Halloween, Hallowe’en, All Hallow’s Eve. Whatever you call it, it’s around this time of the year that the chances generally increase of someone inviting you to party – a party where you’re encouraged to dress up like a tit. Yes, it’s fancy dress season.
Borrowing your mum's clothes and pretending to be a woman is both too easy, and somewhat disturbing, in a Oedipal kind of way. Also, wearing your birthday suit is a big no no.

So what costumes should a self-respecting geek consider? Maybe this short list, which features a few classics, will be of use.

Star Trek

It’s an obvious one, but if you’re a bit of a Trekkie, it’s a worthwhile investment. If fact, if you’re seriously into this kind of thing, it might be worth actually buying the suit, instead of hiring, since you can use it to start attending Star Trek functions.

Within this category, you can choose to dress as a Star Fleet officer, which means plenty of lycra. This is great if you’re in good shape, but it’s not quite so flattering if you’re carrying a few extra pounds. In this case, you could try a Klingon outfit. People will be so distracted with the huge kebab-like structure of your forehead that they won’t notice anything else.

Ghostbusters

The great thing about going to a party as a Ghostbuster is that you can do it on your own, or you can get a few friends to do it as well, thus completing the team. Expect arguments over who gets to be Peter Venkman though.

If you’re a completist, then you’ll probably want someone to go along as Janine, the Ghostbusters’ neurotic receptionist. And if you’ve got a chubby mate, you can paint him green, and he can be Slimer.

Star Wars