The Best Halloween Costumes for Under $100 That Don't Suck

Welcome to Under a Hundo, where your faithful VICE editors find the best versions of anything and everything you're desperately seeking—all for under $100. Whether it’s fancy knives, instant-vacation-vibes patio furniture, or suspiciously underpriced ghost-hunting equipment, we’ve got your thrifty needs covered.

Are you stoked for Halloween 2022, but don’t want to shred your bills on a $115 polyblend wizard cape that you’ll never wear again? Number one, how dare you, but also, understandable. We also know you are not made of coins, despite the twinkle in your eye, and you don’t want to spend the equivalent of four AT&T bills on a sExY aLpiNe YoDeler ‘fit, when the closest thing you have to the alps is a bike ride up the local highway overpass. No, we need some costumes with second life potential, or a better price tag.  

Alas [rips cauldron bong], do not mistake our general pickiness around this issue as a disinterest in Halloween and unique costumes. Au contraire, dude. We would like to dress up, but don’t want to look half-assed; we want to look clever, comfortable, and more well-read than everyone else in matters of cinema, literature, and pop culture. Is that too much to ask? We didn’t think so. 

The following Halloween costumes will all run you under a hundo. We’ve covered everything the couple’s costumes that won’t give everyone else secondhand embarrassment and the gnarliest, grossest, scariest masks available on the free market, but here we’ve got the movie costume ideas that will make you look instantly cultured, the vampire costumes that are weirdly hot, and the schticks to pull off with your dog. Brain out of juice? Steal these ideas!

These costumes are the absolute foundation, dude. The food pyramid of Halloween. Les building blocks of basic Spook Town energy that only people who you’ll actually want to talk to at the party will recognize. 

Anyone can clock a witch costume, but only the real ones will get that you’re Fairuza Balk in The Craft:

Sniff out the people who shared your brand of pre-teen angst by coming as the Blink 182 album nurse:

Another 90s classic is Drew Barrymore in Scream (RIP). You probably already have the fisherman sweater, but you might want to get a new one if you’re going all in with the fake blood: 

Endless possibilities here, but we’re game for anything that will make us look like Harry Dean Stanton, in both Halloween and in life, as well as costumes that require only a wig and hot pink sweater to signal to everyone at the party that we have indeed seen Paris, Texas and are also down to smash Criterion-and-chill:

Also, just make a list of the most bangin’ on-screen vampires, from Aaliyah in Queen of the Damned…

 to literally any frilly-shirted character from Interview With the Vampire…

Or, for those vamps who like to go out in daylight, we suggest Wesley Snipes’ blood-sucker in Blade:

Let’s be real, this is the best kind of couple’s costume, because your pooch can do no wrong. Everyone with a tote-baggable dog is going to be doing Dorothy and Toto (tote-o?), so go for Elle Woods and Bruiser in Legally Blonde. It’s a great excuse to spoil your pet with a new rhinestone collar:

If you have a bigger dog, find a costume that will fit its frame such as an AT-AT from Star Wars. All you’ll need is a Jedi fit, and boom. 

Has a pet psychic ever revealed your terrier’s past life as a tortured, 19th-century Bateau-Lavoir artist? Do you already know that your cat is Matisse reincarnated? Dress them up as the artiste they truly are, then hang a canvas from yourself with an original piece by you and your companion that you can hang above your bed after the H-ween, much to the confusion of your lovers. 

I know these feel like easy costumes, but that’s because they are. And, spoiler alert, there’s nothing wrong with that. Unless you live in Los Angeles, Halloween night is also not exactly a warm, breezy time to be traipsing around town without a jacket. Also, this onesie alien ‘fit is just a vibe on its own turf:

You can also dress up like Gizmo from Gremlins, and everyone will be required to feed you their loot after midnight for the sake of LARP-ing plot continuity:

Now on any other year, this would just be ye olde skelly costume. But this onesie, paired with a blonde wig? You are siiiiick, and you're married. (You are Phoebe Bridgers.)

I know I just mounted a soapbox re: staying warm, but you know what’s better than warm? Hot. HOT HOT HOT. Tater tot hot:

Also, IMO all the trappings of this sexy fallen angel outfit are very reusable. Consider Valentine’s Day, birthdays, Wednesdays! C’mon, man:

See you on the streets, pumpkins. 

The Rec Room staff independently selected all of the stuff featured in this story. Want more reviews, recommendations, and red-hot deals? Sign up for our newsletter.