What's hot for Halloween

When the doorbell starts ringing on Halloween night, you are sure to find children on your porch dressed as ghosts, monsters, princesses and witches.

But there also will be a few new looks this year, too.

While some Halloween costumes seem to show up every year, there always are some fresh ideas, usually based on current pop culture.

Whether you plan to make your child's costume or buy it, now is the time to start thinking about what your little ones will be on Halloween night.

We scoured local stores and the Web and consulted with several children to put together our picks for what will be hot this year:

Classics

Witches, ghosts and vampires are synonymous with Halloween and will never go away. Neither will fairies or princesses or firefighters or police officers, or, it seems, Ninja Turtles or Power Rangers.

Preschoolers most often opt for costumes from this category. There's nothing wrong with sticking with what you know.

Movies and TV shows

When kids reach elementary school, they become more concerned with coming up with a costume that's cool.

Spider-Man, Harry Potter and "Star Wars" characters have been around for a while, but this year brings some new ideas from movies such as "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "G.I. Joe" and "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen."

There likely will be lots of Autobots -- Bumblebee is the most popular -- X-Men and Wolverines at your door.

You'll see "Star Trek" characters and perhaps even Edward Cullen and Bella Swan from "Twilight."

The rerelease of "The Wizard of Oz" movie will bring more Dorothys, Tin Men and Scarecrows than usual.

And, of course, you'll see plenty of Hannah Montana, the "High School Musical" cast and, seeing a big increase in popularity this year from the preschool set, "Yo Gabba Gabba!" characters.

Current events

'Tweens and young teens often get a little more creative with their choices, often playing off current events. Many times, these costumes are easy to fashion at home. Easier than a Transformer, at least.

You'll probably see multiple versions of the late one-gloved King of Pop. That's a perfect example of a costume that's easy to create yourself.

Even before Michael Jackson's death, '80s styles were making a comeback. That will be reflected at Halloween with costumes such as Strawberry Shortcake and Ghostbusters.

There are always plenty of Barbies, but there will be even more, and more variety, this year, thanks to the doll's 50th birthday. Look for some variations, such as Corinne from "Barbie and the Three Musketeers."

Not only are the '80s making a reappearance, but so are the 1960s. The 40th anniversary of Woodstock will be celebrated by many groovy hippies on Halloween night.

Expect a Barack Obama or two, perhaps even accompanied by "change," and an interruption from at least one Kanye West.

Girls are likely to try to create pop star Lady Gaga's unusual look or the newsmaking haircut of mega-mom Kate Gosselin.

Deceased icons often are popular, too, so you may find yourself handing out candy to Farrah Fawcett, maybe even accompanied by the other original Charlie's Angels, or a loud-talking, product-hawking Billy Mays.

Where to buy

Locally, you can buy costumes at chain department stores or specialty stores such as Hokus Pokus, Party City and seasonal Halloween stores.

There also are many online retailers including Amazon.com, costumes4less.com, buycostumes.com, costumeexpress.com and extremehalloween.com. Search for "halloween costume," and the possibilities seem endless.

Finally, you can find ideas for costumes to make and no-sew costumes on Web sites such as Parenting magazine (www.parenting.com) and Family Fun (familyfun.go.com).

Brenda Rindge can be reached at 937-5713 or brindge@postandcourier.com.