Though there's no official Blair Witch cloak for sale, this Halloween has a cauldron full of other licensed pop-culture getups. In fact, the battle for the trick-or-treating dollar looks to be pretty gruesome this year. We asked experts to handicap October's high-profile costume competitions:
-- The Phantom Menace's Jar Jar Binks vs. Darth Maul (1) ''No contest -- Darth Maul,'' says Kim Brown of Pittsburgh's Spotlight Costumes. ''Tall, dark, and handsome beats wimpy and weird any day.''
-- Austin Powers (2) vs. Dr. Evil vs. Mini-Me ''Mini-Me. Remember, he's all of Dr. Evil's evil in a smaller package,'' says Nevin Shalit, a New Line VP.
-- ''Stone Cold'' Steve Austin (3) and The Undertaker of the WWF vs. ''Hollywood'' Hulk Hogan and Goldberg of WCW. ''WWF by a decisive pin-fall victory,'' predicts Dave Lenker, editor in chief of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. ''It's definitely the hotter federation.''
-- Will Lee, with additional reporting by BMR
