Josh Sundquist, the king of Halloween, is back with another inventive costume.
The former US Paralympian grew up in a family that didn’t celebrate the spooky season at all, but after losing his leg to cancer at age nine, he found a way to make a statement about disability, humor, and creativity.
Now a best-selling author and motivational speaker, Josh spends six months planning his costumes. Every year, his followers eagerly anticipate how he’ll use his one-legged status to inspire his next Halloween masterpiece.
Highlights
- Former Paralympic athlete Josh Sundquist has made a tradition out of wearing personalized Halloween costumes.
- Josh lost one of his legs to cancer when he was nine years old and has been cancer-free since his teens.
- The comedian hopes to “break stereotypes” with his Halloween costumes, which playfully embrace his one-legged status.
The Halloween enthusiast has just revealed his 2025 costume: a Florida man. The orange costume, shaped like the Sunshine State, is a nod to his family’s decision to relocate there so his son can be closer to his grandparents, he explained.
Of course, Josh incorporates his family into his viral tradition, with his wife and toddler wearing costumes that complement his imaginative ideas. This year, his toddler is a hurricane, while his wife, Ashley, is an alligator.
“👏🏼Awesome, you have a creative talent and a positive outlook. You are a winner!!” one follower commented on his reveal.
“I gotta say, that is the cutest hurricane I have ever seen!” said someone else.
“I always enjoy your costumes! Thanks for sharing and bringing glimmers of humor and joy ♥️” another comment read.
Image credits: Josh Sundquist
Josh announced earlier this month that he was selling his Los Angeles home, though he didn’t reveal the reason until now. In his “house tour” video, he shared some of the memories he created there with his family, including modeling many of his Halloween costumes.
Josh’s Halloween tradition began in 2010, when he dressed up as a partially eaten gingerbread man to make his friends laugh.
Since then, he has dressed up as Lumière from Beauty and the Beast, the Pixar lamp, Thor’s hammer, Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, and more–each costume made possible by the unique shape of his body.
Last year, he transformed himself into an inflatable tube man, while his wife went as a “for-sale” sign and their son as an adorable car salesman.
“Creating these costumes each year gives me a great sense of joy and allows me to share a part of myself with the world uniquely,” he explained to Bored Panda in a 2023 interview.
“It’s not just about the laughs; it’s about breaking stereotypes.”
The comedian works with a prop maker to turn his ideas into real costumes, through which he hopes to change how people perceive disability.
Image credits: joshsundquist
Josh, who competed in Para alpine skiing at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games, noted that some people are still uncomfortable around amputees.
“They don’t know how to act or think they need to act in some special way, which of course they don’t," he said.
Two years ago, a clerk at a shopping mall recognized him from social media and asked whether he was the man behind the creative Halloween costumes.
“This girl saw me, and instead of thinking about any of that, her first thought when she saw a one-legged guy was funny costumes.”
According to his website, his one-legged costumes have received hundreds of millions of impressions around the world.
His favorite costume of all time? The pink flamingo. Josh believes he’ll never top that idea, given how surprising, weird, and uncanny it was.
Image credits: joshsundquist
Despite its creativity, the costume was far from comfortable. Josh used his leg as the flamingo’s head and neck, meaning he had to balance on his hands. “I'm doing a crutch handstand. I can't go to a party with a crutch handstand and walk around on my hands and chat with people,” he joked.
He even wore the flamingo costume to the zoo, but was disappointed to find that real flamingos were not interested in the intruder in the slightest.
As for last year’s costume, Josh explained that he finds inflatable tube men “iconic and fun,” and he always thought of them as one-legged creatures that deserved to be celebrated.
"I want my costumes to be something that only I could wear. For me, that is kind of the point, and that is what is interesting to me as a creative challenge.”
The former athlete also hopes to empower others with disabilities through his Emmy award-winning Apple TV+ series Best Foot Forward, which is based on his life and premiered in 2022.
He said he hopes the series will help set a precedent for more entertainment programming that can be representative of disability.
