Ready to win Halloween this year? If spooky, gory, or witchy costumes aren't exactly your thing, perhaps a tongue-in-cheek, meme-inspired costume is more your speed! From Dolly Parton's viral LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder meme at the beginning of the year (why does that feel like five years ago?) to the Bernie Sanders "I am once again asking for you . . . " meme, there were a few moments in 2020 that managed to make us laugh, so why not translate that into a costume that'll make all your friends and family smile, too? Here you'll find some of the best memes from 2020 (lookin' at you, fly on Mike Pence's head) and how to create a winning Halloween costume inspired by them. For all of these, materials you probably already have at home will work, and you can even make group costumes for you and your roommates. Keep reading to see them all now, and get your acceptance speech ready for when you win all the costume contests!
The "physically I'm here, but mentally I'm..." meme, where people compared their current mental state to this cow on the shore of a beach, is hilariously accurate for 2020. Poke fun and the heaviness of this weird year by channeling this meme for your costume.
While detailed cakes have become increasingly popular in recent years, this year they were taken to a whole new level when we were confronted with a possibility we had never considered: is everything cake? Are we . . . cake? After a few illusion cake videos became viral, showing everything from hyper-realistic remote controls to human hands being cut into, it became a bit too much to handle.
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt made everyone go a little crazy over their recent reunion for a Fast Times at Ridgemont High table read, resulting in memes circulating about how Brad looks like a divorced aunt who runs a community theater. If you want to channel one of pop culture's most iconic former couples (and current friends!), this meme costume is for you.
Former presidential candidate Bernie Sanders turned into a viral meme after a video was released of him saying, "I am once again asking for your financial support" in regards to his campaign. Because it's the internet, people began to change the words to just about everything under the sun, including "for you to stop buying skincare from third-party Amazon sellers." (Nope, not guilty at all!)
When Grimes and Elon Musk had their baby X Æ A-12 this year, you could say the world couldn't let that pass without heavily meme-ifying it. Although the name has an interesting significance, memes emerged showing the baby driving himself in his stroller and floating around school.
Accounts began to circulate on Instagram this year that showed you what animal or object you were according to your name. A fun exercise to ward off social-distancing boredom, there are thousands of accounts in every language that present you your own mini meme, such as the hilariously random @what_frog_you_are.
This is definitely a favorite meme of 2020 because it sums the year up quite perfectly: a Furby on fire. Nostalgic, weird, random, and filled with existential dread, it's 2020 in a nutshell and hilarious for good measure. Yup, this is how emails find us now, thanks!
The internet was in a frenzy earlier this year creating contrasts between movie-presented villains and actual villains, especially winning with this The Devil Wears Prada one. Even though Nate made an incredible grilled cheese, he was low key a bit annoying and stunted Andy's professional dreams.
Who doesn't love a good costume inspired by The Office? This year was perfectly defined with this meme, showing Kevin's plans for his amazing famous chili and the death-defying spill that occurred right after. We feel you, Kev.
This photo of Robert Pattinson in a tracksuit in a kitchen was basically made to become a meme. There were tons made with this photo, but the most popular seemed to be one drawing a comparison between Pattinson and the ubiquitous cousin who helps you get more folding chairs from the garage. Just perfect.
The Crying Cat perfectly represents how a whole lot of us may be feeling right now, but in a cute way.
Dolly Parton created a viral challenge earlier this year that everyone had so much fun getting on board with, collaging the different photos she would use for her LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Tinder profiles. Soon enough, everyone was posting them, which basically just proves Dolly is still a legend and now a meme genius.
Billie Eilish became the new Kacey Musgraves with this hilarious reaction to Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph singing at the Oscars, which can pretty much be applied to everything that's happened this year.
Netflix's Tiger King took the country by storm earlier this year with its wild story, and all the memes that followed about Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin were pure gold. Channel your favorite character this Halloween for a hilariously relevant costume.
Ariana Grande is known for her signature look (high ponytail, knee-high boots, baggy sweatshirts), so channel the "7 Rings" singer in a funny way this Halloween. Since she usually uses her sweatshirt to cover her hands during interviews, do the same thing with a little bit of a twist: add food!
Nathan Apodaca's now-viral TikTok video of him skating down the street while drinking cranberry juice and singing along to Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" is a real mood. It quickly blew up online, earning more than 4.5 million likes and a re-creation by Mick Fleetwood himself. You can easily re-create this for Halloween, which allows you to a.) get around quicker and b.) be completely comfortable.
During the vice presidential debate, Mike Pence was midway through his response to a question about racial justice when a fly landed on his head. Instead of immediately flying away, it just sort of . . . stayed there. And a million memes were born. You can either re-create this with simply a fly on your head or tap into one of the many memes that imagined the fly holding a "Biden Harris 2020" sign, talking into a mic at a news conference, or singing the national anthem.