The 6 Best and Worst Costumes for Halloween 2016

Halloween and Election Day are both upon us. It's hard to tell which day is going to be scarier, but only one of them is an excuse for outlandish costumes, colorful makeup and candy binges. Wait, what? That's not how you show up to the polls? SAD! 

Anyway, if you're experiencing analysis paralysis over your costume choices, AlterNet is here for you. Below are some of the best and worst costume ideas I've seen floating around the depths of the internet. Since the line between hilarious and tasteless is ever shifting, I'll let you decide which is which.  

1. Ken Bone 

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Screenshot via CNN 

Sure, this one is almost painfully on the nose, but let's be honest America, our ultimate national sex symbol is an undecided voter during an election year when the decision is painfully clear. In 2016, one Ken Bone, with his cute mustache, red sweater and thirst for energy policy, captured our poor, Trump-exhausted hearts. The costume is simple, requiring only a red sweater, a glue-on mustache and perhaps a pair of small, rectangular glasses. Just don't get cheeky and think you need to sex up the costume. Bone's undecided political preferences are what really gets America hot. 

2. Ted Cruz Zodiac Killer 

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Left, police sketch: Wikimedia Commons; right: Rich Koele/Shutterstock.com

It was a more innocent time, the winter of 2015 when there were approximately 4,567,843 Republican presidential hopefuls and the Huffington Post had only just stopped covering Trump under its entertainment vertical, because, as we naively believed, "Trump’s campaign is a sideshow." Before we were scared of Muslim bans, and threats to jail Clinton, America wondered if Ted Cruz might in fact be the Zodiac Killer, based on his speech, his looks, a circle and cross pin that resembled the killer's signature, and the internet's ravenous desire for unsolved murders and memes. While Amazon has yet to feature a ready-made costume, those of us who want to be a living meme can, as the Washington Post suggests, simply wear a collared shirt, a red tie and the circle and cross. 

3. Brexit (couples costume) 

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Via Good Housekeeping on Pinterest 

If you'd rather poke fun at other countries' political drama, Pinterest has answered your prayers. In this example, both parties are wearing Union Jack gear, but if you really want to be accurate, one of you can choose a European Union printed get-up instead, and you two can start the night together and end it apart, exchanging longing glances as you part ways. 

4. Beyonce's Lemonade look

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Screenshot via YouTube 

It feels like treason even to suggest a mere mortal should copy Beyonce (especially when she's rocking this Roberto Cavalli gown), but since doing so is not yet a prosecutable offense, I suppose you could try. A number of  sites, including InStyle and the Huffington Post have links to purchase less expensive alternatives. You can add a baseball bat and get ready to smash cars, but really, can you do this:

via GIPHY

5. Donald Trump

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Screenshot via Amazon

This one will be wildly popular, of course. Grab a wig, give it a nice combover, add an expensive yet still ill-fitting suit, and a red tie. Maybe a trip to the tanning salon or just some orange makeup? Much like Trump's candidacy, this one might start out as the most entertaining costume of the night before terrifying the rest of your party. 

6. Killer Clown

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 nito/Shutterstock 

We live in scary times. Even the entertainment hired for your child's birthday party might turn out to be evil, if reports of evil clowns across the world, from Canada to Australia, are correct. According to one report, the fear of knife-wielding clowns has even kept their friendly, entertaining counterparts out of work. If you're willing to risk being the party pariah, this just might be the costume for you!