It's A Tough Halloween; Not Offend Anyone And Still Be Amusing

Like everything else in 2021, Halloween is going to be under a microscope. And here's the question, how to be creative and amusing, and not offend anyone. That's probably impossible, so we'll look at some reasonable ideas.

The reality is most people don't care if it's offensive, especially if there's prize money involved. I remember one year at either Bourbon Street or Cheek to Cheek, three people came dressed as the Kennedy Assassination (JFK, Jackie, and Marilyn Monroe, just to make sure no one was left out). In 1989, someone dressed as the San Francisco collapsed freeway. And again, these are for adult parties. If you're looking for timely, The Squid Game on Netflix might be your inspiration.

If you're dressing the kids, how about they go as emojis? Who's going to get offended by a three year old dressed as poop?

Here's one I saw online. A woman made a dozen photocopies of a picture of her cat, and taped to herself, and went as a "copycat". (I didn't say this was going to be painless.) Here's another one along those lines. A husband and wife wearing costumes with the logo of frozen ice bags and the mom is holding their infant. ("Ice, Ice, Baby")

What about a bunch of "Hello, I'm...." stickers with different people's names? (Identity Theft)

If you or anyone close to you resembles a member of the cast of Ted Lasso (say the little woman's got a big thick mustache, for example) that's a timely one, and it won a ton of Emmy's. Still staying topical, how about Jeff Bezos (a bald cap) or William Shatner (tissues, for he cried) as space cowboys.

As I'm writing this, you've still got some time ahead of a weekend Halloween party. Go do it.

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LOOK: How Halloween has changed in the past 100 years

Stacker compiled a list of ways that Halloween has changed over the last 100 years, from how we celebrate it on the day to the costumes we wear trick-or-treating. We’ve included events, inventions, and trends that changed the ways that Halloween was celebrated over time. Many of these traditions were phased out over time. But just like fake blood in a carpet, every bit of Halloween’s history left an impression we can see traces of today.