Finding the perfect bookish Halloween costume is far from easy. Get too original, and no one has any idea who you’re supposed to be. But while no one wants to walk around explaining their costume all night, if you’re anything like me, your worst nightmare is showing up to a Halloween party to find that there are eight other people at the function wearing the same costume as you. (I mean, I’m certain there will be more than one Violet Sorrengail walking around with her Xaden in tow when Oct. 31 rolls around.) So, you have to strike the balance of niche yet recognizable.
Luckily, there are tons of novels and book series that are incredibly popular on BookTok, meaning you can find an incredible, creative idea that will have other readers coming up to you all night long to tell you how much they love your costume. (There’s nothing better than having someone compliment your costume, but a bookish costume that comes with the added benefit of getting to bond over your favorite book series with another book girlie? Sign me up!)
Here are a couple of original costume ideas that will have all the BookTok girls wishing they had the same idea as you.
- Olive Smith from The Love Hypothesis
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This costume is great if you aren’t looking to go too big this year, because all it takes to become our favorite scientist at Stanford is a lab coat. Plus, you could easily turn this into a couples costume by adding Adam to the equation, or you could have a friend go with you dressed as Olive’s bestie, Anh.
- Sybil from The Knight and the Moth
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Sybil has an extremely niche look that would make an absolutely amazing Halloween costume, and all you need is a silver wig, a shroud to go over your eyes, and a white dress. I could also see this becoming a costume for a trio, with someone in your group dressing up as our beloved knight, Rory, and another taking on everyone’s favorite gargoyle, Bartholomew.
- Elspeth and the Nightmare from One Dark Window
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Another Rachel Gillig-inspired costume comes from The Shepherd King duology. It would be so cool to see someone attempt to do a mix of both Elspeth, with her long dark hair and gothic dresses, and the nightmare she becomes in the second book, painting a creepy smile on your face and going all out with yellow contacts and a cloak.
- Tella or Scarlett from Caraval
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While I’ve seen quite a few people dressed up as Eva and Jacks from Caraval’s spinoff series, Once Upon a Broken Heart, most people miss the opportunity to dive into the circus themes of Caraval on Halloween, making one of the two main characters, Tella or Scarlett, the best muses for the holiday.
- Poppy Wright from People We Meet on Vacation
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Poppy Wright has some incredible outfits in both the book and the movie adaptation of People We Meet on Vacation, but the most iconic was probably her tube top and blue wig, which would be so easy to turn into a costume that is both niche and recognizable.
- The Thirteen from Throne of Glass
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The ACOTAR series has been getting a lot of love lately, especially with a new book hitting shelves Oct. 27, so there are sure to be quite a few people dressed as the Archeron sisters on Halloween. Luckily, Sarah J. Maas has another incredible series to inspire your costume: Throne of Glass. Dressing up as the Ironteeth witches from Manon’s coven, the Thirteen, is the perfect group costume, and it’s sure to unite all of the SJM girlies at your Halloween party. I can’t wait to see a group of girls with the Thirteen’s signature metallic nails and flying leathers.
- The Macbeth Production from If We Were Villains
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Not only does If We Were Villains have the dark academia vibe everyone’s searching for during spooky season, but the book offers the best scene to choose from when you pick your costume. The characters from If We Were Villains set out to put together a Halloween production of Macbeth at the novel’s turning point, giving readers a chance to go as a character playing a character. Someone could dress as Meredith in her role as one of the three witches, or better yet, get a whole group together to take on the seven main characters’ roles in the play.
- A Witch with a Midnight Margarita from Practical Magic
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Is there anything more iconic than the midnight margaritas scene in Practical Magic? While the scene may not be directly from the book by Alice Hoffman, it’s still a great way to nod to the beloved characters from the novel and the newest addition to the story, Practical Magic 2.
- A Jane Austen Heroine
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Jane Austen’s timeless books leave us with quite a lot of costume inspiration. Whether you’re drawn to Emma Woodhouse or Elizabeth Bennet, there are a million ways to make a Jane Austen character your own for Halloween. All you need is a Regency-era dress, gloves, and a fancy updo, and you get bonus points if you can find a prop to nod to your chosen heroine (like one of the books Elizabeth’s always wandering around with or Emma’s drawing book).
- The Six of Crows Characters
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It may have been a decade since the first book was released, but readers are still very much obsessed with the Six of Crows characters, especially after the novella, Six of Crows: A Darker Shore, Letters from Ketterdam, came out this year. The Crows make a wonderful group costume, but you could also put together your own ensemble to embody your favorite character, or turn it into a couples costume by picking from one of the three incredible pairings from the books.
- Your Favorite Targaryen and Dragon Pairing From the Game of Thrones Series
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Game of Thrones Halloween costumes are nothing new, but this costume could be made really original with the help of a pet. I love the idea of someone dressing up as one of the Targaryen and dragon pairings we’ve seen, whether that’s Rhaenyra and Syrax or Daenerys and Drogon. Having your pet complete your costume is always fun, and even more so when they can become your favorite faithful dragon.
- Your Favorite Hunger Games Tribute
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I’ve seen quite a few Katniss costumes over the years, but people tend to neglect the other characters in the Hunger Games series when going about picking their Halloween costumes. We need to give some love to the other tributes, especially with so many new characters from Sunrise on the Reaping stealing fans’ hearts. And now is the best time to do it, with the movie adaptation coming out so soon after Halloween on Nov. 20.
- Grace and Rocky from Project Hail Mary
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If you’ve been on BookTok long enough, chances are you know that before the movie adaptation of Project Hail Mary had everyone’s attention, readers fell in love with Grace and Rocky in the pages of the novel. Dr. Grace would make such an easy costume. All you need is a pair of crooked glasses, one of his science pun graphic tees, and a cable knit sweater. There are tons of fun ways to bring Rocky into the occasion, whether that’s by having a friend dress up as the character, bringing along a pet in costume, or simply carrying around a rock.
- A Crowns of Nyaxia Vampire
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Plenty of people go as vampires for Halloween, but the Crowns of Nyaxia series gives you the opportunity to make that concept your own. The heroines from this series would make incredible Halloween costumes. You can so easily put a spin on the typical vampire costumes by adding Oraya’s blades, Mische’s flames, or Kyrene’s sword to their ensemble. Plus, you could take inspiration from Dylan Efron’s DWTS costume from last year, turning the idea into a couple’s costume when you add in our favorite leading men from the series.