San Diego Halloween Costumes for Men: Are You Funny or Scary?

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My mission: uncovering the best Halloween costumes for men in San Diego. After going to several different San Diego Halloween costume shops, and asking questions about what guys want to be when not being themselves, I understand - unsurprisingly - that guys are more likely to choose funny Halloween costumes than scary Halloween costumes.

When I asked the manager at the Party City in Point Loma which Halloween costumes in particular San Diego males pay good money for, he replied, "Guys go for the funny stuff! Apparently, guys would rather dress up like Lieutenant Dangle from Reno 911 than Freddy Kruger.

Has Halloween become more of an expression of what a man thinks is humorous than what he thinks is scary? In most cases, if you're not trying to dress up as a character from a movie or a TV show, you either want to be a pirate who is free to get drunk and lure in wenches, or an inanimate object designed to generate laughs.

Halloween Costumes for Guys: Movie and TV Characters

Guys love Halloween costumes modeled after characters in movies and television shows.

While in the fourth grade in 1989, I made the bad choice of dressing up as Richie Valens for Halloween. I was obsessed with the movie La Bamba and I thought it would be a good idea to darken my face, give myself a 50s haircut, and walk around with a cardboard cutout of a flying guitar. That Halloween I never found my Donna, but it was my first experience trying to be something I saw on the big screen.

Employees at the super-serious costume shop Buffalo Breath concede that this year, guys are obsessed with the war movie/digital blood fest 300. These are probably the same guys who wanted to be Maximius from Gladiator six years ago.

That makes sense to me - remember, at age ten I wanted to emulate a dead Mexican-American rocker just because I enjoyed his cheesy movie. This year, I am actively trying to decide what other Lou Diamond Phillips' character I can embody for a night. If he was in 300, there would never be a question.

Halloween Costumes for Guys: Pirates

As I stop by various Halloween costume shops around San Diego, it becomes clear that the Pirates of the Caribbean promotional facet of the Walt Disney Corporation has completely taken over the men's Halloween costume genre.

Over the last few years, a majority of us guys have decided that we want to be Johnny Depp's version of Keith Richards on Oct 31st, more than his scissor-handed, freakish alter ego who's actually supposed to be scary. Jack Sparrow, Depp's character from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, is charismatic, usually a little drunk, and irresistible no matter how ugly one tries to make him look. If most girls choose to dress up like wenches on Halloween, it's no accident that guys are trying hard to fit the profile of what these ladies want.

The older we get, Halloween becomes less about being scary, and more about getting drunk at a party and donning a Halloween costume that leaves no hurdles to having a good time. The truth is, every pirate persona is unbound by any and all restrictions. If you feel the need to say, "It's a pirate's life for me” for a night, Gypsy Treasures in La Mesa is the best place to go.

Halloween Costumes for Guys: Objects

The three Halloween costumes that really caught my eye while visiting San Diego Halloween costume shops were the full-body whoopee cushion at Party City, the full-body Outhouse outfit at Buffalo Breath, and the Beer Keg get-up found everywhere I went.

The Beer Keg Halloween costume is the most popular. We've all seen the guy at the Halloween party wearing a grey foam cylinder with a tap on his head. He usually makes bad jokes all night, hits on your sister, and ultimately, has the time of his life representing the most sacred collegiate contraption. This guy is usually found in Pacific Beach either at a house party, or in a bar like Typhoon Saloon.

Sometimes he starts a play fight with the guy who is dressed as a bong. When it escalates into a real fight and the guy dressed as a condom gets hit in the face while trying to break it up, nobody is surprised.

These guys come out of the woodwork every year, and while they have no real trick, they always seem to be a treat.