The Empire strikes back this Halloween.

Darth Vader, Jedi Knights and Clone Troopers will ding-dong doorbells all around the country. And one major Internet seller of costumes already predicts a dark side to the starry-eyed clamor.

"This year there are not enough costumes to meet the demand," says Shari Maxwell, vice president of Extreme Halloween Inc. in Dania Beach, Fla. "They are manufactured in different plants around the world, and they're not going to be made in time to meet the demand."

Pint-sized Jedis will have to swing their light sabers to clear the sidewalks of all the pirates — think Capt. Jack Sparrow — ninjas, Batmans, Fantastic Four characters and fairies, among the other prolific costumes this season.

At Halloweenstreet.com in Southern California, about a fourth of the costume orders that owner Howard Hamburger processed last month were "Star Wars"-related — Jango Fett jumpsuits and Anakin tunics for children, a Darth Vader romper for babies."Everybody is talking about the new 'Star Wars' stuff," says Doug Sprague, manager of Halloween Madness at the Great Mall of the Great Plains. "They actually have a couple of deluxe costumes that they've never released before, the Chewbacca and Darth Vader."Some costumes defy trends and never go out of style. Cowboys. Freddy Krueger. Poodle-skirted bobby-soxers. Even Batman has crossed over into Halloween stapledom.But Hollywood drives Halloween costume trends.A recent survey by the Macerich Co., operator of regional malls across the country, asked American shoppers what would inspire them as they chose their costumes this year. Nearly 26 percent answered creative expression or uniqueness; right behind at 23.4 percent was entertainment — TV, movies, books.In a separate category, 21 percent named "Harry Potter" as their costume inspiration. Eighteen percent chose "Star Wars," and 14 percent chose Batman, with the Fantastic Four nipping at the Caped Crusader's heels.When retailers go to trade shows to buy costumes for the season — they shop right after Christmas for the next Halloween — they watch clips of movies not yet released to see the characters that may grab the public's attention."The companies are seeing that kids want to be the really cool thing they see at the movie," Sprague says. "Batman, 'Star Wars,' everything is coming in in the kids' sizes."This Halloween Disney told costume manufacturers to make over their princesses — Belle, Cinderella, Jasmine and gang.Ah, the princess, another Halloween staple. The Macerich survey reveals that right behind scary/evil and TV/movie characters, fairy princesses are the third most-popular costume.

Novelty costumes took off, too. Every year the National Costumers Association surveys its retail and rental-shop members after Halloween.Last year retailers reported that sales of that plug-and-socket costume "were off the charts," says Gary Broadrick, the group's immediate past president and owner of Performance Costumes in Nashville, Tenn."So what the manufacturers did was make all these other ones, like the nut and bolt and a whole bunch of others that are male-and-female costumes. The key and lock is the other one. It's real popular among the 21- to 35-year-old crowd because they're wearing them to clubs on Halloween weekend."They don't want to wear anything that will make them look silly, especially men. But if they can wear their own clothes under it, then that's cool."So, apparently, is wearing very few clothes at all.Risque Halloween costumes aren't new. But sexy, short, skimpy anything for women has become nearly an entire category of Halloween disguise."It's been a trend over the last few years, but it's just getting bigger and bigger," Maxwell says. "It's the clubbing, party-going crowd, and it gives people an excuse to dress up how they normally wouldn't."