Adult Halloween Costumes - Terrifying Halloween Costume Ideas

Halloween costumes are what make Halloween so enjoyable: all the blood and guts and bad makeup give its unique feel to celebrate man’s love of fear and legend. Make the wrong choice of costume, though, and you would look more pitiful than terrifying.
Now the standard fare of Halloween costumes is scary in their own right. They’ve just been done to death, and that’s why they end up losing their terror value. Make sure to keep these ideas in mind when you want to look authentically scary rather than boringly ho-hum:

The Creepy Vampire

Dracula was supposed to be the epitome of terrifying coolness, until Hollywood milked his image for all it was worth. Avoid wearing the stereotypical vampire Halloween costumes; with their flowing capes, false fangs and the cheesy lines attached: be creative. The secret lies in your approach: a luxurious type of vampire may inspire a regal and dignified mood, but the more feral types of vampires are those that truly inspire fear and terror to the unwitting little trick-or-treaters that will come on your door. 

The Wrapped Up Mummy

Mummy costumes are terrifying not because of the Halloween ancient, covered in bandages or smell like molds. They are scary because of the suddenness of their movement after a long and unsuspecting period of immobility.  Be a scary mummy and wait for the right moment to reach out and touch someone; preferably a little trick-or-treater that comes waltzing on your front door for some free candy.

The Brain-Hungry Zombie

The concept of brain-hungry zombie costumes has been around for decades now, and they are still scary for the same reasons that made them famous in the first place: the fear of being devoured alive in a gory mess of blood and guts. Do not forget that the mindless pursuit of flesh and hunger will differentiate the cheesy b-movie zombie from the truly terrifying undead that prowls around looking for flesh. So while wearing your zombie costume, keep a tray of ‘bloody’ foods, as well as a healthy supply of fake blood, to really bring your zombie to life, so to speak.

The Freakish Frankenstein

Horribly disfigured monstrosities like Frankenstein are famous for their good looks, but the terrifying thing about them is not their ugly features: it is the disfigured personalities that come with them. Disfigured monster costumes then require a bit more than just a little makeup, a rubber mask and a weird wig that comes with the standard Halloween costumes – you need to learn to play the part of an emotionally, socially and/or intellectually disfigured monster as well.

Just remember: it is the combination of visual fear and an inherent ability to scare others that will determine your success in keeping up with the spirit of Halloween. The most terrifying fears are often plain and simple – the thing that makes Halloween costumes scary is the weirdness, suddenness or distortion that accompanies them. Learn to act the part, to internalize what your costume means deep down inside and you will easily scare the living daylights out those that are looking for some treats.