Halloween night -- the one night where you can be anything you want, literally. Always dreamed of being a rock star? Done. What about a zombie cat or a classic cartoon character with a sexy twist? Check and check. You'll be seeing dozens by the time Halloween rolls around.

According to the latest Google Shopping data, released through Market Watch, among the top costume contenders for this year are the following (in no particular order):

1: Miley Cyrus: No surprise here. Miley has been dominating public conversation since she came out twerking at this year's VMA's.

2. Minions: Yes, those lump-shaped yellow characters from "Despicable Me" who rose to infamy through their un-intelligible but highly addictive song.

3. "Breaking Bad": With the award-winning series over, fans of the show are going to come out as Heisenberg and Jesse in droves.

4. "Duck Dynasty": Who knew that a family that made duck hunting gear could be so iconic?

5. A fox from the viral "What Does the Fox Say?" video: There is no logic as to why people would want to dress up as a character in a video about fox sounds, except that they just want to do it.

However, costumes didn't use to be purely for fun and it didn't use to be optional. Dressing up for Halloween took its roots from both Celtic and European traditions. A hundred years ago, there were cruel winter months, with shorter days and darker nights, and food was difficult to find. On Hallow's eve, it was believed that one could bump into ghosts while walking at night so people wore masks so as not to be identified and followed home. More than that, people believed that by wearing disguises, they could fool the ghosts into thinking that they, themselves, were spirits walking the earth.

It's interesting to note that the old Halloween practices were done out of survival and fear, whereas, now, costumes are worn purely for entertainment. Can you imagine a twerking Miley scaring off a ghost? Or a minion walking through the forest scavenging for food? When it comes to this year's top costumes, nothing beats the originals.