An event creator’s guide to Halloween trends for 2023

Whether you’ve found yourself gripped by Barbie fever this year, hooked to the creepy underworld of The Last of Us, or championing iconic comedies at the office water cooler – one thing’s certain: Halloween provides the perfect excuse to celebrate all things pop culture. 

The best bit? As an event creator, tapping into all these feverishly-followed series, movies and moments gives more than enough ammunition for creating your most epic Halloween happening to date. One that goes above and beyond your tired old cliches (witches and vampires are like so last century). All the better for delivering a wildly popular event that sees tickets selling faster than you can say ‘Stranger Things have happened’… 

All you need to know about Halloween costume & theme trends for 2023

Ok, maybe even our Stranger Things reference is a little last year (see 2022’s trends for proof). On that note – read on for a fresh new batch of pop culture Halloween themes, guaranteed to have the fans a-flocking as soon as tickets go on sale. Let’s go! 👻

All things Barbie 

All things Barbie. Of course. It hardly needs saying – this is a moment. A big one. Which means it’s pretty much a given that any Barbie-themed Halloween event is going to go down a storm this year. Get your attendees to dress up as their favourite character from the movie – Margot Robbie provides more than enough outfit-inspo alone (that gingham dress… 💗). Then there are the plethora of other Barbies and Kens to take into consideration – Writer Barbie, Weird Barbie, Physicist Barbie, Mermaid Barbies… Merman Ken. The possibilities are basically endless. Not to mention wonderful. Just wonderful! 

The Little Mermaid

One day we’ll be… part of that woooorld: a world where dressing up as Ariel from The Little Mermaid is cool again, thanks to the brilliant reboot of the movie that took cinemas by storm this year. 

Creating a watery underworld of shimmery blues, greens and silvers, and concocting under-da-sea themed cocktails, is sure to be excellent fun as an event creator, too. Brilliant.

Nostalgia 

We don’t know if it’s the recent rebooting of certain movies (Barbie, Top Gun, The Little Mermaid, Scream…) or all those highly-addictive ‘you know you're a millennial if’ memes… But it feels like nostalgia is having its own special moment right now. 

Why not cash-in on the evocative pop culture motifs of times gone-by, then? Imagine if you could give your attendees the immersive experience of stepping back into the decade of their youth… 

We’re thinking: lava lamps, Furbies, GhostBusters, bubble chairs (bubble everything), Pac-Man… basically anything that makes you go woah, remember that?! That’s your decor sorted; now you just need to get attendees to dress up as their favourite retro character from your decade of choice. What could be more fun?

Bridgerton

The antiquated glamour of bridgerton provides more than enough dress-up inspiration for fans of this iconically saucy series. Think: silky-satin gowns, ridiculously OTT hair accessories, long white gloves, and (what could be better) knee high boots and puff sleeves for the men. 

Serve themed cocktails with apt names like “I Burn for You” and “Stare Into My Eyes” for an added injection of the brilliant world of Bridgerton.

Cult comedies 

The coaches from Ted Lasso, Carmy from The Bear, Charlie from Poker Face… There are some exceptional comedy characters doing the TV circuit right now. And these instant-hit, side-splittingly hilarious series could just be the answer to those looking for a slightly more niche Halloween theme that stands out from the crowd. 

The Last of Us

If immersive, dystopian horror is more your kind of thing, look no further than to The Last of Us for a cult-classic 2023 Halloween theme. Deck your venue out with sprawling, interconnected webs of fake fungi, and hire some actors to play different variations of “the infected” (runners, stalkers, clickers, immobile, bloaters and shamblers… those who know, know).   

A true Halloween antithesis to the likes of Barbie and The Little Mermaid – this one’s for the hardcore thrill-seekers who are definitely not faint of heart. 

Black Mirror

***Spoiler Alert!!***

The latest Black Mirror series from the ingenious Charlie Brooker did not disappoint. And it provides tons of spooky, dystopian fancy dress inspo – from Joan Is Awful’s distinctive lead character to the hilariously-dressed demon in Demon 79 and the werewolf from the horrifying last moments of Mazey Day.

The perfect Halloween theme for Brooker-loving cynicists, we reckon!

Iconic pop stars of ‘23

From the glam-rock flares and stacked heels of Harry Styles to the sparkle+cowboy boot combo of Taylor Swift; there's plenty of fancy dress inspiration to be taken from this year’s most current, most iconic pop stars. Let’s not forget that killer red outfit, worn by Rihanna at the Super Bowl earlier this year. 

Your on-site photographer is in for a treat, with this one.

Leave the frights to the night – not your ticket pricing 

Partnering with a low-cost ticketing platform is one of the best ways to keep your Halloween event ticket prices fair and competitive. (Case in point: Eventbrite’s recent pricing shake up will see users hit with a brand new ‘Organiser Fee’ on top of their usual fees 😬.)

Here at Ticket Tailor, we offer one of the best value event ticketing solutions around thanks to our simple, flat-fee pricing structure. We never tie you into a contract, and we never hit you with hidden fees… plus we’re totally free to use for free events. So setting up event registration won’t cost you a penny.

Check out our pricing here and head to this guide to discover some inspiring ways to give your Halloween events an extra competition-slaying edge this year!

Now all that’s left to do is get the glad rags on and let the spooky times roll. Happy Halloween! 🎃