Norman Bates is America’s favorite psycho, according to an analysis by Frontier Communications. The hotelier-turned-killer from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film Psycho is the most popular classic horror villain in 13 states, beating out runners-up Chucky (the preferred choice in 11 states), Frankenstein’s Monster (in 6 states), and Alien (in 5 states).
Frontier, a telecommunications company, pre-selected 15 popular horror villains from movies made before the year 2000. They then used Google Trends to determine which ones were the most searched-for in certain states over the last 12 months.
Frankenstein, released in 1931, appears to be a timeless classic. It’s especially popular in the Northeast, as well as in Idaho. The Shining’s Jack Torrance—played by none other than Jack Nicholson—came in swinging and claimed the No. 4 spot, winning over residents of Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Virginia.
There are also a few surprises on the list. Classic slashers like Freddie Krueger, Michael Myers, and Jason Voorhees were the top choice in only one state each, while David Kessler (from ‘80s cult classic An American Werewolf in London) was the top choice in Maine. And West Virginia seems to like horror movies so much so that it couldn’t make up its mind: There was a seven-way tie with Pinhead, Michael Myers, Count Dracula, Hannibal Lecter, Freddie Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Pennywise.
Keep scrolling for the full list, courtesy of Frontier.
Alabama: Chucky
Alaska: Alien
Arizona: Chucky / Norman Bates
Arkansas: Hannibal Lecter / Norman Bates
California: Chucky
Colorado: Jack Torrance
Connecticut: Frankenstein’s Monster
Delaware: Norman Bates
Florida: Norman Bates
Georgia: Ghostface
Hawaii: Alien
Idaho: Frankenstein’s Monster
Illinois: Chucky
Indiana: Pinhead
Iowa: Pennywise
Kansas: Count Dracula
Kentucky: Leatherface
Louisiana: Chucky
Maine: David Kessler
Maryland: Norman Bates
Massachusetts: Frankenstein’s Monster
Michigan: Norman Bates
Minnesota: Alien
Mississippi: Chucky
Missouri: Hannibal Lecter
Montana: Norman Bates
Nebraska: Pennywise
Nevada: Chucky
New Hampshire: Norman Bates
New Jersey: Frankenstein’s Monster
New Mexico: Alien
New York: Frankenstein’s Monster
North Carolina: Chucky
North Dakota: Norman Bates
Ohio: Norman Bates
Oklahoma: Norman Bates
Oregon: Jack Torrance
Pennsylvania: Norman Bates
Rhode Island: Norman Bates / Frankenstein’s Monster
South Carolina: Chucky
South Dakota: Pinhead
Tennessee: Chucky
Texas: Chucky
Utah: Count Dracula
Vermont: Hannibal Lecter
Virginia: Jack Torrance
Washington: Alien
West Virginia: Pinhead, Michael Myers, Count Dracula, Hannibal Lecter, Freddie Krueger, Jason Voorhees, and Pennywise
Wisconsin: Norman Bates
Wyoming: Count Dracula
Why settle for just one villain when you can enjoy them all, though? Check out Mental Floss’s guides to the 20 best horror movies and 25 highest-grossing horror movies of all time.
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The Most Popular Pet Halloween Costumes of 2026
Other animals, food, and Dolly Parton topped the list of the most popular pet Halloween costumes this year.
ByEden Gordon|Oct 20, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT
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At the Tompkins Square Park Halloween dog parade in New York City, dogs appeared in every type of costume imaginable. I saw identical Shih Tzus dressed like Thing 1 and Thing 2, a squat little pug in a minuscule Sherlock Holmes getup, and even a tiny cloud-shaped creature dressed as the least terrifying pirate to ever bark.
As long as it doesn’t seem to bother the animal too much, there’s something irresistibly adorable about dressing four-legged friends in all manner of wild outfits. That was on full display at the parade, and if you’re a pet owner, the consequences are likely visible in your wallet too. A 2025 survey found that one in three pet owners planned to spend more on pet costumes than on human ones, and a 2026 survey by the National Retail Federation projected that Americans will spend around $1 billion on pet costumes this year, up from $860 million the year prior. So which pet costumes are all the rage in 2026?
The most popular costumes for pets of 2026
Here are the most in-vogue costumes for pets in 2026, according to Google Trends’ 2026 Halloween report:
1. Centipede
2. Dolly Parton
3. Bullseye (from Toy Story)
4. Diet Coke
5. Princess Donut (from Dungeon Crawler Carl)
6. Lamb Chop
7. Pua (from Moana)
8. Baked Potato
9. Roach
10. Tow Mater (from Cars)
Centipedes topped the list. These costumes typically consist of long black appendages with many little red legs on the side strapped to a pet’s back, and are relatively easy to DIY with some black and red fabric.
Coming in second was none other than the legendary Dolly Parton. The real-life Parton died on August 25, 2026, and clearly, many pet owners are feeling moved to pay tribute to her this Halloween. I did indeed see a dog dressed as Dolly Parton at the Tompkins Halloween parade, complete with a little pink hat, a blonde wig, and a sparkly vest, and can attest that it was a beautiful sight.
Third place went to Bullseye, Woody’s beloved, wordless toy horse from the Toy Story franchise. The popularity of this costume was undeniably bolstered by the arrival of Toy Story 5 in June 2026. It’s easy to imagine that pets dressed as Bullseye will be the perfect companions for the many kids who will undoubtedly dress up as Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and other Toy Story characters this year.
Pet costume trends and tips in 2026
Food was a popular theme on the list, with many pet owners searching for ways to dress their furry friends as cans of Diet Coke, lamb chops, and baked potatoes. Characters from popular media were also popular; Princess Donut from the science fiction-fantasy series Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman made the list, as did Pua, the pig from Moana, and Tow Mater, the rusty tow truck from the animated film franchise Cars.
I will say that aside from the Dolly Parton lookalike, I did not personally see any of the costumes on this list at the Tompkins Square Park event. I did see loads of pirates, as well as several Dr. Seuss characters. A slender greyhound in a dinosaur costume was a particular highlight, as was a sleek, elegant canine dressed as Gary from SpongeBob SquarePants, complete with little pink dog shoes.
Clearly, pet Halloween costumes are here to stay. Some pets definitely do love Halloween costumes and enjoy the attention they bring, but it’s important to pay attention to your pet’s needs and make sure you’re not accidentally traumatizing them.
According to the ASPCA, it’s important to check to make sure your pet’s costume doesn’t have any dangly or sharp bits they could ingest, and that it doesn’t disrupt their ability to move, breathe, or make sounds. Also, make sure your furry friend is wearing an ID; Halloween night should be fun-scary, not scary-scary in the way that searching for a lost pet with no tag is.
More Halloween Data:
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The U.S. States With the Most Halloween-Themed Street Names, Ranked
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Every State’s Favorite Halloween Costume, Mapped
•
The Most Halloween-Obsessed States in America, Ranked
•
The Most Popular Halloween Candy in Every State for 2026, Mapped
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7 Werewolf Novels That’ll Have You Howling in Fear
From horror classics to unique modern spins on lycanthropy, these books show the many sides of what werewolves can be.
ByLorna Wallace|Oct 19, 2026, 2:00 PM EDT
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Stories about werewolves can be traced all the way back to ancient Greece and Rome, but the supernatural beast has changed over the years. Traditional folklore has it that a werewolf is a human who fully turns into a wolf, and it wasn’t until Hollywood got its hands on the creature that the half-man, half-wolf hybrid was born. But while films like The Wolf Man (1941) and An American Werewolf in London (1981) helped to establish our modern idea of the mythological animal, there are also plenty of novels that have put their own spin on the lycanthrope. Here are seven of the best horror books featuring terrifying werewolf transformations and bloody tooth-and-claw carnage.
- The Werewolf of Paris (1933) // Guy Endore
- Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) // Stephen King
- The Wolf’s Hour (1989) // Robert McCammon
- Thor (1992) // Wayne Smith
- Mongrels (2016) // Stephen Graham Jones
- Such Sharp Teeth (2022) // Rachel Harrison
- Good Dogs (2024) // Brian Asman
The Werewolf of Paris (1933) // Guy Endore
While there are a few werewolf novels and short stories that predate Guy Endore’s take on the hairy creature, it was his 1933 book that really launched the werewolf into the literary limelight. “The Werewolf of Paris is perhaps entitled to be considered the werewolf novel, just as Dracula is the vampire novel,” according to the St. James Guide to Horror, Ghost & Gothic Writers (1998).
The story follows Bertrand Caillet, a French werewolf who tries to resist the monstrous impulses he was born with. The character was actually inspired by a real person: François Bertrand, whose mutilation of corpses in Parisian cemeteries during the late 1840s led to him becoming known as “the Vampire of Montparnasse.”
Cycle of the Werewolf (1983) // Stephen King
Cycle of the Werewolf didn’t actually start out as a novella; instead, it was a calendar. Each month of the calendar was originally going to have an illustration drawn by comic book artist Bernie Wrightson—best-known for co-creating Swamp Thing—and an accompanying short vignette written by Stephen King. But the stories soon grew legs, so it was eventually published as an illustrated novella.
The book is set in the small Maine town of Tarker Mills and each full moon a resident is killed by a werewolf. When Marty, a 10-year-old paraplegic, is attacked but survives, he makes it his mission to identify and stop whichever townsperson is transforming each month.
The Wolf’s Hour (1989) // Robert McCammon
The Wolf’s Hour mixes together a lot of different genres, from horror and action to romance and adventure. Set during World War II, the story follows British spy Michael Gallatin across two timelines: in 1942 we see him turning into a werewolf to defend himself, and in 1944 we follow along as he goes on a mission in France. Robert McCammon decided to leave a few of the standard werewolf characteristics out of his novel. “I didn’t see any need for werewolves to be restricted to the full moon in order to change, nor did it necessarily have to be night,” he explained in an essay for Mystery Scene magazine.
Thor (1992) // Wayne Smith
Werewolf stories are usually told from the point of view of either the werewolf itself or its human victims. But Thor goes in a different direction, making a German Shepherd the protagonist. The titular dog is fiercely protective of his family and can instantly tell that something is wrong with Uncle Ted when he comes to visit after a trip away. With no one else taking the threat seriously, it’s up to Thor to fight off the werewolf. Although the film adaptation of the book, Bad Moon (1996), wasn’t particularly well-received, the book has become a cult classic.
Mongrels (2016) // Stephen Graham Jones
It’s not uncommon for werewolves to be used as a metaphor for adolescence—see: Teen Wolf (1985) and Ginger Snaps (2000)—and Mongrels leans right into that groove. The narrator is an unnamed teenage boy who’s on the cusp of finding out whether he’ll be a werewolf like the rest of his family, which consists of his aunt, uncle, and grandfather. They live on the fringes of society, constantly traveling the southern states of America and struggling to make ends meet.
Stephen Graham Jones deliberately wanted to make money an issue for his werewolves so that they would feel as grounded in reality as possible. “Whenever I’m reading werewolf or vampire fiction, money’s never any concern,” he told Nightmare Magazine in 2017. “So, what I’m being asked to believe with a story like that, it’s both that these werewolves and vampires exist, and that they’ve invested well. Which is a lot to ask me to believe.”
Such Sharp Teeth (2022) // Rachel Harrison
Such Sharp Teeth starts with Rory reluctantly moving back to her hometown to help her sister, Scarlett, during her pregnancy (the father is absent). But not long after arriving, she’s attacked by a wild animal and then starts to notice some strange changes—such as growing fur and an aversion to silver. The story is a fun and romantic twist on the typical werewolf narrative, but it still has teeth and claws.
Rachel Harrison initially wanted to write a werewolf story because, she said, “there are a lot of parallels between womanhood and lycanthropy. The cyclical nature, the change once a month, the loss of control over the body.” But writing the book ended up being a freeing experience because while “women are expected to be small and meek and polite and smooth and smell nice,” Rory gets “to take up space and be angry and destructive and hairy and stinky.”
Good Dogs (2024) // Brian Asman
Another horror book that features werewolves as the main characters is Good Dogs. Cast out by their biological families, a group of lycanthropes have come together to create a found family. They live in the suburbs of San Diego, but after a night of wild carnage fueled by the full moon, they wake up to discover a severed leg in their garden. With their cover blown, they flee to a ghost town in the middle of nowhere—only to find that something even scarier than them lives in the surrounding woods. In Brian Asman’s own words, it’s essentially “a slasher yarn where werewolves are the victims.” Plenty of blood and gore is spilled across the pages of this book.
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8 Haunted House Books That’ll Keep You Up at Night
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•
Quiz: How Quickly Can You Name the Stephen King Character From One Clue?
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9 Vampire Books to Sink Your Teeth Into
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The Strange Dream That Gave Stephen King the Idea for ‘Misery’
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