riff on their stage outfits and colorful hair. Sewn shirts and skirts meet no-sew jackets in the tutorial; three friends can split the roles. The tutorial
- Pumpkin — Felt in orange, black and green builds a puffy jack-o’-lantern body, a leafy stem hat and a carved-style face, with stuffing for the puff. Aimed at little kids, the tutorial uses a sewing machine. The tutorial
- Cat — Fuzzy minky fabric does the work in this cozy kitty: the tutorial turns a blanket into a hoodie, pants and ears with free patterns, plus a fuzzy tummy. The author’s came out gray because the blanket wouldn’t dye black. The tutorial
Pets: a pumpkin, a hot dog and a ghost on the podium
- Pumpkin — Ribbed, puffy and topped with a leafy stem hat, this pumpkin is made for dogs. Martha Stewart’s tutorial uses two orange XXL T-shirts, quilt batting and a sewing machine, with notes on sizing and on male dogs. The tutorial
- Hot dog — Think in three pieces: a soft bun wrapped around the pet’s back, a sausage on top and a squiggle of condiment to finish. A walking hot dog needs no explaining.
- Ghost — Lead with the cape. A white cape alone makes a friendly spirit, and the tutorial adds a ghost-face hat made from a baseball cap, though its author found her puppy tolerated the cape better than the hat. The tutorial
- Bat — Black felt wings attached to a harness make a low-fuss bat for pets that resist a full outfit. It suits dogs or cats, and Martha Stewart’s tutorial starts from three squares of black felt, wing templates and a fabric harness. The tutorial
- Bee — Tulle tutu, fluffy wings and bobbing antennae turn a pet into a yellow-and-black bumblebee. HGTV’s short how-to makes the wings from felt and black hosiery and the antennae from pipe cleaners and pom-poms. The guide
- Spider — Budget extra time for this one: Martha Stewart’s own roundup says the stuffed felt legs and hand-stitching make it slower than the others. The payoff is a black-widow-style spider with an orange hourglass, sewn onto a black dog T-shirt. The tutorial
- Cat — Ears, whiskers and a tail are the whole brief for a feline pet look, so any pet willing to play along can pull it off, and the details are yours to decide.
- Superhero — A tiny caped crusader needs a cape, an emblem and, if the dog allows it, a mask. In HGTV’s short how-to, a solid-color T-shirt becomes a no-sew cape, and the logo is a patch, felt cutout or paint-on stencil. The guide
- Batman — In miniature, the Dark Knight is a black cape with a bat emblem, plus a cowl if your pet will tolerate one. It pairs naturally with a Batman owner or kid.
- Dog — “Dog” is all the NRF’s table says about this one, so we won’t guess at the look. Treat it as an open category: any doggy-themed outfit fits the bill.
A cape, a pointed hat or a pair of ears gets you most of the way to a costume, and commitment does the rest.
Start with what is already in your closet: black clothes cover the witch, vampire, Batman and cat, a white sheet or sheer curtain handles the ghost, and a blue shirt with a red ski mask gets Spider-Man started. The NRF’s analysis found that 52% say they repurpose about half or more of their costume items from year to year. Then pair up: Batman and Spider-Man for a pair of kids, KPop Demon Hunters for a trio of friends, a pumpkin pup beside a witch. The NRF’s Halloween Data Center has the full top ten, including Superman, Clown and a few more pet costumes, and the Fieldguide has plenty more costume ideas once this list runs out.