Halloween festivities are widely popular on college campuses, and because of their popularity, finding the right costume can be tough.

According to a University of Kentucky study, approximately 75% of students participate in Halloween events.

Popular costumes are often recognizable by a few key accessories, which makes them easy to recreate. Small accessories make the choice easier for people on a budget. Wearing all black and adding some ears is an easy way to make a cat costume.

Nikki Balles, PR director for Spirit Halloween, noted how the release of Hocus Pocus 2 prompted the store to bring back their iconic Sanderson Sister costumes.

“Spirit Halloween is the go-to Hocus Pocus destination for potion perfect costumes, Sanderson Sister-approved accessories and exclusive entertaining items that’ll have fans cackling with delight,” Balles said.

Angela Guidice, employee at Spirit Halloween, discussed the types of costumes most customers purchase. She said that individual accessories have been more popular than full costumes.

“Our typical product sales usually include more small items rather than larger sets,” Guidice said. “There are more individual pieces in a collection than there are costumes so it’s more likely they will find something small they like.”

In addition to the types of costumes, many from previous years have not been as popular this Halloween season. The release of many anticipated movies so close to Halloween has led to a change in the normal sales for Spirit.

“Because of the popularity with TV and movies this year, the older characters like Alice in Wonderland and Little Red Riding Hood have been way less popular this year,” Guidice said. “It’s usually pretty even, but this year is leaning more towards pop culture.”

Pop culture has changed the way students choose a costume. The Daily surveyed 15 students outside Parks Library. Some popular responses for what costumes they expect to see this year included: The Queen, Maverick from Top Gun and Barbie and Ken. Overall, while the responses had some favorites, most students still chose something personal to them to dress as. Anna Weldon, a sophomore studying chemistry, planned her costume around her pet.

“This Halloween my dog and I have matching costumes,” Weldon said. “My puppy, Evie, is going to be Squirtle, and she looks very adorable.”

The anticipation of Halloween and costumes leaves many choices for students. The option of choosing a costume related to pop culture or something more personal is still up for debate, but it’s no surprise that students are excited about the holiday.

“I’m excited to see the Halloween makeup, because some people are really creative with what they come up with,” said Maisie McTavish, a junior studying environmental science. “Halloween is so fun since costumes can be anything and you can be anyone, and seeing people’s super creative costumes is so fun – it’s like a live art show.”

The appeal of Halloween is the different personalities it allows people to take on in their costumes. Halloween allows people to be creative and share little bits of their personalities in their costumes. Despite all the debate, picking something that expresses who someone is inside is one way to make Halloween a success.