Trick or treat, pandas! With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time to start planning your ultimate costume. But if you’re feeling stuck, don’t stress—we’ve got you covered.
We’ve rounded up a collection of creative, funny, and downright impressive costume ideas that people really pulled out all the stops for. And even if you’re not celebrating, stick around to admire the incredible talent and effort that went into these spooky looks. Enjoy!
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I Turned Myself Into A Lava Lamp For Halloween
Amazon Prime For 2024 Halloween
Seeing all these spook-tacular costumes has definitely gotten us into the Halloween spirit! Curious about how these masterpieces are brought to life, Bored Panda reached out to two talented Redditors featured on our list: u/hipunen and u/throwbot3001.
u/hipunen shared some of the incredible costumes she’s crafted over the years, including Oswald Cobblepot (aka The Penguin from Batman), a Demogorgon, Darth Maul, and even the Babadook. With such stunning attention to detail, it’s hard to believe these aren’t the original characters stepping off the screen.
My Costume This Year
Stone Statue Costume I Put Together Last Year
Now go out to the park stand very still and then startle passersby.
“It’s hard to explain why I love Halloween so much,” u/hipunen tells us. “I must have fallen in love with it around 1998 when I came across a chapter about Halloween in our English book. Since it wasn’t celebrated at all in Finland back then, it felt new and exciting. Around that same time, I discovered The Little Vampire book series at my local library, and I was hooked.”
“I just love the spooky aesthetic and the colorful, mysterious atmosphere. It lets you explore the more sinister side of things safely. I’ve always been a crafty person, and since Halloween decorations weren’t available here when I was a kid, I started DIY-ing everything. That tradition stuck, and it’s still what I enjoy most!”
What's The Addams Family Credo?
My Costume Of Edward Scissorhands For Halloween This Year
My Handmade Mothman Costume From This Year
u/hipunen’s costumes look so authentic because they require a lot of hard work. “I usually start one or two months before Halloween,” she explains. “Sometimes it can take more than 45 hours!”
“It takes quite a lot of time to put them together, especially since I don’t want to buy costume sets online,” she adds. “I try to craft and sew as much as I can myself, and for certain pieces, I rent from the local theater.”
My 94-Year-Old Grandpa Is Proving That You're Never Too Old For Halloween
I Was Ever Given This Year (The Ship That Got Stuck In The Suez Canal). I Spent The Day Blocking Students In The Hallways
My "Star Trek" DS9-Era Ferengi Costume For Halloween. All Mine Besides The Base Prosthetics
When it comes to finding inspiration, u/hipunen draws from all over and keeps her ideas organized on Google Keep. “I usually pick ideas from movies, series, or games, and I like to choose costumes where even my own mom wouldn’t recognize me.” And we’re not surprised—every costume she makes transforms her into someone completely different.
My 2020 Halloween Costume With My Dog
I’m An Alien Abducting Some Cows
My Homemade Costume This Year - I Was A Wine Bottle Opener
u/throwbot3001 caught our attention with his creative, literal take on an Amazon Prime costume made entirely from cardboard. “I got the idea from a 2016 Buzzfeed article about a woman who made a similar Amazon Prime costume,” he says. “I’ve wanted to make my own ever since.” And the result is definitely pure prime delivery—straight to the costume hall of fame.
I Made A Burning Witch Costume And Like To Harass The Hateful Hellfire Christians At The Local Halloween Parade. This Year My Husband Joined As A Puritan
Early Christians were only too eager to include certain pagan ( Celtic) festivals into their own panoply of celebrations. I believe that Halloween is based on the Celtic festival of Samhain Some early Christians found it difficult to let go of practices they were brought up with before converting.
"Where’s Ya Paperwork?" My Roz Costume From "Monsters, Inc."
No One Recognized My Husband's Halloween Costume At The Bar. He Was So Disappointed
“For the head, I followed an Etsy template for Optimus Prime by Paperassa. The rest of the body was a lot of trial and error, but the overall visual inspiration is from an Optimus Prime tutorial by Dannyeurena on Instructables,” u/throwbot3001 shares.
“It took me two full weeks of working after hours to finish the costume,” he adds. “One week just for the head, and then another week to complete the body, arms, and legs after I got a hot glue gun.”
"I’m The Ghost With The Most, Babe." Happy Halloween
Happy Halloween From Your Friendly Neighborhood Wild Thing
I grew up loving "Where The Wild Things Are" and decided to try my hand at making a costume this year. I didn’t have time for feet, but I’m happy with my first try! I wanted to share it because it brought me a lot of joy handing out candy last night to see how many people also loved the book!
Happy October From A Couple Of Bobs In Love
So where do you show off such elaborate costumes? u/hipunen loves to throw a Halloween party for her friends, complete with themed decorations. “We usually go to a local club or bar, where many places have official Halloween parties with costume contests,” she says. This year, she’s ready to celebrate on Saturday with a brand-new costume, this time based on her own original concept rather than a character.
My 72-Year-Old Mom Having Fun On Halloween
I Spent Over 20 Hours Working On My Halloween Costume. This Is The Result
Genie From The Lamp On A Magic Carpet
u/throwbot3001 is just as determined to make the most of the effort he’s put in. “I plan to attend every event I can with this costume before it breaks down,” he says. “First up is an at-work Halloween party and costume contest. I hope to win this year and maybe inspire others to try DIY-ing their own costumes in the future.”
“This is the first time I’ve really gone ‘all out’ for a costume. Who knows what next year will bring?”
Some Of My Costumes Of Previous Years. Oswald Cobblepot, Demogorgon, Darth Maul (Genderbender) And Babadook
All Of My Coworkers Agreed To Dress Up As Smurfs For Halloween. I'm The Only One To Go Through With It
Good for you. I hope your co-workers were very embarrassed that they chickened out.
My Mom Just Won Her Company's Halloween Costume Contest As "Fifty Shades Of Gray." I Also Need Everyone To See Last Year's Costume When She Was A "Social Butterfly"
If you love the idea of Halloween but haven’t dressed up in years because you think you can’t pull off something half as impressive as the costumes in our list, u/throwbot3001 has some encouraging words for you.
“I just want to share this quote from Adam Savage’s book, Every Tool’s a Hammer: ‘It doesn't matter if you’re a model maker, a potter, a dancer, a programmer, a writer, a political activist, a teacher, a musician, a milliner, whatever. It’s all the same. Making is making, and none of it is failure.’”
With just a few days left until the big night, consider this your sign to try something special. Good luck, and happy Halloween!
I Won First Place With My Jack Skellington Costume
It took me 5 hours to do the makeup and hair, and I made the whole costume in a week. I altered the clothes I had to achieve this vision, and it paid off with a cash prize and first place!!
Cancer Took My Eye Last Month But Not My Sense Of Humor. I Was Ralphie (A Christmas Story) For Halloween. You'll Shoot Your Eye Out
Getting Ready For Halloween Like This
This Halloween I'm 8 Months Pregnant, So I Thought I'd Bring Some Body Horror/Levity To The Giant Gut
My Costume This Year
Some Of My Costumes Throughout The Years
Why Not Dressed As A Zoidberg?! I'm Going For A Nice Scuttle On Halloween
I Made A Fairy Mushroom Costume For A Halloween Party
Clown Check. This Look Was So Much Fun, I’m So Proud Of It
Happy Halloween From Brookhaven Hospital
My First Renaissance Fair Costume As Well As Halloween. I Did The Makeup About 4 Times. Wicked Witch! All Done By Myself (I’m A Guy)
Here's My Halloween Costume
Last Weekend, My Girlfriend And I Won Second Place In A Halloween Contest For Our Homemade "Spirited Away" Costumes
I Want To See Your Costumes! Here’s Some Of Mine
Dressed Up As A Witch With My Cat
My Halloween Costume: The May Queen From "Midsommar"
For Halloween I Made A Plant Costume
My Alaskan Bullworm Costume For Halloween
Barbara Maitland
"Home Alone 2" Homemade Costumes This Year
This Family Halloween Tradition Has Been Work. Every Year It Gets Harder And Harder To Pull Off
that's what I thought at first, because the adults make you think it's all xmen, but the little ones might be Wanda and Pietro only because at first I didn't think that that looked like Storm, so then I figured the kids must be something slightly different but also maybe not Marvel, but superhero? So, maybe that's Spiderwoman, but then I'm back to ok, but little white haired person? SO now I'm back to Storm, I guess, and maybe Wolverine's daughter? It shouldn't be this hard to puzzle...
Load More Replies...Our Patty And Selma Costumes From A While Back
How Did I Do This Halloween?
My Buddy Had A Halloween Costume Contest At Work Today. I Think He Nailed It
I Wanted To Be Something Cute For Halloween, But My Boyfriend Ruined It
I Made My Friend An Opossum Costume, But I’m Looking For Any Suggestions To Make The Face A Little More Opossum-Like
Buzz Lightyear Costume I 3D Printed, Assembled, And Painted For Halloween And Maybe A Con Or Two
Last Year's Costume. I Made The Head And Sword Out Of Cardboard Boxes From Work And Sewed And Stained An Apron For The Outfit And Gloves
Going As Tom Hanks For Halloween Until He Notices. Year 12
Going As Lara Croft For The Late Halloween Party
I Was A Rain Cloud For Halloween
If You Are What You Eat, Then I Only Want To Eat The Good Stuff
My Daughter Begged Me To Make Her A Costume She Was Too Nervous To Wear It To School, So Her Dad Wore It There Instead
My Friend Needed A Turtle Costume For A Party, So I Made Him One
First Makeup Look In Preparation For Halloween
We Dressed As "Harry Potter" Characters For Halloween
Goat Demon Costume. A Costume I Keep Switching Back And Forth Between A Goat Demon And Krampus
My 90-Year-Old Grandparents Dressed Up This Halloween
For Years I've Wanted To Make A Dead Astronaut Costume. This Year I Finally Made An Attempt
People Were Perplexed By My Costume. Most Thought One Of The Legs Around The Pole Was Real - Or Even That Both Legs Were Real And I Was Sitting On A Pole
Even if I told people I have one leg, they’d literally be like, "Yeah, but where are you hiding the other one?"
This is the guy with one leg who always goes viral every year for his creative costumes.
Have You Seen My Movie Yet?
My Wife And I Got Engaged On Halloween In Our Fully Handmade Zelda Costumes
I'm Ready To Paint The Town Red This Halloween
I Finished Glitchtrap Just In Time For Halloween
The Greatest Halloween Costume I’ve Ever Seen. This Person Clearly Knows How To Undercook The Onions
My Sirius Black Halloween Costume
You make a good Sirius black, the hair's just a little too neat. The prisoner # tag is excellent.
I Make My Own Costumes Every Year
What a well done grouping! I'd say Mr Peanut takes the Nutty Award! sorry. I had to go for that one, but it's really good..
My Halloween Costume. Relax It's Root Beer
Doing Costume One A Day For The Month Of October. Today I’m The Flying Dutchman
For Halloween, I Will Be Dressed As Yubaba
My Wife's And Mine Halloween Costumes Over The Years
The pic below right took me a while... 🤣 (But mostly because I had to translate it, it's funny in English but makes no sense in my mother tongue)
My Mystique For Halloween
My Payphone Costume For Halloween
Need Family Of 4 Costume Ideas. Here's Our Past Costumes
This Amazing Costume For Halloween
This Is One Of My Favorite Costumes I’ve Ever Done
I Turned My Friends Into A Taco For Halloween
My Husband Grew His Hair Out For Like 6 Months For This Costume
Check Out My Halloween Costume
Won The Company Contest Last Night
My Boyfriend And I Dressed As Nadja And Nandor In Salem
I Have A Broken Leg Right Now And Won't Be Able To Do Anything For Halloween This Year, But I Did This At Home The Other Day. The Jackal From "13 Ghosts"
Aloy Despite The Nora, Feat. Real Owl Friend. Halloween At The Natural History Museum
The James Webb Telescope Discovered A Quintet Of Galaxies
Our Marvel-Ous Halloween At The Office
Our Jack, Sally And Zero For Halloween
This Year's Halloween Costume
Another Year, Another Family Halloween Costume! As A Toy Collector, I Felt Like This Was Very Fitting
Excellent grouping! and I love little details too. Like Mr potato head and Sid holding the doll.
DIY Mojo Jojo Costume
My Halloween Costume This Year Is A Handmade, Hand-Painted Tribute To As Many Classic Board Games As Possible! Can You Recognize Them All?
I Am Sam Wilson For This Halloween
I Took The Boy Wonder To Salem, Massachusetts For Halloween This Year
Halloween Costume I Spent A Few Weeks On
Name Cupcake. Scare Actor For Over A Decade At Kennywood Park In PA
Pleased With How My Kratos Genderbend Turned Out For Halloween
Man Ray Cosplay For Halloween
My Halloween Costume, Shadow Beast From "Twilight Princess"
Happy Halloween! Here's My Finished Blight Cosplay
This Year I’m Going As My Biggest Childhood Fear For Halloween. I Think I Nailed It
Pennywise, Happy Halloween
Budget Poison Ivy
Spliced Up For Halloween
Countdown To Halloween. Here's One Of The Costumes: Banshee Cosplay
My Halloween Costumes From The Last Few Years
Great job. With the green thong looks chilly, though. I appreciate how you took the time to add in the pictures from where you got the inspiration for the costumes.
I'm Dressed As A Doctor From "A Clockwork Orange" Movie For Halloween
My Halloween Costume For This Year. 1 Imposter Remains
I Tried Something New This Year! I Ran Out Of Time To Do All I Wanted, But Overall I’m Happy With How It Turned Out. Happy Halloween
The One Time I Wore My Halloween Costume To Work
Diedrich Bader’s Halloween Costume
My Halloween Costume. I'm A Minecraft Bee Maid
I like it! I don't love the gore of so many of the other costumes either. so I really appreciate your imagination in this one.
My Scarlet Witch Halloween Costume
My Father's Costume For Halloween
I Cosplayed As Saitama From "One Punch Man" For Halloween
Halloween Is Coming
My Grim Reaper Costume
My Husband's And Mine Costumes For The Last Few Years
I Am A Minecraft Crafting Table
My Halloween Costume
These were great, but I can't imagine spending more than 10 minutes in a few of them. Do they just stand in a corner at every party? I always factor mobility into my costumes.
How do people do this?? How do they find the time/materials/money to make costumes like these?? And more than that, where do they get their SKILLS?? I mean that in a truly complimentary way!! Even if I DID find the time, and could afford all the materials, I could never do as good a job as some of these people!! I'm super jealous, lol!!
These were great, but I can't imagine spending more than 10 minutes in a few of them. Do they just stand in a corner at every party? I always factor mobility into my costumes.
How do people do this?? How do they find the time/materials/money to make costumes like these?? And more than that, where do they get their SKILLS?? I mean that in a truly complimentary way!! Even if I DID find the time, and could afford all the materials, I could never do as good a job as some of these people!! I'm super jealous, lol!!
