1990 — Ninja Turtles
The original Ninja Turtles live action movie came out in 1990, which meant the costumes were everywhere. It was a huge hit and those costumes flew off the shelves.

Which turtle were you?

1991 — Terminator
The sequel, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, came out in 1991 leaving people everywhere looking for any excuse to use the phrase “I’ll be back”.

Don’t lie, you totally read that in his voice.

1992 — Catwoman
In 1992 Batman Returns was released and included one fantastic feline character. A black cat costume based off of a badass female character for Halloween? Sign us up.

1993 — Ninja Turtles & Barney
Ninja Turtles III came out in 1993 and the boys were back as the hit of Halloween parties everywhere.

However, this year there was another costume just as popular as those turtles and it was a big purple dinosaur. If you were a kid in the early 90s, Barney was everywhere and Halloween costumes were no exception.

1994 — Power Rangers & Sailor Moon
In 1993 Mighty Morphin Power Rangers aired on TV and by 1994 everyone had a favorite (and an argument as to why theirs was the best). All you had to do was tell your Mom which color to buy you and hope they still had them in stock.

Sailor Moon was also a huge hit in 1994. Superhero school girls? Heck yes!

1995 — Woody/ Buzz Lightyear & Star Trek characters
Toy Story and Star Trek: Voyager were both released in 1995, which meant that both children and adults had something new and popular to dress up as for Halloween.

Sensing a theme yet? It’s movies. Movies are the theme.

1996 — Ghostface
Scream is where we learned that the rules to surviving a horror movie suck and it’s no surprise that everyone dies. The franchise was released in 1996 and people couldn’t resist. Who could pass up such a simple costume?

1997 — Batman & Robin
Batman and Robin are an iconic duo and with the release of the movie in 1997, everyone grabbed their best friend and

argued over who got to be Batman.

1998 — Cartman & Kenny
South Park first aired in 1997 and by 1998 it was a hit. Iconic characters with simple outfits and a plethora of different ways to “kill Kenny” meant a perfect costume.

(And yes, South Park is a real Colorado mountain town, but it’s basically a truck stop in the middle of nowhere.)

1999 — Neo
The Matrix was released in 1999 and was automatically a huge hit. With a simple all black outfit, which everyone had in their closets in the 90s and a toy gun, you were set for Halloween.

2000 — Austin Powers
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me was released in 1999 and by 2000 everyone realized they weren’t going to get another chance to wear a velvet suit with a ruffled shirt without being mocked. Groovy, Baby!

2001— Harry & Hermione
2001 is the year Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was released and no other movie stood a chance. It should come as no surprise that Harry and Hermione costumes were the most popular this year. Watch out for those Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans, they aren’t always too tasty.

2002 — Spiderman
Tobey Maguire made his debut as Spiderman in 2002 and the superhero costumes were back in business. Extra points to the people who had a friend dress up as Uncle Ben.

2003 — Captain Jack Sparrow
Pirates of the Caribbean: Then Curse of the Black Pearl was released in 2003 and gave adults everywhere a reason to carry around their own personal bottle of rum all night. It’s part of the costume, right? Plus, Yo Ho (A Pirates Life for Me) is an easy song to remember when drunk.

2004 —Spongebob and Spiderman
In 2004 The Spongebob Squarepants Movie and Spiderman 2 came out and you had to make the tough decision between a square sea sponge or a superhero for Halloween.

It was the people who chose to be a square sea sponge superhero that really stood out.

2005 — Darth Vader & Princess Leia
Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith was released in 2005 and everyone broke out their light sabers. Who is your favorite Star Wars character?

2006 — Charlie’s Angles & V (V for Vendetta)
At the Emmy’s in 2006 the original Angles got together to say goodbye to producer Arron Spelling and reminded everyone just why the loved Charlie’s Angels and how much they wanted to be them. Also in 2006 V for Vendetta was

released in the U.S. making a lot of people wish they were the vigilante who saves Natalie Portman.

2007 — Hannah Montana
Hannah Montana aired in 2006 and quickly became a household name. Girls everywhere wanted to be a pop star who got to live a normal life with her quirky best friends.

2008 — Joker
Heath Ledger played the Joker in The Dark Night. The movie was released in 2008 and shot to popularity after Heath Ledgers untimely death. I’m not crying, you’re crying!

2009 — Edward Cullen
The second installment of the Twilight Saga, New Moon, came out in 2009 and many decided to utilize what is possibly the easiest costume ever; the creepy boyfriend who watches you sleep. Don’t forge the sparkles!

2010 — Rapunzel & Snooki
Tangled came out in 2010 and gave women an excuse to carry around a frying pan as a weapon on Halloween. Can’t get much better than an armed Disney character. Also popular in 2010 was the Snooki costume. Jersey Shore aired in 2009 and by 2010 she was a household name. Unfortunately.

2011 — Snooki & Sue Sylvester (Glee)
Snooki hung on for another year making us all cringe in 2011. Sue Sylvester was also a popular choice in 2011 as Glee was becoming more and more popular by the day. Plus her costume allowed you to carry a mega phone and yell at people all night.

2012 — Merida & Psy
Disney released Brave in 2012 which was about a fiery red headed Scottish girl named Merida who carried a bow an arrow. What little girl wouldn’t want to be her? 2012 also gave us Psy’s Gangnam Style. You couldn’t get away from that song to save your life and that was just as true on Halloween.

2013 — Robin Thicke & Miley Cyrus
The MTV VMA awards in 2013 were something else with Robin Thicke and Miley Cyrus catching everyone’s attention. There really was no other reaction than to turn them into Halloween costumes that year.

2014 — Elsa/ Olaf & Maleficent
Disney took over lives of all ages when the hit movie Frozen was released. Little children ran around screaming “Let it Go” at all times, making the characters perfect ideas for Halloween. For those of us who were a little older and preferred something a little darker, Maleficent was the perfect choice.

2015 — Donald Trump, Jon Snow & Harley Quinn
Last year gave us a few popular costumes. The anticipation of Suicide Squad led to a lot of Harley Quinn’s running around. Jon Snow was as popular a costume choice as the show itself, and while Donald Trump was funny last year,

this year it’s just downright scary.

What do you think 2016’s most popular costumes will be?

The post THE BEST AND WORST OF COSTUME HISTORY appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Chances are you’re the cool mom on the block! If this is the case, the cutesy decorations and glittery pumpkins probably aren’t your thing when it comes time to get ready for Halloween.

Not to worry: we’ve got some ideas just for you!

Chicken Wire Ghosts
 Make one of those kids of yours stand still for a minute and wrap some chicken wire around their torso and legs. Bend and shape the wire to their form and let them out – only if you’re feeling kind. Not only do you get an eerie human looking ghost to stick in your yard but when they’re being extra bratty after eating all that candy, you’ve got a kid sized straight jacket waiting to keep ‘em in place. Don’t mess with momma.

Pumpkins
 Sure, an un-carved pumpkin will last a lot longer but where’s the fun in that? Put some scary faces on those things! Give them teeth and angry eyes, or make them look so stupid all the kids shake their heads while trying to hold in their laughter.

If you really don’t want to carve a pumpkin, grab some google-y eyes and whatever else catches your attention and break out that glue gun!

Bonus points for being the mom who takes those healthy seeds out of the pumpkin and ruins them with brown sugar, butter and cinnamon before roasting. Being healthy is overrated.

Flamingos!
 Who doesn’t secretly want some of those little pink birds in their front yards? Weirdos, that’s who. With summer ending, Halloween is the perfect time to stock up on those babies while they’re hitting the clearance rack. Paint them black, wait until they’re fully dry (seriously, wait for them to dry) then paint on some little birdy skeletons. Dead birds for everyone!

Spiders
 Spiders are the worst and everyone knows it, so if your kids are being jerks this month buy up all the spider web you can get you hands on and cover the entire house in that junk. Toss those fake plastic spiders all over the web and watch your kids walk around in fear.

Bonus points for the moms that use this as a chance for free therapy. It’s more cathartic if you chuck ‘em, plus they stick better!

Bottle Monsters
 Arms tired from wielding that knife on pumpkins? Try the gentler activity of painting some faces on bottles. Frankenstein, ghosts, mummies: whatever your heart desires. The more bottles the better. Plus if you use wine bottles you have an excuse to drink as much as you feel necessary! The kids get candy, but moms deserve a treat too.

Aliens
 Miss Mulder terrorizing Scully with his Alien theories every three seconds? Me too. Don’t worry though, you can make your own aliens and torment your family with proof of your insane theories. Get some white balloons and break green glow sticks into them. (Don’t eat the liquid. Just trust me on that.) Once they’re inflated, draw on some alien faces and you’re done! The only thing left to do is to hop into your space ship and pick up those kids determined to be taken to your mother ship. Literally.

(ha, mom jokes)

The Big Scare
 And finally, the perfect way to finish off the night: If you really want to scare your family this year, dress up as a witch for Halloween and at the end of the night hand them your broomstick and let them know they’re cleaning everything up. They’ll avoid you for weeks and you’ll be free to watch whatever horror movies you want in peace.

Victory is sweet as the candy you steal from your children.

The post OCTOBEAR: HOW TO BE THAT COOL MOM ON THE BLOCK appeared first on SCAD Radio.