Halloween Costumes

HalloweenCostumeSale.com is an online retail store for all kinds of fancy costumes and Halloween costumes. The store was setup to make your shopping of Halloween Costumes easier, faster and cheaper.

Our mission at HalloweenCostumeSale is to provide you the largest range of Fancy Costumes and Halloween costumes sourced from the best quality manufacturers and traders across the world. We carry costumes for anyone and everyone – be it toddlers, infants, kids, boys, girls, teens, adult Men or Women and even Plus Sizes. We also carry a large range of Halloween Costume Accessories.

Halloween Costumes for all Occasions

HalloweenCostumeSale.com has a very large collection of costumes for all occasions. So whether you need a costume for Halloween, Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, Mardi Gras, Easter, Dance Class, Drama, Theater Performance, School Plays, special theme party, a birthday party or just a friendly get-together, you will find the exact costume you need here with a low price guarantee. We aim to provide you the widest collection of Halloween costumes and fancy costumes to choose from.

A Variety of Theme Costumes

At HalloweenCostumeSale.com sale you will find a variety of Halloween Costume and fancy costume themes to choose from. We carry a large collection of choices for Batman costumes, Belly Dancing costumes, Bride costumes, Cat costumes, Cheerleader costumes, Cleopatra costumes, Clown costumes, Colonial costumes, Disney costumes, Dorothy costumes, Easter Bunny costumes, Egyptian costumes, Fairy and Angel costumes & Wings, Flapper costumes, Geisha costumes, Ghost Costumes, Ghoul Costumes and Skeleton Costumes, Halloween and Party costumes, Halloween Face Masks, Harry Potter costumes, Indian costumes, Jester costumes, Medieval Costumes, Mermaid costumes, Military & Police costumes, Newborn Costumes, Nurse costumes, Patriotic Costumes, Phantom costumes & masks, Pilgrim costumes, Pirate costumes, Plus size costumes, Power Ranger & Ninja Turtle costumes, Princess costumes, Queen costumes, Rock Star costumes, Sexy Costumes, Santa Suits & Sexy Santa Helpers, Spider Man, Star Wars costumes, Superman costumes, Theatrical Make-up, Toga costumes, Witch Costumes and many more. Go through the various themes shown above or simply search for specific costume you have in mind through our powerful search engine.

Halloween - Why People Dress up in Halloween Costumes

It is not hard to imagine anyone reading the title above and immediately thinking of Halloween activities like dressing up in Halloween costumes or "trick or treating", pumpkins as lanterns and all sorts of costumes, especially those of the ghostly variety. But, most of the above are creations during the relatively recent 20th Century, and to find the origins of Halloween we have to go back much further, and particularly across the seas to find the beautiful, green and verdant island, known as Ireland.

The early Irish people were Celtic tribes, similar to those found in Scotland, Wales, Breton (Northern France) and Galicia (an ancient region of N W Spain). The Celts embraced Paganism, one of many hundreds or even thousands of belief systems that were very common in the days before the three Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Judaism and Islam, and are still popular today (eg: Wiccan). The Pagan Celts all spoke Gaelic, although with some differences in each location. No one at that time, however, had yet heard of Halloween.

The ancient Celtic tribes believed that the dividing line between the living and the dead became dangerous for the living on 31st October, when the change in the weather had become much cooler (colder) leading to sicknesses and damage to crops. So, they tried to ward off the perceived evil spirits by lighting bonfires where the bones of slaughtered livestock were thrown. Just like at modern Halloween, at these new festivals, masks and Halloween costumes were worn, making them look like evil spirits, in an attempt to placate them and send them far away.

One of the names for these festivals (feast days) was on the eve of Samhain, 31st October, about to be the eve of All Hallows Day, and soon to be known as Halloween.

With the advent of Christianity, in the first Millennium, celebrations had begun of a Festival called All Saints Day, which was also known as All Hallows or Hallowmass, and was celebrated on 13th May. (Hallow means to make Holy.) The day before All Hallows was called All Hallows Even, and thus shortened to Hallowe'en, and then to the Halloween we have today. Gradually, many of the Pagan traditions of Samhain, begun to be incorporated into Halloween, particularly the attempts to ward off the evil spirits, as described earlier, with the costumes and masks.

The main modern Halloween activities for children today, especially in North America, are 'trick or treating', lantern lighting and dressing in Halloween costumes. It appears that this did not really start until the early part of the 20th Century. The first known reference to what is really ritualized begging on Halloween, was reported in 1911, in a Canadian newspaper in Kingston, Ontario, not far from the border with upstate New York. The paper reported that it was normal for the smaller children to go street guising on Halloween between 6 and 7pm dressed in costumes, visiting shops and neighbors, to be rewarded with nuts and candies for their rhymes and songs.

Guising comes from an old Scottish practice, when children in Scotland and northern England would wear a Halloween-like costume or disguise, at Halloween, when they went out for their special treats. The major difference to the 'trick or treat' practiced today in America, is that in Scotland (and probably Ireland too), the children are only supposed to receive treats if they perform for the households to which they go. This normally takes the form of singing a song, reciting a poem or even a joke. Occasionally a particularly talented child might do card tricks or play a musical instrument, but most children will receive their treat for doing something quite simple. There was no practice of performing a trick on the householder or neighbor.

Another interpretation of the origins of 'trick or treat', is said to come from the practice of dressing up in Halloween type costumes and begging door-to-door for treats on holidays. This goes way back to the Middle Ages, and even includes Christmas wassailing - carol singing.

Trick or treating has some resemblance to the old Irish and British practice of 'souling', when poor folk would go door-to-door on Hallowmass (1st November), and be given food in return for prayers for the dead on All Souls Day (2nd November). This practice was even common throughout much of continental Europe, even as far as the south of Italy. It's even mentioned by Shakespeare in his comedy, The Two Gentlemen of Verona.

The halloween trick element of the practice seems to be very modern, and probably in the 1930s in the United States, although exactly where, is unknown for certain. Even how it started is also rather a mystery, although it seems it may have begun when children were refused treats in the years of the Great Depression, and some decided to take their revenge by playing tricks on the householders. These were however, harmless fun tricks like spraying a little water, or going back after the door had been shut, knocking on the door or ringing the bell and running away. Unfortunately in some places these tricks have become nothing short of vandalism and in the UK these days, the police regularly issue warnings before Halloween that anyone caught vandalizing would be dealt with severely, with the full force of the law.

Dressing up in Halloween Costumes

As kids & parents take to the streets for Halloween trick-or-treating, Halloween safety becomes the primary concern. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, an estimated 36.1 million children (ages 5-13) hit the streets in 2006 (down from 41 million in 2002) looking to calm their sweet tooth strapped with their best costumes for Halloween.

It's rather sad that in today's world, the fun element of Halloween activities seem to have disappeared in some places. Not only in North America but in most countries, parents nearly always feel compelled to accompany their children, who might otherwise not be safe. Who can blame them, for today we read far too often of crimes where young children are the victim? Whether these crimes actually are more common or whether our media now reports it more, is a moot point, but who would want to take the chance?

So, let's try to make the best of it. Let's have a better understanding of Halloween's origins, Halloween's activities, and let's place greater emphasis on the treat rather than the trick, and above all, let's all have fun dressing up in some of the great Halloween costumes featured on our site!