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It’s October, the pumpkins have bloomed, the leaves have turned yellow or fiery red, and you know what that means – it’s Halloween time! Halloween is one of the biggest holidays of the year, and, since the 1930s it became a holiday celebrated all over the world. It may not be celebrated as in the US with the kids going around trick-or-treating, but it’s certainly celebrated in lots of places by “guising”, or, rather, putting on costumes. If you’re looking for a costume for yourself, or for your kid, then you’re in the right place. In this article, we’ll take a look at some of the best Halloween costumes for kids, as well as adults, so everybody can take part in the festivities.
Contents
A Brief History Of Halloween
But, before we actually take a look at the costumes, let’s take a look at a short history of the holiday and why we celebrate it. Over the years, Halloween became almost solely associated with trick-or-treating and putting on costumes and going to costume parties, and this has been happening since the 19th century, or, at least, the costume part.
It’s a tradition that started in Ireland and Scotland, but it quickly caught on and became popular in the US in the 20th century. By the 1930s, every child in the US was guising and going door to door asking for candy and promising to commit mischief upon the person who doesn’t give a treat, as this is the primary meaning of the phrase “trick or treat”.
But, what do we really celebrate on Halloween? Halloween is actually a contraction of the holiday’s real name – All Hallows’ Evening. Every year, on the 31st of October, we celebrate “all hallows”, meaning all martyrs, all saints and all those who have passed on. Halloween begins the three-day observance of the Allhallowtide, a time at the end of the liturgical year when all the dead are remembered. Halloween is celebrated in the entire Western Christian world.
However, Halloween isn’t a holiday that appeared with the coming of Christianity. In fact, many holidays didn’t originate in Christianity but were adopted by Christianity from pagan cultures.
This also happened with Halloween, as most traditions actually stem from Samhain, a Gaelic holiday celebrating the end of the harvest. Samhain was also celebrated on the 31st of October, and continued into the 1st of November, as in Celtic cultures the day started at sunset, not sunrise. Samhain commemorated the end of the harvest season, as we said, but also the beginning of the darker half of the year, meaning the winter.
The Celts believed that during the winter, the veil between our world and the Otherworld became thin, and that the spirits, both evil and good, became more active and could more easily cross over and interact with us.
But what about guising and the eerie decorations? Why do we disguise ourselves as evil and scary things and put up such decorations in our homes and yards? Well, it is believed that we guise in order to show those evil things that we’re not afraid of them anymore.
As for the decorations, the skeletons, the witches the tombstones, they’re supposed to be memento mori, things that remind us that we’ll too eventually die and be remembered on this day.
And, finally, what about the jack-o-lanterns? Well, there’s an old Irish story describing how a jack-o-lantern came to be. Jack was a heavy-drinking Irishman who managed to trick the Devil into climbing a tree. Jack then carved a cross into the tree, preventing the Devil from leaving.
Then and there, Jack struck a deal with the Devil that the Devil may never take his soul. After that, he led a life of sin and excess, but when he died, he was refused entry into Heaven. The Devil also kept his word, and refused to admit Jack into Hell, instead throwing burning coals of Hell at Jack. Having been cold, Jack took the coals and put them into a hollowed-out turnip (the original “lantern”) so they wouldn’t go out. From then on, Jack roams the earth with his lantern, looking for a place to rest.
Well, now that we know a little bit about the holiday, let’s finally take a look at the best Halloween costumes, shall we?
Kids’ Halloween Costumes
First, we’re going to take a look at the best kids’ Halloween costumes, so if you want your little monster to look like, well… a little monster, then these are the costumes for you!
Best Halloween Costumes For Boys
Dark Ghastly Ghost Ghoul Boys Halloween Fancy Dress Kids’ Costume
Starting our list, the first product we’re going to look at is this Dark Ghastly Ghost Ghoul costume. It seems like the guys at Amscan didn’t know what to name the thing, so we’ll just call it the Ghoul for easier reference.
The costume is made of several pieces, the mask, the robe, gloves and the belt. The entire setup of the Ghoul is made to inspire terror and fear of death. Combine this costume with a scythe (not a real one, Lord no!) and your little one will instantly transform into a wretched embodiment of the Grim Reaper, ready to take your soul to the Netherworld. The costume is coloured grey and black to facilitate the look.
The costume comes in several sizes to accommodate children of different ages, you can pick up a costume for children 4 – 6 years old, 8 – 10 years old and 12 – 14 years old.
Some people report that the belt is not long enough as in the picture on Amazon and that the belt doesn’t hang in that cool and eerie and tattered manner, but overall this is a fantastic looking costume if your little one wants to look scary!
Amscan International Children Hungry Howler Werewolf Costume
Moving on to boy’s Halloween costume number two, we’ve got another Amscan costume. This time, it’s the Hungry Howler Werewolf Costume. The costume is of excellent quality and comes in sizes for children 8 – 10 years old, 12 – 14 years old and 14 – 16 years old. However the sizing is a little weird, so you may want to get a size bigger for your kid. The costume is made up of a werewolf mask, werewolf paws, a red checkered shirt and pants. The shirt and pants are certainly not one size fit all, which is why we’re telling you to get a size bigger, just in case.
The costume is really nice, as it features a mask that won’t make your kid’s head sweat, and with soft inside lining. The grey fur looks really authentic and the red-eyed mask really kicks the scariness of the costume up a notch. Buy your kid tail too, and he’ll look really awesome as a monstrous beast that comes forth once the moon is full.
Morphsuits Zalgo Kids Monster Urban Legend Costume
At number three, we arrive at Morphsuits Urban Legend Monster costume. Now the werewolf is scary because he’s going to eat you, and a Grim Reaper is scary because he’s going to steal your soul, but this costume is creepy on a different level. This time around, your child will take shape… or, rather, it won’t take any shape.
The costume depicts a wide red-eyed formless monster that appears to be made of hundred shadowy tongues forming a head and parts of a body. Seeing this monster in the dark is true, Japanese Ring-level horror, as it looks at you silently with its wide red eyes and its head slightly bobbed to one side.
As with the previous costumes, there are three sizes for the costume, for kids of different ages. Small is for kids 6 – 8 years old, medium is for kids 8 – 10 years old and large is for 10 – 12 year-olds.
On the side note, the costume is a onesie, so Morphsuits made sure that it’s breathable enough and that the zippers are of the highest quality so that they wouldn’t get stuck when you try and open them.
Henbrandt Boys Classic Vampire Costume
Our penultimate boy’s costume is Henbrandt’s Boys Classic Vampire Costume. There’s not a better Halloween character than the vampire. A communion with the Devil and a thirst for blood spawned these creatures, and the Sun’s light purifies their evil (or a stake through the heart).
The costume consists of six pieces, the awesome Dracula cape, white vest, gloves, pants, and shirt medal and belt keeper. The white paint nor the teeth come with the costume, so you need to get those separately. Together with those, your kid will look like the embodiment of the Count like no other. The costume is also made with care and to be of the highest quality, so your little one can wear it more for more than one Halloween.
The costume comes in several sizes again according to the age of your child. Small ones are for children 4 – 6 years old, medium ones are for kids 7-9 years old and the oldest are for boys 10 – 12 years old. Be careful, as the costume for 10 – 12 year-olds doesn’t come with pants, so be sure to either have spare pants or order a different costume.
Bristol Novelty Zombie Boy 3D Dress
Last but not least is Bristol’s Novelty Zombie Boy costume. Like the Reaper and the Count, zombies are an integral part of Halloween, and you simply can’t go without them. Bristol’s Zombie Boy costume is an excellent zombie costume you should definitely buy your kid if he’s into those undead flesh-eating monsters.
The costume includes a T-shirt with trousers, with the shirt having a naked rib cage and intestines painted on it. Combine this with proper face paint, and your child will be getting brains instead of candy when he goes trick-or-treating.
The costume comes in two sizes, for boys 5 – 7 years old and for boys 8 – 10 years old. The shirt and pants are pretty thin, so we’d suggest your little zombie puts on a jacket and maybe and pyjama trousers underneath, lest he catches zombie fever.
Also, when caring for the product, don’t use bleach, tumble dry or use an iron on it, as it will burn the material or cause it to rip because it’s so thin.
Girls’ Halloween Costumes
Amscan Kids Halloween Damaged Doll Costume
That was it for the boys, so, let’s now take a look at some of the best girls’ Halloween costumes. Our first one comes from Amscan, and boy is it a scary one.
Children in horror movies are unbelievably scary but even scarier than that… dolls. There is just something terrifying looking into the lifeless eyes of a doll and realising that the eyes are watching back. Well, this Damaged Doll costume for your little princess is a costume that will most perfectly evoke that feeling.
The costume consists of a purple wig with a bowtie, a half-mask, a dress, fingerless gloves and footless tights with scratch marks painted on them. Together with a little bit of acting and sine face paint, your girl will be the creepiest little thing since the Twins.
The costume is fit for children 4 – 6, 8 – 10 and 12 – 14 years old, with appropriate sizes being given.
Smiffy’s Children’s Zombie School Girl Costume
At number two is Smiffy’s Children’s Zombie School Girl Costume. Remember the opening scene of The Walking Dead when Rick shoots that little zombie girl? Of course, you do.
Well, now your little girl can become one disgusting flesh-eating monster just like that, except, this time, in school uniform. A blood-spattered jacket over a white bloody shirt and a tie, together with a tartan skirt and tights will indicate your baby girl got bitten by a crazy man either at school or going to or from, and now she feels a little bite-y too, looking at your wife’s soft skin.
The costume is intended for children 7 – 9, 10 – 12 and 14 years old. It has an elastic band that makes toilet visits easy. The face paint isn’t included in the price, so you’ll have to get that separately.
Amscan Kids Halloween Miss Matched Witch Girls Fancy Dress Costume
Who says witches can’t be cute? Well, nobody, really, as many witches are often heavenly beautiful. This Amscan Kid’s Witch Girls’ Costume is a cute one that will give your little angel a slightly dark-magic-y feel, but still very bright and colourful.
The costume consists of a black dress spattered with dots in various colours. The dress also features laces going across the chest, painted in the same colours as the dots. It also includes a pointy witch’s hat with a rosy bow and colourful leggings.
The costume is for slightly younger children, with the sizes being appropriate for girls 3 – 4, 4- 6 and 6 – 8 years old. The dress features Velcro fastening (the straps we mentioned) and 100% polyester trims. Whoever said a Halloween costume can’t be cute?
Vampire Princess – Girls Halloween Costume
Girls can be pretty compelling vampires too. Wicked’s Vampire Princess Costume is one of the hottest Halloween costumes on the market, and one of the most beautiful.
The costume is comprised of a gorgeous black and burgundy dress with transparent sleeves and a high collar, giving your little vampire a Victorian feel. The costume also comes with a ruby choker. The teeth and the makeup are sold separately, but if you combine that with the dress, and you’ll have a fully-fledged little blood-sucking temptress on your hands. Or she can go as a Victorian high-born lady – either way, it’s a superb costume.
This costume is listed in a single size only though similar costumes in other sizes can be found on Amazon. It’s meant for girls 8-10 years old, with the appropriate height being 134 – 146 cm. Waist size is 63 cm with the chest size being 73 cm. We suggest strongly you check the seams on the sides of the dress, as a few customers have reported that they either became undone or ripped.
Christy’s Prombie Queen
There are four overwhelmingly important points in any girl’s life – her first kiss, her wedding day, the birth of her first child and, of course, the prom. And being named prom queen is the single most important achievement in a girl’s young life, even through college.
Now imagine standing at a podium, holding a bunch of flowers in your hands, with a tiara on your head, your crush looking at you up there, all pretty, when a zombie decides to ruin the best night of your life by nibbling gently on your arm. Well, that’s exactly what’s happened to the wearer of Christy’s Prombie (prom+zombie) Queen costume.
The costume consists of a dress, tiara, a sash and a corsage, all dirty and grey from trekking through the dusty, zombie-filled streets.
The costume comes in two sizes, one for girls 12 – 14 years old, and one 14 – 16 years old. Now your little girl can stay little forever – quite literally.
Halloween Costumes For Adults
Children aren’t the only ones who dress up during Halloween of course, adults do it too. So here’s a look at some of the best adult Halloween costumes for 2017…
Costumes For Women
Rubie’s Official Day of the Dead Senorita Halloween Skeleton Women’s Costume
Starting with this Rubie’s costume, we start the portion of the list reserved for adult costumes, and we’ll start with ladies’ costumes first.
Corps Bride but with a Mexican twist? That’s what this Day of the Dead Senorita Costume is all about. This Rubie’s costume consists of a colourful dress with a skeleton pattern on it, sleevelets, flower headpiece and decorative tights.
Combine this dress with the Day of the Dead mask and rose-decorated bracelets, and you’ll be the corpse of the party.
The sizes for the costume are the following – small and medium sizes are for children 8 – 10 and 12 – 14 years old, large is for 16 – 18 years old and there is an XL size for adults 20 – 22 years old.
And don’t worry, ladies, just because it says XL on the label, it doesn’t mean it’s huge – just that’s the size given to the women’s version of the costume.
Amscan Women’s Halloween Bone-A-Fied Babe Skeleton Costume
At number two in our list of the best Halloween costumes for women is Amscan’s Women’s Halloween Bone-A-Fied Babe Skeleton costume.
This is a simple bodysuit with gloves with a skeleton motif paint it on it. If you’ve ever wanted to show people who you are inside, this suit will be more than enough to show them. Combine this with corpse paint, and you’ll complete your scary skeleton look.
The design comes in three sizes, small, medium and large. Small and medium sizes are for children 8 – 10 and 10 – 12 years old, and large is to fit girls 14 – 16 years old. However, the medium and large sizes are easily big enough for adults.
The costume doesn’t include face paint. The costume features 100% polyester trims and the bodysuit has self-tie fastening.
Smiffy’s Adult Women’s Ghost Ship Princess Costume
Not only men go to Davy Jones’ Locker. As Kiera Nightly showed us, women can be pirates too, and be just as elegant and ravishing swinging a cutlass as they would swinging an umbrella over their shoulder.
The Ghost Ship Princess Costume is one of the coolest and spookiest costumes for the ladies, depicting a ghostly pirate lady with spectral white hair and grey outfit, brandishing a sabre.
The costume consists of a drab dress, a pirate hat and a sword belt. It doesn’t come with the sabre, though, but you can buy one for a couple of quid, or even borrow your son’s, or even dust of that real one hanging over the fireplace at your father’s house for authenticity. Assuming your father was a pirate, that is. The costume doesn’t come with a wig either, it should be noted.
The costume features three sizes, small, medium and large. As before, the costume is arranged in sizes according to the wearer’s age, but the age designation doesn’t matter that much – just check the sizing in inches that the seller provides.
Horror Zombie Dorothy Costume
What would happen if the Land of Oz were to suddenly be attacked by zombies? Or Kansas?
Well, this Zombie Dorothy costume likes to explore exactly this eventuality.
Apparently, the Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow failed to stop the zombie horde, and poor little Dorothy got turned, forever to roam Oz in search of flesh and brains to gorge on.
The costume consists of Dorothy’s iconic dress, a latex chest piece depicting her chest and stomach torn open to reveal her rib cage and insides, leggings and an apron. No magical shoes, unfortunately.
The costume comes in four sizes, with the smallest being intended for children 3 – 6 years old.
Again, the seller provides measurements in inches, so you can measure yourself and determine and get a feel of what size you really need.
Smiffy’s Adult Women’s Ghost Town Black Widow Costume
Ghosts are mandatory during Halloween, and ghosts from around the Civil War era are the scariest, including this Black Widow costume from Smiffys.
Imagine walking into an old home, only to be greeted by the house’s resident, a beautiful yet pallid woman dressed in a fancy black evening dress. Yet her dress is all torn and her dead eyes are more than proof enough that this late night visitor is after something sinister.
Lord knows, maybe she’s even a restless spectre of an aristocratic witch that never got caught and was never purified by flames.
The costume consist of a black and grey tattered dress, divided into a top and a skirt, and a women’s hat, appropriate to the era in question.
The dress is also made out of stretchy material, so you can get in it and out of it in a flash, should the need arise, and so it wouldn’t take you as much time to put it on as it would take you to put on an actual period dress.
There are three sizes available, small, medium and large. The seller also provides measurements in inches.
Rubie’s Official Beetle Juice + Wig Ladies Fancy Dress Halloween Sexy Beetlejuice Costume Outfit
Finally, we come to the last female Halloween costume in our list.
Do you like being a sexy mental asylum escapee? Well, now you can be, thanks to Rubie’s Sexy Beetlejuice Costume.
The outfit consists of a short dress with black and white strips and a tie. This set also comes with a choker and a wig.
The costume has four sizes, XS, small, medium and large, and the seller also provides sizing in inches for your convenience.
You can also combine the costume with black and white striped leggings for a full effect.
Halloween Costumes For Men
New Amscan Mens Halloween Phantom Darkness Fancy Dress Costume
And now, for the guys.
One of the best Halloween costumes for men is undoubtedly Amscan’s Men’s Reaper Costume.
There is no personification of death better than the Grim Reaper himself. And this costume allows you to be just that.
The costume consists of long, black robe with a cowl, a sash, black gloves and a transparent blackened face veil. The scythe doesn’t come with the costume, but you can always take the one you have in your shed, or be a wuss and buy a plastic one.
The costume appears in two sizes – standard and plus size, and features 100% polyester trims. Hand-wash the costume only, because the material is quite thin.
The seller also provides a sizing chart expressed in both centimetres and inches, which is very convenient.
Bristol Mr Bone Jangles Costume
Skeletons are all fine, but they can be a little bit boring. So, why not be a fancy skeleton playboy instead?
The Bristol Mr Bone Jangles is just one such costume, a sleek skeleton with a red and black jacket and a top hat.
The costume consists of a jumpsuit with a skeleton painted on it, a jacket and a hat, but it doesn’t come with gloves or the cane you would need to complete the set, and the corpse paint isn’t included either. However, getting these is really recommended, as it will really complete the look.
The costume comes in one size, with chest measurements of 42”-44”.
The costume is made of 100% polyester.
Amscan Men’s Halloween Evil Jokers Wild Jester Fancy Dress Party Costume & Mask
Ever since the Joker got his screen time in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight, jester costumes have been immensely popular, and not to mention, even creepier.
Amscan will provide you with a unique opportunity to step into the shoes of one such demonic jester with their Men’s Halloween Evil Joker costume.
The set consists of a top and trousers, a belt, gloves and a headpiece, all coloured in a very sickly golden-purple rhomboid pattern. The set also contains a few playing cards with the demonic jester painted on them.
The costume can also be supplemented with a staff.
Fever Adult Men’s Vampire Costume
So far, we’ve had vampire costumes for the girls, boys and ladies but none for the men.
Well, we’re going to set this right now. Fever’s own Adult Men’s Vampire Costume is one of the best vampire costumes you can get.
If any one of you readers played Castlevania The Symphony of the Night, you’ll instantly recognise this costume as Dracula’s costume from the game.
It features a long black cape with a jagged edge, a red waistcoat and a cravat. The cape has a raised collar to look even cooler and fitting of a powerful vampire such as Dracula, father of all vampires.
The costume comes in two sizes for adults, medium and large, and one for toddlers. All elements of the costume feature Velcro fastening, so it’s easy to take it off or put it on.
Smiffy’s Adult Men’s Zombie Priest Costume
Not even God can save you from a zombie horde, and this Zombie Priest Costume proves it.
We guess this priest should have found some weapons and started shooting, instead of trying to take the high road and turn the other cheek. Well, he’s now roaming the earth forever without either cheek.
The costume consists of priest robes, priests’ collar and a bloodied white top, and includes a latex wound to, in order to give the costume some real authenticity.
The costume is made of 100% polyester, with the wound being made of latex, obviously. The costume comes in two sizes, medium and large, but you can also refer to a numerical size chart for better reference. It features Velcro fastening so it’s easier to put on and take off.
Rubie’s Official Beetlejuice Deluxe Costume
And, finally, we reach our last in this bumper list of the best Halloween costumes on the market!
Rubie’s Official Beetlejuice Deluxe Costume is a great match for the same Beetlejuice Women’s Deluxe costume. If your girlfriend decided to dress in that one, then you should definitely choose this one.
It features the same design since the two costumes are thematically connected.
It is basically a striped suit, as the white wig isn’t a part of the set, and neither is the face paint.
This costume offers more sizes though, and you can choose between five sizes – standard, standard up to 44” chest, XL and 48” chest XL, as well as medium.
The costume is made of polyester, and you should only hand wash it, otherwise, it might become damaged if you machine wash it.
Conclusion
And, with that, we finish our list of the best Halloween costumes. Now that you’re well informed on the history and significance of Halloween, you can forget all about it while searching for an appropriate costume, and thinking about all the candy you’ll eat!
