The 35 Most Insane Halloween Costumes from Around the World

Two years ago, we took you inside the insane world of Japanese Halloween costumes. Last year we visited the dark carnival that is the German Halloween industry. So how to top that this year? What nation or ethnic group would we slander next? Mexico is a fairly reliable whipping boy. Everyone hates Italians, how about them? Also, fuck Mongolia.

Well, it turns out that Japan is just way, way better at this than anyone else. So to keep it interesting, we've decided to throw the strangest costumes the rest of the world can muster against the Japanese. Sort of a World War of costumes that will haunt your dreams.

#35.

We didn't even know we wanted to see the Japanese take on Eddie Murphy in Delirious, but now we can't imagine how we lived without it.

#34.

Hey folks! There's a party in my pants! Only one guy's shown up so far, but he seems in pretty high spirits.

#33.

Cobalt Rape Demon, a character from a popular Japanese children's cartoon.

#32.

We're hoping Inter-racial limb and scalp transplants are a pretty big thing in Japan, because otherwise this is pretty inexplicable. We honestly can't tell if this is racist or not.

#31.

This is a little clearer.

#30.

The joke here is evidently that this guy's suit shrunk in the wash, but we have no idea why the back of the jacket is missing. They clearly didn't use the extra fabric on his shorts. Huge fake penis = funny. Clearly visible actual penis = also funny, but in a way that will make people edgy and uncomfortable.

#29.

See, now that's classic "huge fake penis" funny. Just be careful to not hang around schools in this one.

#28.

Leaving Japan for a stretch, this is actually a pretty good lobster costume, but also a perfect example of why men with mustaches don't get modeling work anywhere but Germany.

#27.

Russia has a weird relationship to western culture. They'll spend decades denouncing capitalism, and then wait in line for hours to taste a Big Mac. Or in this case, a Russian kid will murder an American icon and then use the severed head to compliment his pantyhose.

#26.

This is not a costume you wear if you want to meet women. This is a costume you wear if you want to meet victims.

#25.

Sort of a furry meets Eyes Wide Shut thing going on here. For at least a couple reasons, this looks like it would be a nightmare to clean.

#24.

Included for both the terrifying dead eyes, and for how pronounced the camel-toe is on this costume.

#23.

Fake noses are a pain in the ass for costumes, given their propensity to fall off while drinking or engaging in certain sex acts, but we don't think this is the answer. These guys look like they're about to hold up a Hallmark store.

#22.

Of course anything Westerners can do, the Japanese can do crazier. This is evidently some sort of Fourth Reich Reindeer superhero.

#21.

We were going to make some sort of "which one's the costume" joke, but we can't bring ourselves to do it - they're both so happy, we love these guys so much.

#20.

When Japan was six-years old, Christmas murdered his parents, and ever since then he's been kind of weird about it.

#19.

A star/flower/kitty mask. A lot of powerful iconography here, this represents an early attempt by Japanese scientists to crossbreed the cutest costume ever.

#18.

Holy fuck. We have looked at a lot of costumes these last few years, and this is the only one we've seen that makes you look like a child molester version of Brent Spiner.

#17.

Your guess is as good as ours. We can't disagree with the label though.

#16.

We lost track of the name of this one, but we're guessing it said "Orthogonal Pig Hat."