As the temperatures drop and the leaves redden, it is evident to the campus community that spooky season is upon us. With spooky season comes Halloween, a holiday that I am torn on both for logistical and financial reasons. 

Halloween was one of my favorite holidays as a child: candy, decorations, Fall movies and most importantly, wearing basic DIY costumes. Admittedly, I had one creative costume year where I dressed up as The Hunger Games’ Caesar Flickerman (a costume that probably tipped the scale a little too far into the “creative” realm). 

As we’ve grown older almost all of those aspects of Halloween disappeared, excluding the costume piece. Five years ago it would’ve been totally acceptable to wear a basic costume, whether that be a devil, cat or vampire. However, in the past couple of years or so it is evident that there’s been a rise in competitiveness when it comes to finding creative Halloween costumes. 

The once-acceptable ghost and witch costumes are now judged by the majority, shunned even. There are many factors that could be contributing to this newfound competitive atmosphere surrounding costumes: the rise of Tik Tok, pervasive Pinterest aesthetics or the contentious use of Instagram. 

After spending innumerable hours painstakingly researching the most creative costumes I could wear this year, I finally gave up and decided it’s time to defend the basic Halloween costume. It is so much more economical to utilize what is already in your closet and whip together a last-minute, albeit basic, costume than it is to spend upwards of $100 on a costume you will wear once. 

My second pitch point for the basic costume is that you can make it ironic. At this point, a simple costume will be more unique amongst a crowd of people in their “innovative” ones. I find it funny when someone confidently wears all black and cat ears and is unapologetic about the simplicity of the costume. 

Following my laborious research spree, I have finally decided on two costumes. To the creative person they could be considered basic, but to the average person they are somewhat amusing. Both of my costumes stem from entertainment’s greatest developments: Pulp Fiction and Breaking Bad if that clues you in at all. 

I plan on approaching Halloween with the readiness to debate anyone who tries to argue that costumes that require money and brain power are superior to the basic ones. Sometimes the easy way out is just better, and this year you may even get praised for having the audacity to wear something so simple.