{"id":496231,"date":"2026-10-14T21:42:29","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:42:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/496231\/"},"modified":"2026-10-14T21:42:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T21:42:29","slug":"californias-most-popular-halloween-costume-of-2026-is-not-what-youd-expect","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/496231\/","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s Most Popular Halloween Costume Of 2026 Is Not What You\u2019d Expect"},"content":{"rendered":"

If Halloween costumes are a mirror of the zeitgeist, 2026 offers plenty to reflect. You could go as the late, great Dolly Parton, complete with platinum wig, rhinestones and strategic padding from 9 to 5. Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce in wedding attire? Almost too easy. So, maybe it’s Jimothy the Raccoon<\/a>, the internet-famous dumpster diver or one of the “grass people” from Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show.<\/p>\n

But if you live in California, think smaller. And yellower.<\/p>\n

According to new research, the Golden State’s most popular costume this year is a Minion, one of those pint-size, gibberish-babbling henchmen from Despicable Me. Apparently, a year of political turmoil, celebrity drama and low-grade existential dread can’t stop Californians from hiding behind overalls and goggles.<\/p>\n

California’s 10 Most Popular Halloween Costumes For 2026\"Tokyoites<\/p>\n

Get your Gru on \u2014 Minions are the most popular Halloween costume this year in California, according to Google data research.<\/p>\n

The findings come from footwear retailer Bruno Marc<\/a>, which mined Google search data<\/a> to rank Halloween costume picks across all 50 states (Presumably, the company has its eye on underserved Halloween boot-and-stiletto market.).<\/p>\n

Minions edged out “pirates” and Poison Ivy, with Catwoman clawing her way to fourth, and Labubu, the impish collectible monster turned fashion fixation, rounding out the top five.<\/p>\n

The rest of the top ten could pass for the line outside Comic-Con: Harley Quinn, Starfire, Ladybug, a vampire and Wonder Woman.<\/p>\n

From KPop Demon Hunters To Minions: How Halloween Trends Have Changed<\/p>\n

That’s a sharp turn from Halloween 2025, when Google’s national Frightgeist<\/a> rankings belonged to KPop Demon Hunters. Characters from the Netflix juggernaut claimed five of the top ten spots, led by Rumi, Zoey and Mira. Labubu landed seventh, which I guess is proof that some monsters (or maybe bag charms) have staying power.<\/p>\n

California also seems strangely uninterested in actual horror. No scary-movie villains cracked the state’s top 20, compared with three nationally. Even Ghostface, the masked slasher from Scream, limped in at No. 22, according to the survey.<\/p>\n

\"FEATURE\"<\/p>\n

French bulldogs dressed as Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.<\/p>\n

Not that Californians are shy about dressing up. The state leads the nation in costume searches per capita, with 2,190 monthly searches per 100,000 residents, nearly 32% above the 50-state average.<\/p>\n

As for my Halloween costume this year? I’m torn between going as the baby monkey clutching the IKEA orangutan and maybe Sydney Sweeney’s Euphoria puppy outfit. Then again, I might look even hotter in a tiny yellow top with a black Minions Gru logo. Bee do, bee do, bee do!<\/p>\n

Also On Forbes<\/p>\n

What David Bowie, Elvis And A 150-Year-Old Cathedral Have In Common<\/a><\/p>\n

Inside Jacob Collier’s Wildly Intimate, Rain-Soaked Night In Los Angeles<\/a><\/p>\n

Forbes.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If Halloween costumes are a mirror of the zeitgeist, 2026 offers plenty to reflect. You could go as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":496232,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8],"class_list":["post-496231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=496231"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/496231\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/496232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=496231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=496231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=496231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}