Ghosts of Halloweens past: Vintage images of scary celebrations

Comic strips come alive this Halloween as Batman, the Green Hornet, Superman and a host of other comic strip characters are getting geared up for a one-night stand Oct. 31. At least according to costume makers who say that the comics are providing most of the ideas for this year's kiddy getup. Here a group of small fries warm-up for the big night in Oakland, N. J., Oct. 14, 1966. (AP Photo/Eddie Adams)

October 1922: An apple bobbing game at a Halloween fancy-dress party. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)

circa 1955: A boy carving a face into a pumpkin to celebrate Halloween. (Photo by Sherman/Three Lions/Getty Images)

circa 1950: A group of men in costume as witches, complete with brooms, to celebrate Halloween, line the staircase of a house. (Photo by George Pickow/Three Lions/Getty Images)

circa 1940: From left to right, Elizabeth Bianco, Barbara Lee, Anthony Dimino and Theresa Imbronone join in the fun at a Halloween party in New York City. The party was organised for members of Tots' Town, a day care facility at the Children's Aid Society's James Center. (Photo by Keystone/Getty Images)

circa 1955: An American family with a carved pumpkin illuminated by a candle to celebrate Halloween. (Photo by Sherman/Three Lions/Getty Images)

One of the games played at every Halloween party is eating, or rather, trying to eat apple suspended on a string with your hand behind you. They were few of the children of New York's Little Italy who were guests at the Annual Halloween Party sponsored by the Children's Aid Society in New York, Oct. 25, 1939. (AP Photo)

Pictured here is the Halloween festival in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 20, 1962. Nearly everyone turns out to watch the parade, and thousands are on hand to watch the show that launches it at the Palma Stadium. Another 7,000 or more school children take part in a youngsters' parade and there is breakfast for 2,000 costumed citizens. (AP Photo)

Pictured here are children preparing for the Halloween festival in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 20, 1962. Nearly everyone turns out to watch the parade, and thousands are on hand to watch the show that launches it at the Palma Stadium. Another 7,000 or more school children take part in a youngsters' parade and there is breakfast for 2,000 costumed citizens. (AP Photo)

Pictured here are elementary school children at the Halloween festival in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 20, 1962. As part of the festival, nearly everyone turns out to watch the parade, and thousands are on hand to watch the show that launches it at the Palma Stadium. Another 7,000 or more school children take part in a youngsters' parade and there is breakfast for 2,000 costumed citizens. (AP Photo)

Pictured here are elementary school children at the Halloween festival in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 20, 1962. As part of the festival, nearly everyone turns out to watch the parade, and thousands are on hand to watch the show that launches it at the Palma Stadium. Another 7,000 or more school children take part in a youngsters' parade and there is breakfast for 2,000 costumed citizens. (AP Photo)

Pictured here is the Halloween festival in Anaheim, Calif., Oct. 20, 1962. Nearly everyone turns out to watch the parade, and thousands are on hand to watch the show that launches it at the Palma Stadium. Another 7,000 or more school children take part in a youngsters' parade and there is breakfast for 2,000 costumed citizens. (AP Photo)

Youngsters parade through Central Park in New York dressed in their Halloween costumers when the city arranged a party for the kids Oct. 30, 1966. Some 20,000 kids attended the party in the Park. (AP Photo/Jacob Harris)

Bill Schuck has turned his parent's quiet residential home in Miramar, Fla., Oct. 31, 1976, into an intricate, horror fantasy, and has opened it to hundreds of children for free during Halloween. Schuck wears a cape, ruffled shirt and other clothes reminiscent of garb worn in horror movies. (AP Photo)

Halloween revelers at New York's Studio 54 dance the night away in costumes ranging from burlesque to stellar. The party was held at the New York Discoteque Oct. 31, 1977. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Bug-eyed monsters from outer space and pharaohs from ancient Egypt vie for attention at the Halloween party at Studio 54, Tuesday, Nov. 1, 1978, New York. The man shown is unidentified. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Participants in the 10th annual Halloween Parade in New York, Oct. 31, 1983, don't have time to loaf as they move with the flow of marchers through Greenwich village. The event attracted some 250,000 people who watch marched in the parade. (AP Photo/Ray Stubblebine)

Seven year old Carrie is all decked out, Oct. 31, 1985, in a witch's dress and one of the new style Halloween masks from Woolworth's as she readies for a night of trick-or-treating. The new masks have extra-large eye openings as a safety feature to insure young ghosts and goolies aren't injured because can't see where they're going. (AP Photo)

vintage halloween gallery, that would be great: http://halloweenmonsterparty.com/vintage-halloween-gallery/index.php

10th October 1930: The Hon Mrs Roland Cubitt dressed as 'Three Candles' in a costume made by L & H Nathan Ltd, for the Pageant Of The Superstitions, a feature of the 'All Halloween Ball', and repeated as a matinee at the Haymarket Theatre, London, in aid of the Queen Charlotte Maternity Hospital Maintenance Fund. (Photo by Sasha/Getty Images)

circa 1865: A white caped figure wearing a haloween pumpkin mask taking two people by surprise in their kitchen. London Stereoscopic Company Comic Series - 598 (Photo by London Stereoscopic Company/Getty Images)