Google Reveals Its Top Trending Halloween Costumes for 2026 — and They Are Delightfully Bizarre
With Halloween two days away, Google published its annual list of the most-searched costume ideas for 2026, topped by Buddy the Unicorn from a horror film, a squishy stress ball, and characters from Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, sparking wide online delight.
With Halloween falling on Saturday 31 October 2026, Google released its annual ranking of the most-searched Halloween costumes, and the results sparked delight and amusement across social media. Topping the list was Buddy the Unicorn, the deceptively cheerful villain from a horror film in which a children's television mascot takes a sinister turn. In second place was NeeDoh, a popular squishy stress-relief toy, which commenters noted reflected a kind of collective anxiety humour. Third was Nikki, the obsessive love interest from the horror hit Obsession. Fourth and fifth were Agamemnon from Christopher Nolan's epic film The Odyssey and characters from the Poppy Playtime game franchise. The broader top-ten also included musician Oliver Tree, a Minecraft character, and figures from Disney's Descendants franchise. Popular couple costumes included Wall-E and Eve, while pet costume trends ranged from Dolly Parton to a baked potato. The story was covered by Variety, Time Out USA, Men's Journal, 9News and Yahoo Shopping, all noting that the 2026 list represented an unusually wide mix of horror, niche gaming lore, pop culture and what Variety called 'a little ridiculousness.' The release landed two days before Halloween, maximising its shareability as people scrambled for last-minute ideas.
