Fans of The Hunger Games series will have to wait more than a year for the second instalment to hit theatres, but expect to see plenty of Katniss Everdeen look-a-likes surfacing within the coming weeks.
The bow-and-arrow-toting heroine is one of this year's hottest Halloween costume ideas, along with a roster of contemporary pop culture characters and classic favourites.
Value Village store manager Christine Riddell said Katniss is the Hunger Games standout for Halloween, with the character's leather jacket, boots, satchel and signature braid among the key elements in assembling the look.
Rhonda King, retail director for Glow Parties in Halifax, stocked Katniss-style wigs and said the store was almost sold out of large bow and arrow sets.
"Whether they're using it for The Hunger Games [costumes] or not, I'm not 100 per cent sure, but it was a very large weapon, and it's done very well," King said.
Riddell said storybook characters and big-screen superheroes are also top costume contenders this year, including perennial favourites such as Spider-Man and Batman and characters from new films such as Snow White and the Huntsman and The Avengers.
"What's really interesting in the superhero costumes is that it's also translating into teens and adults, so it's not just for kids," she said from Ottawa.
In Value Village's third annual Halloween Shopping Survey of 1,000 adults, 40 per cent of costume-wearers said they would draw inspiration from the year's blockbuster flicks, compared to 25 per cent in 2011. While boys may be keen to step into the shoes of superheroes like Thor or Iron Man, the thrift retailer said fairytale and princess costumes are still tops for girls.
King said January is when retailers typically make their Halloween costume purchases, often based on trailers for upcoming films.
"It's hit and miss because unfortunately, you don't know whether the movie is going to be a success or not," she said. "As a buyer, it's an extremely difficult job."
Fortunately, King said, early predictions that The Avengers would be the year's hottest film turned out to be accurate. While few Canadian buyers thought the Captain America costume would fare well, she said it's proving to be the opposite case north of the border.
The small screen is also a source of costume inspiration, with 31 per cent of adults in the Value Village poll naming zombies from the AMC hit The Walking Dead as the best TV-inspired costume.
"What's really neat about zombies is you can be zombie anything," Riddell said.
"What we found a lot this year, as well as last year, was the zombie bride and groom, the zombie cheerleader, the zombie doctor, the zombie police officer. You can really take it anywhere.
"We do have new costumes that are zombie-ized, and we also have pretty much anything on our sales floor that you can take and add red paint to and dirt to make it look like a zombie costume."
For those seeking less ghoulish getups, copying the outlandish stage ensembles of pop stars may be a desirable alternative. Riddell said Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, LMFAO and Nicki Minaj are popular options. She's even fielded requests for reality show spoof looks, like one woman wanting to create a costume inspired by the child pageant series Toddlers and Tiaras.
For young girls, King said Monster High, which features fashionable ghouls, is probably the hottest costume for the season. Younger boys have also "gone to the dark side of Halloween" with a gravitation towards spookier characters, she noted.
King said there hasn't been a real surprise on the costume front. But one thing she has observed is an embrace of looks that have been longtime costume staples.
"The only surprise really is the young kids seem to have gone back to tradition: ghosts, goblins, hobos, princesses," she said.
"I don't know if that's the influence of the parents, or back to basics."
While costume seekers can have their pick from a wide range of store-bought options, some may seek to distinguish themselves with unique do-it-yourself creations.
