trick and treat

Spirit Halloween has to keep apologizing for this hilarious, fake “Gay Guy” costume

By · 11 comments · Updated on October 24, 2023
Photo Credit: Getty Images

Every fall, the ghosts of defunct department stores rise again when they’re possessed by the spirit—Spirit Halloween, that is!

Now the country’s largest Halloween retailer (with a family-friendly horror movie, to boot!), Spirit is a seasonal staple, often popping up in formerly abandoned buildings to offer a wide array of masks, outfits, decorations, props, and more just in time for the holiday.

Visiting one has become a tradition in itself, as shoppers peruse aisle after aisle looking for inspiration—it’s like they have every costume you could ever dream of! Well, not every costume…

A fake Spirit Halloween costume has gone viral that’s decidedly not in stock. Simply titled “Gay Guy,” the costume in question depicts a cute guy with buzzed and bleached hair wearing a tank top tucked into some light-wash jeans, draped in a Pride flag.

Honestly? Pretty spot on!

This clever bit of photoshop originated on Instagram where the mock Halloween costume was posted alongside a collection of equally hilarious fakes. But the “Gay Guy,” in particular, found its way to Twitter where it’s quickly taken on a life of its own.

“My culture is not your costume,” one user wryly remarked. Others have followed suit, but, as the image continues to spread, it’s become pretty apparent that not everyone’s in on the joke. In fact, a number of users are tagging the Spirit Halloween Twitter account and expressing their disappointment that they would manufacture and carry such a costume.

Related: No hack jobs: 10 queer slasher movies that are good for a scare—or a laugh

With all of the outrage, the retailer has had no choice but to respond again and again and again to reiterate that, no, this is not an officially licensed piece of merchandise. Just take a look through Spirit’s tweet history and you’ll find plenty of tweets like this:

(Side note: This is actually even funnier if you imagine the Spirit mascot—that spooky cloaked skeleton—is the one sitting at a computer, looking harried, typing up these responses to every tweet demanding an explanation for the fake costume.)

Poor Spirit Halloween! They thought they were going to have an easy year with red wigs and pinstriped suits flying off the shelves (we assume everyone’s going as Nicole Kidman in the AMC ad, right?), but now they have to deal with this mess.

As the “Gay Guy” continues to make the rounds, it has inspired yet another wave of fake costumes from photoshop-enabled jokesters—many of which are holding a mirror up to the queer community. Take a look at a few of the funniest below:

“Gay Loser” has become an especially popular sub-genre of the meme, but we’ve got to hand it to this one, nodding to Our Flag Means Death, one the year’s best (and surprisingly queerest) comedies:

Another makes a sly reference to “bossy beefcake” YouTuber Markiplier, who we’ve covered on this very site:

Related: Bossy beefcake YouTuber Markiplier promises to join OnlyFans… if you meet his demands

And then there’s this one, possibly the scariest costume of all:

And, finally (for now), someone decided to drag our favorite pop star Lil Nas X into it, referencing the orange look he wore to the Variety Hitmaker Brunch in 2019 with the costume name “Gay Person In Terrible Outfit.” Nas—who’s just frighteningly good at the internet—quote-tweeted with the perfect response:

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