Creepy Old Halloween Pics

I found Stevechasmar‘s collection of photos a little while back from some random photoblog and added him as a contact on Flickr for his amazing collection of Opium-related photos, posters and other vintage Orientalist pictures. Plus, he has a lot more.

Now, he’s outdone himself with a collection called Halloween in the Time of Cholera, and is posting one vintage picture each day until Halloween.

eeeee.....

The consensus in the comments is that this stuff was creepier than what people often wear now. Plus, the patina doesn’t hurt. People are comparing them to everything from Hieronymus Bosch to The Blair Witch Project.

One thing that is so interesting about these is that the point of the costumes back then, it would seem, was more to obscure your identity (and human-ness!) than to “dress up like something”. Hence the bizarre combination of oversized boobs and a mask. The effect is very creepy and unsettling – and I guess that’s the point.

Thanks, Steve for giving us something truly macabre this Halloween! (Via BoingBoing).