Google has released its annual Frightgeist data, highlighting the most-searched Halloween costumes of the year. The character Nikki Freeman from the recently released horror film Obsession and Buddy the Unicorn have emerged as two of the most popular search trends.
Obsession, which debuted in May to critical acclaim, propelled actress Inde Navarrette to wider recognition and later secured her a role as Rogue in Marvel's upcoming X-Men reboot. The film generated significant online discussion, with Nikki Freeman even appearing as a character at Universal Studios' Halloween Horror Nights. Consequently, Nikki is the third most-searched Halloween costume this year according to Google's Frightgeist, an interactive website that tracks search trends for the spooky season.
Buddy the Unicorn secured the first place for most-searched costume, followed by "Needoh," a type of tactile squish toy, at second place. Google noted an increase in searches for "red zebra halter top" following Obsession's release, a garment worn by Nikki in a key scene. The top ten trending costumes include Agamemnon from The Odyssey, Lily Love Braids from Poppy Playtime, Oliver Tree, Verity from Minecraft, Carl from Dungeon Crawler Carl, Disco Scooby Doo, and Hazel Hook from Descendants.
In addition to individual costumes, Nikki and Bear were the third highest-trending couples' costume, behind Disco Scooby and Shaggy, and the X-Men's Cyclops and Jean Gray. However, Obsession did not feature in the top 10 most-searched horror movies on Google. Instead, films like Buddy, Other Mommy, and Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil made the list. Other popular horror movie searches included The Whisper Man, Passenger, Brute, Insidious: Out of the Further, Arachnaphobia, Hokum, and The Backrooms.
The past year has seen considerable success for horror films, particularly independent and low-budget productions. The Backrooms, directed by Kane Parsons, has notably driven a trend of similar creepypasta-inspired projects receiving film adaptations, including Siren Head, The Mandela Catalogue, and properties related to The SCP Foundation.