(SIOUX CITY, IA) Since Halloween is right around the corner, Erika Thomas spent the day at a costume shop to find out this year's hottest trends.

Costume expert Carrie Blanchard gave us a tour of Dowry Costumes. She says, despite the tough economy, people always look forward to Halloween.

"Actually I think we're about even for costume sales for the year. A lot of people have been staying closer to home and saving a little money instead of vacationing so they have more money to spend on family costumes and costume parties," says Carrie Blanchard.

Most scary costumes

"We have a lot of scary costumes, of course that are always popular. The classic movie characters being one of them, Freddie's and Jason's. I think we even have a Michael Meyers and a Chuckie here somewhere," says Blanchard. "Everybody knows a werewolf, everybody know Freddie and Jason. They've seen the movies, they've been around for a long time so that's a big selling point for people."

Most crazy costumes

"Funny and crazy is different to everybody. One of my favorites is the rubber chicken. Salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard are always classics. We have the crazy cat lady this year," says Blanchard. "They're a foam costume so as long as you store it somewhere nicely, you know, don't throw them on the floor when you're done, store it in a closet somewhere, you could certainly get years of use out of one costume."

Make your own costumes

"So you can certainly put together your own unique costume even if you start out with a packaged costume, you can add your own accessories and own style to it," says Blanchard. "Well [hats and other accessories] certainly let you add your own personal touch to a costume, whether you want to be Uncle Sam, a Viking, police officer, we have a little bit of everything," says Blanchard.

Kid friendly costumes

"Girls love fairies, Tinkerbell, Minnie Mouse. All the Disney princesses are of course popular. Little boys like to do the manly things like army and cowboy and that sort of stuff and we have a little bit of everything for kids," says Blanchard.

Most popular costumes

"For some reason the Flintstones have made a really big comeback this year. We've had a lot of Flintstone costume requests," says Blanchard. "You can include you and all your friends in one costume idea so that's kind of a nice thing and it's a simple tunic and mask so you don't have to go all out with the makeup so that's kind of a selling point for them."

And the most popular costume of them all - Michael Jackson! Make sure you come and get your glitter glove before they're all gone so you can brush up on your MJ skills before the big day on Saturday.

You can find Dowry Costumes at 704 Floyd in Sioux City. It will be open extended hours - 10 AM to 9 PM - through Halloween night.

Reported by Erika Thomas. You can contact her at ethomas@kmeg.com.