From horse heads to store-bought costumes

The history of Halloween costumes

Freddie Krueger.

Jason. 

Pennywise.

Disney characters.

All terrifying costumes many wear on Halloween. 

But why do we dress up in costume on the spooky holiday? 

Well, according to History.com, the Celts wore masks - usually made of animals heads - when they went out on Oct. 31 to blend in with spirits wandering the Earth. 

Remember, many believe the veil between the spirit world and our world is thin on Oct. 31. 

As time wore on, people attended masquerades and dressed in fancy costumes to hide their identities. 

In searching old photos on the Internet of Halloween costumes, many masks were homemade (possibly from plaster or paper mache) and were quite terrifying.

Like these guys. Um. Yikes.

These children are terrifying. Are the goggled
ones herding the two in the middle?

It wasn't until the 20th century that people began wearing more commercialized costumes. 

According to trueghosttales.com, the first store-bought costumes weren't available until the 1930's.
But even today, many create their own Halloween costumes. 

Personally, my Halloween costumes were typically thrown together at home. One year I was Morticia from the Addams Family. Of course, the costume was a bit lumpy as it went over my winter coat and snow pants. It snowed heavily that Halloween and we tromped through about two feet of snow that night trick-or-treating. 

Hollywood stars like Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi made the creepy tradition of Halloween costumes that much more entertaining. Werewolves, vampires, witches, goblins and more. 

Hollywood continues to have that impact. 

Look at the rush to be zombies or zombie killers because of The Walking Dead. 

What do you plan to dress up as? If you weren't thinking of it, what was your favorite costume you once wore? 

Whatever you dress up as this Halloween, let it be entertaining and in good fun. I have a few ideas in mind for our trick-or-treaters this year. 

There might just be a werewolf lurking in our yard, and a superhero to save would-be victims.