Watch out for Belles and superheroes Oct. 31

As you might imagine, superheroes and other movie characters take the spotlight for 2017, especially for kids.

Topping the list for girls, there is Belle from Beauty and the Beast. You knew that. And for boys, that means the beast. Naturally.

Belle should be followed closely by Wonder Woman impersonators, or so the seers in retail predict.

For adults, Game of Thrones themes abound. For women, Daenerys, mother of dragons, is a natural and easy costume that mainly requires a white wig and blue dress, even a daring one, if so inclined.  For the guys, Jon Snow’s leather duds or black cape with ever-present sword make a manly presence.

According to the National Retail Federation, the last decade of children’s costumes has been ruled by a throng of princesses spurred on by Disney movie re-releases and kept afloat by the 2013 hit Frozen.  It was hard to keep track of how many Annas and Elsas were running around trick-or-treating that year. In 2016 the top spot for kids was occupied by superheroes and other action stars from Batman, Deadpool and Spiderman.

As for adults, superheroes ranked high last year.  But witches, vampires and classic slasher movie villains were also plentiful and are expected to do well in 2017. Video game characters rank high for adults while kids seem to like characters from fantasy movies.