In case you haven’t noticed (or are still a freshman), Halloween is a big deal on college campuses. The excessive amount of candy and horror-themed paraphernalia everywhere is both enticing and daunting. Wearing a costume is one childhood tradition that students rarely eschew; in fact, almost every party during “Halloweekend” expects people to dress up.

For some, it is a hassle or a source of stress to conjure up a costume that’s creative, clever, silly, or sexy. Some slap a pair of animal ears on their heads and call it a day. But for others, the perfect Halloween costume is an art, and the Wesleyan atmosphere encourages all kinds of debauchery and creativity at which the real world might turn its nose. For my final Wesleyan Halloweekend, I decided to look to the costumes of others for inspiration and entertainment. I gathered a sample of Halloween costumes to give you a sneak peak as to what this weekend will have to offer.

Talia Baurer ’15 brings her experience as an intern with the Center for Sexual Pleasure and Health in Providence, RI, as well as her role as a sex columnist for The Argus, to her costume.

“I’m being a condom fairy for Halloween,” Baurer said. “I have a belt that holds a condom in the buckle, so I’m wearing that, and I taped strips of condoms—in their wrappers!—to it to make a condom skirt. I also tied dental dams together to make suspenders. The rest is a surprise!”

Baurer said she loves Halloween for the opportunity to break out bright costumes.

“I have a big costume box in my room that withers away with disuse for most of the year, and Halloween is its time to shine,” Baurer said. “If anyone is looking for face paint, brightly colored leggings, a mask, or anything else, I’m your girl. I also like raiding the Rite-Aid candy isle on November 1 when all the candy goes on super-sale.”

Alexa Burzinski ’15 is dressing as the pink emoji girl every iPhone user has come to know so well.

“I’m just wearing a pink, long-sleeved v-neck, and I’m straightening my hair,” Bursinkzi said. “Not sure what I’m doing for bottoms yet, though. Also [I’m] going to be striking all the poses all night.”

People may have already seen Karmenife Paulino ’16 wearing her Tina Belcher—from “Bob’s Burgers”—oufit around campus.

“I plan my costumes months in advance,” Paulino said. “I love Halloween because it’s a celebration of transformation. It also gives me an incredible chance to witness the creativity of others firsthand. Plus, the free candy doesn’t hurt.”

Some students look to make statements through their costumes. Matt Fine ’15 said he is stuck between two options for costumes, contingent on how much time he has to get to the costume store.

“[I’m dressing as] Uncle Sam, with fake blood splattered all over my body,” Fine said. “I am going as a Marxist critique of capitalism. This is midterm week for me, so if I can actually go out and grab the costume, I’m gonna be it. If not, I’m going to wear sweatpants and a t-shirt or something like that and be ‘the feeling of just giving up.’”

Group costumes are also a popular choice. At a place like Wesleyan, where Halloween spans multiple nights and possibly multiple costumes, it’s nice to band together with friends for an ensemble outfit, perfect for big group photos.

Maia Nelles-Sager ’17, Kiley Rossetter ’17, and Allison Cronan ’17 are all teaming up to dress as characters from Guardians of the Galaxy, with Nelles-Sager as Star-Lord, Rossetter as Gamora, and Cronan as Groot. The group is mostly drawing from clothing they already have, bringing in various accents and hair dye to make it happen.

“I think my costumes are usually colored by who I do them with, and group or pair costumes are often way more fun than just being something clever,” Nelles-Sager said.

I am taking part in a group costume as well. My housemates and I are dressing up as Abraham Lincoln through the ages, an admittedly weird but unique collaboration.

Jeff Kasanoff ’15, one of my housemates, came up with the idea for our group costume.

“We were going to be historical figures, but we all wanted to be Lincoln because he’s obviously the best,” Kasanoff said. “This seemed like the best way to make everyone happy. We’re all wearing the signature hat and beard with our own twist. Personally, I’ll be in a caveman costume with a club and terrible posture, as pre-historic Lincoln.”

The rest of the group includes a ’50s housewife Lincoln, a ’70s hippie Lincoln, a ’20s flapper Lincoln, an ’80s Jazzercise Lincoln, and even a Lincoln from the future, with a full robot costume.

The best way to witness Wesleyan’s costume creativity is to explore the nightlife Halloweekend has to offer. The Wesleyan Student Assembly’s Community Committee has assembled an entire list of everything going on, from concerts and dance parties to more traditional trick-or-treating. A fair number of sexy animals and more traditional outfits is sure to emerge, but there’s always a guarantee that some students will put their creativity where it really counts: into memorable Halloween costumes.