I appreciate a good, scary Halloween costume. These days it’s all too easy to go as a celebrity, some sort of pun, or something like Superman, but I’m all for bringing Halloween back to it’s terrifying roots. When else do you have free reign to cover yourself in fake blood and gross makeup and really freak out your neighbors? It is in that spirit that I present you the scariest costumes I’ve ever seen, “photographed for Mrs. Reiser” in 1916.

These masks are honestly horrifying. What are they even supposed to be, just men and women with blurry faces that will haunt your dreams? And what is with the paper lantern? This has got to be the creepiest tableau I have seen, and I’d like to toast the folks in the photo, who are completely dedicated to keeping Halloween scary. Kudos to you!