Janelle Monae among stars transforming for Halloween

· BBC News
Janelle Monae (left) dressed up as ET on Jennifer Hudson's chat show on ThursdayImage source, Getty Images

Annabel Rackham
Culture reporter

It is Halloween once again and two things are inevitable - running out of sweets before young crowds of trick or treaters have knocked on your door, and social media feeds being inundated with celebrities in costumes.

So to save you some aimless scrolling, here are some of the best celebrity Halloween costumes we've seen this year.

Janelle Monae appeared as ET the Extra-Terrestial from the 1982 film, wearing some incredible prosthetics whilst featuring on a Halloween special of The Jennifer Hudson show.

She is famous for going the extra mile with her costumes, and told Hollywood Reporter, external: “Halloween is such a happy space for me, it has been since I was a kid.

"It opens a larger conversation of how do we become agents of joy? How do we become agents of happy?

"Bringing Halloween experiences and creative experiences is heart work, not hard work. I do this because my heart needs it.”

On Thursday, Lupita Nyong'o swapped trick or treating for the opening night of a Broadway musical in New York City.

But she still made sure to get in the spirit - donning a ghostly-white wig and contact lenses.

It's not often that you get thirsty looking at Halloween costumes, but Pixie Lott mastered her look this year by dressing as a fashionable Aperol Spritz cocktail.

The 33-year-old also completed her look with a slice of orange as a hat.

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Amelia Dimoldenberg really reached into the Disney/Pixar archives for this look, as she appeared as the character Roz from the 2001 film Monsters Inc.

You'd be forgiven for not remembering this slug-like monster, who played a small part as an extremely grumpy office worker in the animated film.

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Lizzo definitely wins the award for most timely Halloween costume.

She dressed as a fake weight loss drug, which was dreamt up in a recent South Park episode that joked about her body positivity message.

The costume also doubled up as a response to online speculation that her recent weight loss had been fuelled by the drug Ozempic.

The singer posted on Instagram, external in September: “When you finally get Ozempic allegations after five months of weight training and calorie deficit..."

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Meanwhile, Maya Jama got into the Halloween spirit with her Beetlejuice-inspired costume.

Fans might recognise her vibrant green hair and monochrome suit from the 1988 film, or the sequel which hit cinemas earlier this year.

Rather than imitating the man himself, she described her costume as "Beetlejuice's unruly niece".

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Nostalgia is always a big part of Halloween and Paris Hilton has leaned into this trend with her 2024 look.

Taking it back 30 years, she dressed up as Uma Thurman's character Mia Wallace from the 1994 Quentin Tarantino film Pulp Fiction.

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Selena Gomez and her boyfriend Benny Blanco fell down the rabbit hole for their costumes this year.

The actor dressed as Alice in Wonderland whilst her musician partner paid homage to the Mad Hatter.

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