Life News
Halloween costumes 2026: viral ideas in the West, legal limits in Japan and Korea
This year's costume coverage split neatly between ideas and rules. The Guardian offered 20 Halloween costumes for 2026, drawn from a cult horror film, a steamy ice hockey show, a disgraced political operative and the Bayeux tapestry, among others. It also profiled Marks & Spencer Food's product development director Kathryn Turner, whose in-store tasting videos have drawn 310,000 TikTok followers, as an unlikely costume idea.
In Canada, CBC told the story of Winnipegger Christine Keilback, who laughed off plunging shoulder-deep into a hole in a boulevard and has turned the mishap into a Halloween costume.
Asian outlets carried warnings. The Japan Times reported that adding a red cross to a nurse costume breaks the law in Japan: the symbol, often mistaken for a general sign of medical care, is legally protected and reserved for specific humanitarian purposes. The South China Morning Post reported that in South Korea, jail time awaits Halloween police impersonators.
How each outlet framed it
- The Guardian — inspiration: topical, pop-culture costumes and a viral supermarket star.
- CBC — local humour: an everyday mishap turned into a costume.
- The Japan Times — the law: why the red cross is off-limits.
- South China Morning Post — enforcement: Korea's penalties for dressing as police.
Practical tip from the coverage: If you are travelling in Japan or Korea this weekend, skip red cross emblems and realistic police uniforms.