David Burtka Gives Us a Status Update on Halloween: The Costumes Will Be Simpler This Year

It’s true: We wait all year to see what epic Halloween costume David Burtka (and his husband, Neil Patrick Harris, and kids, Harper and Gideon) will come up with next. That’s why we were thrilled to get an update from Burtka on how the costumes are coming along during a recent in-person chat in PureWow’s New York City office. 

In a nutshell? The pressure is on, Burtka says. 

“We just dressed up as a family one time and now there’s such an expectation behind it,” he laughs. “[Neil and I] always wonder how long it’s going to be until the kids go: ‘I’m done. I’m not doing this anymore.’”

Still, plans are already in motion for this year’s costume. And with Halloween less than two weeks away, Burtka can reveal that, after last year’s memorable (and spooky) performance as the hitchhiking ghosts from Disney’s The Haunted Mansion ride, they’ve decided to scale back.

“Last year was such a big to-do. There was photoshopping and a fog machine and it was so over the top,” he says. “This year, I said, let’s pull it back and go a bit more simple. I hope people aren’t going to be disappointed.”

As for the kids’ involvement? Burtka says they’ve pitched a few ideas. “My daughter wanted to do Descendants and my son wanted to do Minecraft. It’s what they’re involved in right now, but we wanted to take a different tactic.”

T-minus 9 days until October 31. 

For more from David, listen to his recent appearance on our podcast, 'Mom Brain,' with Hilaria Baldwin and Daphne Oz.