Oh, Halloween – that magical time of year when ghouls and goblins stumble drunkenly in the streets of College Park and that quiet girl from your stat class dresses up like she’s working the night shift.
While political costumes were hot last year (Sarah Palin, anyone?), expect to see far more pop culture references in this year’s display of finery: Lady Gaga, vampires and of course, Michael Jackson, are expected to be big hits. The trend is so popular that even Katie Couric is going to dress up as one of the Gosselin kids. Wierd. 
Just don’t expect to see many ‘Illegal Alien’ costumes, featuring a space alien head, orange jail jumpsuit and prominently displayed green card – they’ve been yanked from shelves across the country after protests from immigrants rights groups.
But most college women of course will forego clever costumes in favor of the get-ups veering toward the indecent and perhaps even downright obscene. Since Sexy Halloween is here to stay, what could possibly be next? Washington City Paper blogger Amanda Hess has seen the future – and it’s Super Sexy.
The recession has dampened the holiday spirit, but enthusiasts are still buying into Halloween, the second highest grossing holiday after Christmas, according to national retail data. Surprise, suprise: 18- to 24-year-olds are driving most of the big spending. Consumers are expected to spend an average of $56.31 this year on Halloween merchandise, compared to an average of $66.54 last year. Did you spend that much?
Students at the University of California, Berkeley get to celebrate Halloween all year long – or rather, study it, as part of a course called “Film Topics: Monster Movies”. The class analyzes what spooky spirits in famous horror films represent. Writing a term paper on zombies as mindless consumers? Now that’s scary!