Dolls & Demon Toys

There is a long horror tradition of Dolls, Dummies and the like coming going rogue and causing trouble: From Magic, (a ventriloquist dummy dominates his owner), Chucky and family (a doll imbued with the spirit of a murderer spawns several sequels) to Annabelle, Billy, the Saw puppet, and, most recently, Me3ghan, a cyber-doll. The look can be well achieved with make-up and there are plenty of videos on YouTube and the like to help. The glass-eyed look of such toys potentially mixes memories of childhood with menace.

 

Fractured Fairy-tales

Talking of childhood, many of the much beloved story-book characters of yesteryear can find a more sinister alter-ego come Halloween. Some may take on an after-life – Little Dead Riding Hood or Ghouldilocks, for instance; others may err towards the scary – Creeping Beauty and Snow Fright and some, such as Malice in Wonderland and Sinnederella can be just plain evil. A costume company did market a range of outfits using this concept a few years ago – not sure how Happily Ever After the idea worked out..

 

(M)alice in Wonderland

For some, the whole world of Wonderland offers Halloween potential. Aside from (M)alice herself, as mentioned above, the Mad Hatter, the (Mad) March Hare and the Queen of Hearts can be scary enough to justify versions for the season

 

Clowns

Stephen King's Pennywise from IT sets a benchmark (we don't stock him – many on the Internet do). There are also female costumes for him, but he's such a known character, you might prefer to do your own thing with a clown suit plus wigs/hair and make-up. Many find Clowns (and Pierrots) scary at any time of the year, and whilst the white face is not essential, it gives a basic featureless mask and can provide a canvas for creepy creativity. Again, the Internet is awash with helpful videos on getting the look.

 

Scarecrows

From the Scarecrow of Oz to Worzel Gummidge, scarecrows have a pedigree beyond field-work and Halloween. It should be simple enough to grab some old clothes and a hat, source some straw to stick around the outfit strategically, and find a mask or create a painted face to scare more than the crows. In this respect, pumpkin-style faces seem to be a popular idea this year.

 

Spiders

Whilst cobwebs and the like regularly form part of Halloween decorations, the web-builders themselves can be a source of scary novelty. Admittedly they have a few more arms/legs than humans (and compound eyes) but this shouldn't put off the determined party-goer. There are also plenty of spider-web based eye-make-ups to enhance your look to be found on Pintrest and the like.

 

Skeletons & Day of the Dead

Skeletons regularly feature at Halloween, but this year, with the possibility of a long weekend, you can upgrade the basic skeleton look with something more colourful for the Day of the Dead Festival. This is celebrated the first few days of November and a principal feature are Sugar Skulls, which can be mimicked in colourful face-paint designs.

 

The added advantage is that you can use a number of other costumes not normally associated with Halloween, teamed with a colour co-ordinated face/body design, for a potentially unique approach to the events of the Halloween weekend.