Reflecting the tumultuous global sociopolitical climate (with many feeling they’re surviving history-defining upheaval), sportswear and beauty brands are tapping into survival-horror (revolving around a protagonist’s struggle to survive) messaging to ironically – yet adroitly – spotlight product longevity.

Tapping into a rising appetite for long-form content and cinema audiences’ surging interest in horror movies (see Key Stats), brands are producing short films, from a grotesque horror comedy rooted in 1990s nostalgia to a comment on the very real spectre of phone addiction.

FMCG brands are leveraging tropes of the horror genre for comedic Halloween campaigns. The best use age-old motifs to comment on contemporary horrors or show allegiance to pop-cultural phenomena by tapping into character-driven horror fandoms.

Participatory theatre is transporting Halloween fans to a realm where the normal rules don’t apply – thus positioning the brands behind it as instigators of routine-breaking adventuring.

Casting themselves as neighbourhood benefactors, confectionery brands are filling homes with enormous quantities of sweets – before challenging consumers to track them down. 

Amidst growing concerns about waste and cost-consciousness around Halloween costumes (see Key Stats), underconsumption-attuned editorials are styling core collections as costume-worthy, encouraging reuse and making consumers feel they’ve spent wisely.

With 51% of Halloween-celebrating Americans planning to dress up in 2025, we unpack this year’s trending costumes, demonstrating allegiance to 2025’s pop-culture behemoths and the internet #cores leaning into darker, edgier aesthetics with mileage beyond the holiday.