5. Hurricane anything
Midwesterners don’t like twisters. Californians fear fires and earthquakes. Latinx people, many of whom hail from coastal countries and states, get nervous at the thought of big incoming storms. Bonus terror points if the eye of the hurricane is mal de ojo.
4. Chancla-wielding mamá
Nothing takes Latinx folks back to their childhood frights faster than seeing Mom carrying around a flip-flop, preparing to whack the shit out of someone.
3. David S. Pumpkins
No knock on Tom Hanks, but this beloved SNL character is so infused with a White absurdist sense of humor that Latinx folks who grew up on the over-the-top surrealism of characters like El Chapulín Colorado fear they’re missing the joke. Is there more to this character we’re not getting? He’s not dressed like a grasshopper, he just wears a suit and dances? That’s it? Is it a language thing? Is he a demonio from hell meant to make us uncomfortable? Make it stop! (Or maybe that’s just me.)
2. ICE
Five years ago, this would’ve been an easy “la migra!” joke. But given everything we know about the abuses happening from Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents — especially what was in Netflix’s Immigration Nation — it’s not a funny Halloween idea, just a terrifying one.
1. La Lloronavirus
Combining the great mythical boogeywoman of Latinx culture with the most feared virus of 2020 (especially for abuelas) would be the most ambitious crossover costume in history. Even if this hypothetical, malevolent spirit doesn’t drown you, she’d leave you with lots of germs and, at the very least, two weeks of hellish uncertainty.