Dressing up as the same ol’ goblin, ghoul, witch or werewolf for Halloween can get stale faster than a bag of candy corn, which is why we here at Janice love a clever, topical costume based off a popular current event. But be careful when you’re picking your hot meme or flash-in-the-pan celebrity because there is nothing worse than being the sixth “Rachel Dolezal” to show up to the party!

Lucky for you, we here at Janice have been pouring over the biggest headlines from November 2014 to put together some topical dress-up ideas guaranteed to give you a one-of-kind get-up! 

We know what you’re probably thinking. Yes, the events that inspired these costumes happened nearly a year ago. But there has not been a Halloween since any of this was in the news and this Halloween, so they are technically fair game!

Hey, we’re not saying that these costumes will be big hits with your fellow partygoers. We’re not saying that these costumes will even be recognizable references to most. We’re not even saying that these are “good” costume ideas. We’re just saying that we did the research and if you don’t want to run the risk of being shown up by another “Imperator Furiosta” with a better prosthetic, then these are still on the table!

1. Charles Manson Prison Wedding
Remember This? Back in November Charles Manson popped back into the national spotlight when it was announced that he planning to marry a twenty-six year old woman he met while behind bars. It didn’t happen for some reason. I can’t remember why. I think the license ended up expiring? Or it turned out that the woman was trying to take over his estate for some biography? Anyway, remember that to keep this fresh, you’re not Charles Manson from the ‘70s. You’re “Groom Charles Manson” from November 2014.
What You’ll Need to Pull it Off: An orange jumpsuit, bowtie and cummerbund, a baby doll in a white dress, and the guts to draw a swastika on your forehead.

2. Maine Ebola Nurse Goes Back Home
Remember This? Ebola was already a thing by last Halloween, but remember when everyone was up in arms about that nurse in Maine being quarantined? That actually mostly happened AFTER Halloween.
What You’ll Need to Pull it Off: A robe, a coffee mug, and a hospital mask. Keep taking off the hospital mask and maybe say something like “Oops! Guess I don’t need this anymore!”

3. Home Depot Hack
Do You Remember This? Hackers stole the credit card information from customers of a bunch of big retailers like Home Depot and Target. It’s happened a bunch since then, but this was the first big one and it was a huge deal. If anyone give you a hard time about this costume, remind them that they were probably very freaked out at the time.
What You’ll Need to Pull It Off: Orange apron and a laptop. Keep shrugging and saying “Sorry, gang!”

4. The Second Half of “Serial,” When It Started to Get Bad
Remember This? Everyone remembers back to early Fall 2014, when the nation’s ears were turned to “Serial,” the podcast that delved into the mysterious murder of a Baltimore high schooler in 1999 . However, it wasn’t until after last year’s Halloween when listeners began to agree that the show was starting to lose steam and that new episodes weren’t adding any information and that the finale was a complete fucking bust. You can’t do “Serial,” but “Serial Starting to Suck Towards the End" is absolutely enough of a thing for you to dress up as.
What You’ll Need to Pull it Off: A “Serial” t-shirt and earbuds. Look upset, keep checking your iPhone and exaggeratedly mouthing “What?!”

5. Taylor Swift v. Spotify
Remember This? There will be MANY Taylor Swifts this year.  You’ll see plain ol’ Taylor Swift. You’ll see “Bad Blood Taylor Swift.” You’ll see “Shake it Off Taylor Swift.” Maybe you’ll see “Taylor Swift catching her DJ boyfriend at a Thai Massage Parlor.” It’s possible you’ll see “Taylor Swift mishandling issues of race on the popular micro-blog platform Twitter.” And If anyone on this planet has any goddamn sense in their head, you’ll see “Ryan Adams dressed up as Taylor Swift.” But I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that you’ll be the only one at your party specifically going as “Taylor Swift pulling her content off of the popular music streaming ‘Spotify’” People might try to tell you that this is probably the least fun version of Taylor Swift you could possibly dress up as, but don’t listen to them. They are just jealous that they didn’t think of it first.
What You’ll Need to Pull it Off: A crop top, short-shorts, a pair of Jimmy Choo pumps, and a bunch of physical Taylor Swift CDs.