It isn't Halloween unless you see people dressed in scary costumes. Sure, some parents won't let their children go out dressed as the reaper or any popular horror movie villain. But, there are plenty who do. Scary costumes are a fun way to get into the spirit of Halloween.

Halloween is usually associated with all things horrifying and scary. Some dress to confront their own fears. Others want to scare people. No matter the reasons, it is mostly done in a spirit of good fun.

If you do decide to dress in scary costumes you have a choice as to how elaborate you want to be. Do you want to simply don a mask and go from door to door or do you want to make your look as realistic as possible, complete with theater makeup and authentic clothes?

Here are some tips that will help you find or put together perfect scary costumes.

Decide on a Theme

Before you get started, you need to do some preplanning and make some decisions. Do you want to model your costume after a familiar character or do you want to create something on your own? You also have a lot of choices. Scary costumes come in all different forms such as ghosts, monsters, and villains from popular horror movies.

Find Your Costume

If you do decide to go with a familiar character you can either purchase the costume, borrow it, rent it, or put it together yourself using theater makeup and a little creativity. Check local costume shops, department stores, and ask around. If you are on a budget you may consider making the scary costumes yourself with items found around the house.

Make Your Costume

You have two main choices when it comes to making your own scary costumes. First, you can model the costume after a popular character. Second, you can create your own character based on your own imagination. If you do decide to model the character after something, make sure you get it is accurately as possible.

The Character

You'll also want to give some thought to creating the character. Think about the mannerisms, what they'll eat, they way they talk. Pretend you are that character for an evening. But only you can decide how far you want it to go. For example, if you are at a party, it might get tiring pretending to be the character the whole time.