Halloween is supposed to be spooky. But among college students and some other adults, it can seem like spooky season has turned into sexy season. While I have not gone out for Halloween in years, and my favorite holiday has been reduced to scary movie night, I still like to look at costumes.

My roommate and I were looking at Halloween costumes recently, predominantly sexy ones, and jokingly rating them. He would rate the women’s costumes, and I would rate the men’s costumes, pointing out which ones we thought were actually sexy.

Advertised under women’s costumes on so many websites are things like sexy nurse or sexy cop. Some stores still sell costumes that have long been established as problematic, such as sexy Pocahontas.

Nancy Fu, WSU senior digital technology and culture major, said any costume with the word sexy in front of it could be considered overused.

“I think the most common one is any witch costume, any vampire costume, or sometimes on Pinterest, you see groups of girls dressed in sexy crayon outfits. Those are weird,” Fu said. “I think the weirdest ones so far that I’ve seen are pandemic Halloween costumes.”

Fu said there are now costumes like sexy toilet roll, sexy hand sanitizer, and other costumes that she feels do not seem right given our current circumstance. I had to look up pictures and she is right – sexy hand sanitizer is weird. I would rather see a sexy plague doctor than a sexy hand sanitizer if I had to choose.

“I think sexualizing any costume is problematic, but I also understand that Halloween is the time to do it,” Fu said. “You can’t normally walk out in a bra and skirt set and go ‘I’m ready!’”

Dominic Marinos, WSU junior English major, said he thinks the most overused Halloween costumes are playboy bunnies or Hugh Hefner.

“For Greek Row, I definitely saw a lot of bunnies, so to me, that’s one of the number one most used,” Marinos said.

Vampires are a little different. Marinos said he saw a lot of kids dressed as vampires when he helped his mother hand out candy. If he went to any parties, vampires were more bras, fangs and pointy ears.

In Halloween stores, however, Marinos said professions are overmarketed both toward kids and adults, as kids might dress up as something they want to be when they’re older, and adults take on the sexy version.

“I think it’s for fun, really. Who doesn’t want to dress up as a sexy nurse or sexy cop just to show off a little?” Marinos said. “I definitely think [Halloween] should be more spooky but unless it’s for little kids, for older people, it’s to wear slutty outfits and get drunk and have fun.”

With Halloween being my favorite holiday, I miss seeing people dressed up as spooky things. I never was able to go to a haunted house or a haunted hayride, and I doubt I’ll try that out this year either, but at least I still have virtual spooky movie nights.

For anyone who feels comfortable and confident in the sexy Halloween costumes I call overused, keep rocking the outfits and have fun. We can all find ways to safely enjoy this year’s Halloween. Maybe there will be virtual costume parties!