7 Needlessly Obscure Halloween Costumes for Horror Hipsters

Halloween is fast approaching, and if you want to show yourself off as the superior nerd here as some horror costumes that while they are immediately recognizable are specifically designed for you to go “Ummm actually this is what I'm dressed as”.

Bennett Tramer (Halloween II)

So you're sick and tired of seeing schmuck's dressed as Michael Myers from John Carpenter's Halloween, it's your time to shine by dressing as obscure Halloween character Bennett Tramer. The character first appears in Halloween II, and is seen wearing a simulacrum of the famous Michael Myers mask, the only difference? The hair on the mask is bleach blonde. This character (who has a total of 30 seconds of screen time), will be sure to make heads turn this holiday season.

Christopher Hawley (Murder Party)

Director Jeremy Saulnier has been a prominent name this year due to the release of the magnificent Green Room, so why not go back to his first feature in order to show all your friends that you knew Jeremy Saulnier before it was cool. In the feature film Murder Party the hero cannibalizes an old cardboard box to make a cardboard knight costume, complete with a mark on the chest that reads “books”. While the costume looks cheap, and quick, a truly devoted hipster will painstakingly recreate the ins and outs of this obscure costume.

Hannibal Lecter (Manhunter)

Hannibal Lecter's are a dime a dozen come Halloween season mainly reflecting the character's depiction in the television show Hannibal and the classic Silence Of The Lambs. Show them how superior you are by dressing up like Brian Cox the original Hannibal Lecter in Manhunter. Be the kind of Hannibal Lecter who would one day own a monkey jail later in his career.

Female Chatterer (Hellraiser: Revelations)

The second most recognizable character in the Hellraiser series is undoubtedly The Chatterer, one of the most fearsome cenobites in Pinhead's army. Yet, as a horror hipster you cannot possibly abide by such a mainstream horror icon. It's very important to specify that you are not in fact a gender-bending reinterpritation of the male Chatterer, but instead a literal interpretation of the series' first female Chatterer, featured in the terrible sequel Hellraiser: Revelations.

Roy Barns (Friday the 13th Part V: A New Beginning)

"Roy who?", say the plebians. True horror hipsters are well aware that it was Roy Barns was featured as a the main killer for a sizeable portion of Friday The 13^th Part V: A New Beginning. There are two options for this particular costume: you can either dress in the guise of fake Jason Voorhees complete with the blue markings on the hockey mask, or you can dress in his paramedic outfit seen early in the film.

Hall Pass Krueger/Janitor Fred (A Nightmare on Elm St., Scream)

For the hipster that is too strapped for cash to opt for the makeup portion of dressing as Freddy Krueger, you are faced with two delightfully obscure options. Firstly, you can don a set of pigtails, put on the red and green sweater, grab your knife glove, and dress up as The Hall Pass girl from Nancy's nightmare in the original A Nightmare On Elm Street. However, If you are looking to get even more obscure, and lets face it, you totally are, you can dress as the janitor from Scream. This option gives you double the meta points as you'd be partially representing Freddy Krueger, but also the genre legend Wes Craven himself, who played the role of the janitor. Jackpot!

Johnny Steele

Critters in itself is a relatively obscure horror film in the modern era. Seemingly a rip-off of Gremlins, this creature feature has two intergalactic bounty hunters tracking down a group of ravenous furballs who have landed on the planet earth. While the Bounty Hunters are preparing to land on earth they take on human forms and faces in order to blend in, which is where this obscure costume has its origins. The lead bounty hunter takes the form and shape of fake rock and roll star Johnny Steele, who has a hit song “Power Of The Night” that is at the peak of its popularity in the Criteverse (a term I just coined now to refer to the Critters universe).

If you encounter someone who can identify any of these costumes, instantly make them your friend, and then dedicate your next year to finding an impenetrably obscure costume to really stump the crowds.