The man with the axe through his head is quite popular, and can be quite scary for kids who see it for the first time. Any one in a Jack-o-lantern can be quite sweet to see. And there are joker costumes that can be hilarious even without the person acting funny. While evil costumes might be the expected norm, you don't have to blindly follow the crowd.

The key to getting a good costume, is knowing exactly what you want to do. If you are looking at a relatively sedate evening spent with friends sitting around the house, you may not want to invest too heavily in your Halloween costumes. So then rummage around and assemble any odd set of clothes and you are ready for the evening. However if you are going for a big party and hope to make an impression on all those attending, you might like to get something different. Maybe something that is a bit more elaborate, or something that brings a smile to the face of the person who sees you wearing it. After all you can be sweet and funny at Halloween as well.

Dressing up as a dark warrior does not need to cost the earth. Just get the mask and the caped hood look with a few skulls thrown in as accessories and you are ready to roll. Very often renting a costume can work out cheaper in the long run. If you buy a particular costume, you kind of get stuck with it for a few years as you have spent so much on it. So while your friends are trying out new Halloween costumes each year you have to make variations to the one you bought and be content with that. If you just rent the outfit you can have a different one every year.

Of course you might like to pick up a few accessories to embellish the outfit, but that's okay. You can always use them again even after the rented outfit goes back. If you rent a different costume every year you will still share the excitement that the holiday brings as dressing up for it is half the fun. After renting costumes for a few years, you might get creative with all the different accessories that you will have built up over the years. The idea is to think different and get a new look. If you can manage to do that you have succeeded. Just make sure that you don't go over the top with obsessing about the costume and make time to enjoy the fun and games as well.

Nothing is more exciting than getting your costume ready for a fancy dress party. Putting fancy dress costumes together is like a treasure hunt. You get the clue to what you want to dress up as from the persona you want to show off at the fancy dress party. Then you set about getting the clothes that you will need to create that look. Once you have the shirt and skirt or pants you will wear the basic costume is done. Now it is time for the accessories and do we use loads of them in fancy dress costumes. From black eye patches for pirates to swash buckling heroes with sabers, there is so much that you can add to the basic costume.

Personally I feel that it is the ideal time to let your baser instincts free. It is a time to hide your true personality behind outrageous fancy dress costumes and have fun. Take on the mantle of the somewhat evil witch that you are dressed as. Let the so called magic that you brew be fun to do and entertaining to others. After all how often can you play a cackling witch who steals someone else's boyfriend on the dance floor and get away with it? There is a lot of fun to be had in an evil get up which you can don temporarily along with your costume.

If you feel a witch or warlock isn't really evil, which can be the case if you are a true Harry Potter fan, there are other evil things that you can dress up as. Vampires are usually good for an evening party. Naturally you will not be all too convincing as a vampire in a party held during bright sunlight in a garden. If you can have a friend dress up as Buffy (the vampire slayer) you can put up a good mock fight. Just make sure you choreograph it well so that neither of you suffers from wardrobe malfunctions with your fancy dress costumes.

Other than that you can have the white zombie look, which is quite easy to achieve. Just make sure that your make up does not ruin your skin for weeks to come. May be a double headed monster with multiple arms is more to your fancy? Or just come as a spider. There will be enough people who find that scary and disgusting. The next best thing is a lizard or a toad. These will need proper costumes, which you can probably rent for the day. It may involve a bit more effort than slapping a few old clothes together, but the end result is bound to be far more spectacular.

Plus considering just how often you are likely to attend a fancy dress party, I think it would be well worth the effort you put into your costume. Imitating evil things and people can be great fun. Specially because you know you have to be well behaved in normal society, it can be very enjoyable behaving in a manner you would never dream of otherwise.