These Halloween costumes from 100 years ago will scare the bejesus out of you

IF you think the 'killer clown' craze currently sweeping the UK and US is scary, look away now.

These recovered photographs dating back to 1875 show how people used to dress up for Halloween - and they're seriously creepy.

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The grainy black and white photographs show children and adults wearing homemade outfits, resembling ghouls, devils and other malevolent creatures.

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In one image, a group of adults simply wear cloth and paper masks over their heads, either left spookily blank or with hand-drawn faces.

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In another photograph, two people look misshapen in several layers of clothing, one wearing a mask that wouldn't look out of place in horror movie franchise Saw.

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The 'costumes' are a far cry from the elaborate, high-end outfits available to us today, instead comprising strange masks and headwear, worn with dresses and coats typical of the era.

The frightening images from the USA are published in a book by English artist Ossian Brown.

Haunted Air: Anonymous Halloween photographs from c. 1875–1955 is a compilation of photographs offering a glimpse into the historic traditions of Halloween.

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Artist Ossian Brown said: "I like to experience each photograph as a magical event, frozen in front of me. I'm drawn to pictures with a mood that 'oozes' into the normality of the moment, and changes it.

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"It's important to me that there's nothing to disturb this, no detail in the composition or in the models' posture that could interfere with that magic."

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Buyers of the book have been suitably spooked by the creepy photographs.

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One reviewer on Goodreads, Karen, wrote: "This book is the creepiest s*** ever: wonderful and terrifying and absolutely essential if you want to have intensely vivid nightmares. It is KILLING ME!!!"

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She went on to say: "Maybe these just come from some gated community of serial killers and this is how they celebrate the day - by FREAKING ME OUT!"

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Another Goodreads user, Wesley, commented: "The collection could easily be the costume designer's notes for any number of modern horror or serial killer movies."

Let's hope the 'creepy clowns' currently terrorising the population don't get any ideas...