21 Terrifying Old Photos That Prove Halloween Was Once Scary AF

Halloween costumes in Germany, 1938.

Three masked five-year-olds with a jack-o-lantern in Chicago, 1954.

A person in a ghost costume stands by a Halloween altar, circa 1905.

A woman and a young boy dressed as the Gingerbread Witch and Hansel, respectively, in 1894.

Chicken costumes in the Netherlands, 1911.

A group of costumed people pose for a portrait, circa 1911.

A grotesque puppet on a stoop, circa 1900.

Two costumed partygoers on Halloween, 1923.

Three girls amuse each other with their masked costumes in the College Hill neighborhood of Cincinnati, 1929.

Kids leave a novelty shop in New York City with masks on Halloween night, 1949.

Three ghoulish characters take a drive in 1938.

Women dressed as a coven of witches line up for a Halloween portrait, circa 1910.

A group of people in their Halloween costumes, circa 1920.

Trick-or-treaters dressed as alien invaders arrive at a house in London in the 1950s.

A boy in a scarecrow costume, 1965.