
20 Washington State-Inspired Halloween Costumes
October is here, and that means it's time for all of you trick-or-treat-loving kids who never quite (if at all) grew up to start planning your getups for this year's Halloween parties and events.
Of course you could always masquerade as something trite and traditional, or that follows the latest trends for 2025's All Hallow's Eve celebration. But why do that when you could go as something entirely different - and that's totally inspired by the 42nd United State, Washington!?
Now, assuming you might need some assistance with this little endeavor, I'm here to help...with no fewer than 20 sensational ideas for your Evergreen State-derived costume! With everything from tried and true with a Washington twist to bizarre and largely unheard of, I'm certain you'll find something that'll suit your taste for playing dress up.
So, without further ado, let's get started!
VAMPIRE
Yes, this one's a classic and there's certainly going to be tons of bloodsuckers out again this Halloween (and even a few people who aren't lawyers and insurance company CEOs who are dressed up like vampires too!). But considering that the Twilight series of books and movies became such a worldwide phenomena, this ol' standby is a Washington State winner, no matter how you decide to dress it up.
WEREWOLF
You guessed it! If vampires are in as a Washington State-inspired Halloween costume, then all things lycanthropy certainly apply as well. And as far as I'm concerned, it doesn't matter if you go for something closer to Tiger Beat meets Teen Wolf like is featured in the Twilight books and movies, or something more like Wolfen or Stephen King's Silver Bullet...it all adds up to a howling good time!
BATMAN
Although there've been a variety of actors who've portrayed this legendary superhero from the D.C. Comics universe over the decades, the man who originally donned the old-school suit on 1960's television - Adam West, happens to be from Washington State. Walla Walla to be more precise, where there also just happens to be a Batman exhibit inside the Kirkman House Museum (214 N Colville Street).
So, as long as you keep it retro, or at least wear a name badge that says "Adam West" if you go with one of the newer cinematic Batman vestments, then you're most definitely representing Washington State accordingly.
STAR-LORD
Here's another superhero who's been portrayed in the movies by someone that hails from Washington State.
Chris Pratt, who's played the Marvel character in six different feature films, was actually born in Minnesota - but he grew up in Lake Stevens, Washington, where he also graduated from high school, which makes him a bonafide-enough Washingtonian in my book. Certainly enough so to be a part of our list.
There are a lot of cosplay outfits to be found of the Star-Lord online, and most of them are replete with that incredible leather jacket he's known for commonly sporting, which is a bonus since it can easily double as something to look cool in while taking the kids to school in the family Saab or while riding your moped on the open road during weekends.
SADAKO (SAMARA MORGAN)
We move from the world of comic book sci-fi to the horror genre for this one. A movie monster of sorts that was created in Japan under the name Sadako for the 1998 film Ringu, but was later branded as Samara Morgan in the U.S. adaption for the movie, The Ring, four years later.
In the original, Sadako - the ectoplasmically-black-and-white-incarnated spirit of a young girl who met with a tragic death, terrorized the infelicitous VHS-watching residents of Tokyo, along with Izu Oshima Island, the Izu mainland, and Sashikiji. However, in 2002's The Ring as Samara Morgan, she haunted those who weren't quite kind enough to rewind in metro Seattle, as well as Lake Whatcom near Bellingham. So this absolutely qualifies her as a set of Washington State-inspired Halloween togs!
So, why not go for it - all you young ladies who were too short and hunchbacked to make the high school dance squad? It's time to take in your dead grandmother's old wedding dress and get some revenge at this year's big reunion bash...and have something for Halloween too, of course.
BOB (from TWIN PEAKS)
Alright, let's move from cinematic horror specters to terrifying television spooks for our next inclusion.
Bob from Twin Peaks is certainly no Samara Morgan, but even though his clothes and hair are much cleaner, he's easily just as nasty of an otherworldly hombre. And since the entire series was both fictionally set in Washington and filmed in and around the state's real-life town of North Bend, it's also positively Washington State!
Plus, the garb required to pull this one off would be fairly easy to obtain too. Just look up your old buddy who used to be a roadie for Motorhead and ask to borrow something from his closet and you should at least get fairly close.
AGENT DALE COOPER
If you want to go a little more presentable this Halloween and also have an excuse to wear that old three-piece from your days as an electronics salesman in the mall during the 1980s, then becoming FBI Agent Dale Cooper from the TV show Twin Peaks might literally suit you well.
Hey, even if you don't have actor Kyle MacLachlan's looks, just the slicked back hair and a coffee cup will convey the spirit of his role on the early 1990's television drama.
And as a bonus, not only was Twin Peaks entirely set and filmed in Washington State, but the real-life Mr. MacLachlan also happens to own a winery in Walla Walla too! Maybe you could just go as him and switch out Agent Cooper's coffee cup for a wine glass instead? Either way, you're in like Errol Flynn (who was actually from Australia, but you get the point.)

DWIGHT SCHRUTE
The popular TV sitcom The Office might have been set in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but the actor who portrayed one of its principle characters is actually from Washington State.
Rainn Wilson, aka Dwight Schrute from the TV show, was born in Seattle and still calls the Puget Sound area home to this day. So, this effectively gives you the green light to use him as a Washington State-inspired Halloween costume.
Now, even though the attire needed to transform into Dwight isn't all that glamorous, it's still great go-to gear for Halloween. Just get on Facebook and find that guy you used to hang out with at the country club on weekends who once sold real estate for Century 21 and ask to borrow the jacket...that'll at least get you started. Add a pocket protector, a few ball point pens from the catch-all drawer in the kitchen, and a pair of dollar store readers with a medium power and you'll be good to go!
D.B. COOPER
Now we're leaping from the domain of the fantastical to the land of the living for our next set of inclusions.
Actually, this guy might very easily be dead - no one really knows for sure, but at least he was a real person, and the mystery and mythology surrounding his historical notoriety make him a great Halloween costume idea even if he didn't have Washington State surrounding his lore.
If you know the story, then you know D.B. disappeared with a lot of someone else's money from a Boeing 727 (Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305) bound for Seattle from Portland, Oregon on November 24, 1971 when he apparently parachuted out of the plane somewhere near Chehalis in Southwest Washington State. So, even though he was never found and therefore we're not sure if he was actually from the Evergreen State, the actions of his infamy are surely connected, and that makes him A-Okay for our list.
Perhaps you can go with this one if you're feeling a little less confident about pulling off Agent Cooper from Twin Peaks (see above)? I mean, they both Coopers of a different feather, you know?
GAYLORD PERRY
While professional athletes might not be quite as fabled in the same sense as fictional movie monsters, comic book super heroes, or legendary heisters whose last criminal acts have long gone unsolved, they do possess a certain brand of mystique all their own.
Now, you could obviously go as anybody whose ever donned a uniform for the Seattle Mariners (or the Seattle Pilots or any other Washington State-based team for that matter), but I tend to lean towards the somewhat obscure by default - which is why I think this old spitballer would be a perfect choice for any baseball fan looking to make an unexpected statement at the Halloween ball this year.
Perry, who passed away three years ago at age 84, might have been from North Carolina and spent a lot more time with plenty of other big league clubs during his playing days, but he did pitch for the M's during parts of the 1982 and '83 seasons and won his 300th MLB game with Seattle on May 6, 1982.
During his brief time playing ball in the Emerald City, at the age of 44, he became known to many fans as the "Ancient Mariner." And since it might be less to your liking to dress up like an old picaroon with an albatross strung around his neck so as to evoke ruminations of Samuel Taylor Coleridge's 1798 poem, this old-time Mariner might be just the trick you sports fans have been looking for.
RICH "GOOSE" GOSSAGE
Okay, I just wanted to toss this one at you too in the event you happen to look a little more mustached like Goose than bald and grizzled like Gaylord.
Gossage's stint with the Mariners lasted only one season (1994), so his level of obscurity in the club's history holds up to Perry's, and both are also Hall of Famers by the way ;-)
JIMI HENDRIX
If you don't feel like putting on the habiliments of a Major League Baseball player who has former ties to Washington State, then there are also plenty of famous musicians who hail from Evergreen country to choose from too.
After all, who wouldn't want to dress like Hendrix every day of their life, right? The Seattle-born axe man was the living exemplar of "cool" during the 1960s, and his legacy deserves to be celebrated whenever possible.
KURT COBAIN
I'm not a grunge fan myself, since it ostensibly killed why it might still be cool to dress up like Kip Winger for Halloween. But if plangent chords strummed by derelict-looking dudes in tatterdemalion sweaters happen to be your thing, then Cobain is the star around which all others orbit in this genre. He also happened to be from Aberdeen!
KENNY G
Yes, I know, in the world of Halloween costumes Kenny G is merely Weird Al Yankovic with a tenor sax. But the guy is from Seattle (Kenny, not Weird Al), and since we already have a dress up option for fans of both classic rock and grunge, we needed something for the winery-going club too. Now they're through the door of our Washington State-inspired Halloween soiree too.
BING CROSBY
Oh, what the hell...we threw in Kenny G, so we might as well offer this Tacoma-born crooner and comedian as a possible costume too. By the way, Crosby moved to Spokane at the age of 3 and was an alma mater of Gonzaga University.
THE SIREN FROM STARBUCKS
Okay, now we're going a little corporate on you for sure. But like it or not, Washington State is synonymous with Starbucks because of the company's roots in Seattle. And since dressing up like Howard Schultz or new CEO Brian Niccol seems downright wrong (and even creepier than most creepy Halloween costumes are intended to be), and going as a mocha might get you mistaken for Master Shake from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the coffee behemoth's longstanding logo is a potent enough choice for all of you caffeine addicts and possible Cher fans this Halloween.
FRUIT PIE THE MAGICIAN
You might be asking why this deliciously puckish icon from the old lineup of Hostess snack cakes is on our list.
After all, the former Hostess company responsible for his creation was based in Kansas City, Missouri under the auspices of the Continental Baking Company.
Fruit Pie the Magician was not only born in the same year that I was (1973), but he also happens to be my all-time favorite Hostess character - beating out other tasty pals like Twinkie the Kid, Happy Ho Ho, and Captain Cupcake for personal honors. But it's not his connection to my personal leanings which has gotten him a coveted spot on our list, but rather one of his most well-known flavor varieties - apple!
Everyone is familiar with Washington apples, and I'd be willing to bet a lot of that gooey filling found in all those fruit pies that were tucked inside the wrapper featuring Mr. Magician probably came from Washington State.
So, instead of an actual apple or Johnny Appleseed or something else which has already been done a million times for Halloween, why not our good friend Fruit Pie the Magician? I know his thaumaturgical nature allows him to transform his filling into any of several flavors, from lemon to berry and even chocolate pudding! But for this year's Halloween, he can surely be stuffed with apples from Washington State. Yes!
SASQUATCH
Talk about a perfect fit for All Hallow's Eve! This cryptid might also be as mythically common in places like California or Arkansas, but according to the Bigfoot Field Researcher's Organization, there are more sightings of sasquatch in Washington than any other state in the nation. So, if that isn't enough evidence to make this hairy fellow a perfect inclusion for our list, I'm not sure what more empirical proof you need.
Whether it's a big and happy squatch ala Harry & The Hendersons or a nasty and fearful brute as so shamefully portrayed in all those low-budget Sci-Fi Network originals starring former cast members of Beverly Hills 90210, any way you dress it up, you can go Big Foot and go home a winner after Halloween is over.
GOEDUCK
There's truly nothing like dressing up as a bivalve mollusk for Halloween, especially one that's so bizarre.
This very large saltwater clam from the Hiatellidae family is actually the mascot for Evergreen State College in Olympia, but their version admittedly seems to have been born from an undersea marriage between the aforementioned Starbucks siren and a half-eaten cannoli someone tossed overboard while taking the Fauntleroy to Vahson Island.
I guess any way you decide to pull this one off, it's going to be unique for certain and no doubt VERY Washington State, since these oddities from Jacques Cousteau's book are entirely indigenous to Pacific Northwest waters.
VOLCANO
Take your pick: Mount St. Helens; Mount Rainier; Mount Baker; Mount Adams;...even Glacier Peak! They're all volcanoes in the Cascade Range found in Washington State, so you can't go wrong.
There's also nothing quite the same as donning a costume which represents a massive geological phenomenon at the pinnacle of its transitional life cycle.
My advice, use a lot of red food coloring and corn syrup for the lava, no matter how you decide to do this one!
New Starbucks Halloween Cups 2025
Gallery Credit: Danielle Kootman
