Old School. Biblically Independent.
By Kayleigh Donaldson | Celebrity | October 20, 2025
Janelle Monáe is a legendary talent: actor, singer-songwriter-producer, record label owner, fashion icon, and the coolest person you know. It’s true, look it up. We know she’s a queen, but now she wants a domain, and she has chosen Halloween.
Monáe has been killing it with her Halloween costumes for years now. No idea is too outlandish, weird, or grotesque, whether it’s the Grinch, E.T., a chameleon, or the Diva from The Fifth Element. As she put it on Instagram,” I live for bending the edge of possibility no matter the creative medium because that’s where the real fun begins. Halloween reminds me to play, stay curious, and transform.” Monae COMMITS more than any celebrity except for Heidi Klum, but the competition is tight. I wouldn’t want to be the judge making the deciding vote in that battle.
Now, she’s hosting AMC’s Fear Fest, in full circus mistress mode.
Over the weekend, she hosted a screening of The Craft and dressed for the occasion. Rochelle herself, Rachel True, was there and receiving her flowers, which meant a lot because True has noted that a lot of The Craft reunions and nostalgia events keep leaving her on the sidelines or exclude her altogether.
And this is just the beginning. Wondaween, a Halloween music festival run by Monae’s record label, is taking place on October 20th in Los Angeles. The theme is Vampire Beach. Think The Lost Boys! I desperately want to go, so who wants to fund this trip and help me write it off as a business expense? Janelle, I’ll wear the Daniel Molloy costume I made for last Halloween!
Like Klum, I love that Janelle goes all out for Halloween. Surely the most fun thing about being rich and famous is that you have the resources and connections to make all of your freakiest costume dreams come true? Plus, both Monae and Klum are cool with being gross and unappealing for the spooky season. They’re always putting uncanny twists on their ideas, and making them even more grotesque than would typically be advised. Why be a sexy nurse when you could be a worm or E.T.? Monae famously clapped back to an online troll by declaring, ‘I’m not for male consumption,’ and I think Monae-ween is evidence of that. This is for the real freaks, and I personally feel extremely pandered to on that front.
So, if the theme is Vampire Beach, who or what do we think Monae is dressing as this Halloween? I’d love to see her go full Kiefer Sutherland in The Lost Boys, or maybe Akasha from Queen of the Damned? Hell, maybe Nosferatu is taking a seaside holiday this year. The potential is limitless, and I can’t wait to see what she does.
