Halloween: The UK’s most popular pop culture costume ideas for 2023

• Costumes from ‘The Purge’ series are statistically the most popular Halloween choice for 2023
• Harley Quinn and the Joker costumes take second and third, respectively

New research has revealed the UK’s most popular pop culture Halloween costumes for 2023, with ‘The Purge’ costumes coming out on top.

The study by entertainment experts at Gambling ‘N Go analysed the top monthly search results for pop culture Halloween costumes in the UK across 2023.

It found that, statistically, costumes based around ‘The Purge’ series are the most popular choice for pop culture costumes, with an average of 27,290 monthly searches. Despite the last film from the action-horror series being released in 2021, costumes from it seemingly remain very popular.

Coming in a close second place is Harley Quinn, with Harley Quinn costumes seeing an average of 26,570 searches a month. Much of this demand initially stemmed from the release of 2016’s ‘Suicide Squad’ and continued with 2021’s Suicide Squad reboot, with the character being a popular costume idea ever since.

Third place goes to the Joker, with, on average, 19,920 searches a month for Joker costumes. It’s another costume that has stood the test of time, with several rebrands and reiterations of the character, keeping ideas fresh. The couple’s costume idea of the Joker and Harley Quinn together has also been a popular idea in recent years.

Harry Potter takes fourth place on the list, with an average of 17,700 monthly searches for costumes related to the fantasy franchise. The most popular character for costumes has been Harry Potter himself in recent years, but many ideas have also stemmed from the many unique characters in the franchise.

Rounding out the top five is Poison Ivy, with an average of 16,270 searches a month in the UK for costumes of the Batman villain. It’s one of four DC characters to feature on the list, along with Joker, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman.

Commenting on the findings, a spokesperson for Gambling ‘N Go said: “When it comes to pop culture costumes, most of the more popular entries are interestingly villains from popular franchises, especially DC, where villains have arguably more of a spotlight than other franchises. With horror series especially, the most memorable parts of each are usually the antagonists; for example, Freddy Krueger and Pennywise in this list maintain the spooky theme of Halloween.”