There were tons of amazing costumes out there this Halloween. There was even a “Netflix and Chill” costume, with a person wearing a T-shirt with the word “Netflix” written on it and holding a bag of ice.

Halloween allows people to become whatever they want, the only limit being their creativity. But for some reason, every single year people have to be reminded not to offend people in the name of Halloween. So here are a few pointers for your next Halloween.

First of all, don’t do blackface or any other kind of dressing as another race. This means darkening or lightening your face and maybe even wearing stereotypical clothes. For example, dressing up as a “black gangster” or something similar. It is always racist, whether you intend for it to be a joke or not.

Secondly, don’t appropriate another culture. This is a little different from blackface, because it doesn’t always involve darkening skin tone. An example of this is wearing Native American war bonnets. It isn’t cute, it’s a serious problem and it’s quite offensive.

Thirdly, don’t mock transgender people. Like the Caitlyn Jenner costume that was released this year. This is unacceptable. Not only is it rude, but it also undermines the struggle transgender individuals experience every day.

Lastly, don’t use mental illness as a costume. This applies to wearing straight jackets, joking about a multiple personality disorder or making jokes about anorexia. This is extremely insensitive and can result in people having terrible relapses in their recovery.

To sum it up, don’t dress as anything that’s rude and insensitive to the struggle of other people. Halloween is supposed to be fun and enjoyable for everyone: don’t be that guy that ruins it for others.

Why dress up as a racist stereotype when you could just slip on some cat ears and draw on whiskers? It’s definitely less offensive; except maybe to cats.

Now you have an entire year to plan a Halloween costume that is both creative and not offensive.