There’s no need to sacrifice safety for fun this Halloween when it comes to choosing a costume. The easy route would be to wear any old blue mask, but why not have a little more fun than that?

Read on for a few costumes that already involve wearing masks to protect your health while keeping the spooky season spirit alive.
Wild West costume

If you love cow print or saying “y’all,” use this Halloween to dress up as a cowgirl, cowboy, rancher or yee-haw-er. Throw on some jeans, a flannel, your best boots and your best cowboy hat and you’re ready to milk a cow or ride a horse out into the fields. Every great Wild Westerner knows there’s dust and frigid air, so you must protect yourself with a good old-fashioned bandana tied around your mouth. Not only does it tie the whole look together, but you’ll have a mask to protect you and others as well.

Ghostface

Horror fanatics can dress as the fictional character Ghostface from the “Scream” series. Almost every Halloween store has a Ghostface mask and costume, so this is the perfect last-minute costume for anyone who waits until the day before Halloween to pick a costume. To truly embody the character, stay silent all night and do not tell anyone your true identity.

Jason Voorhees

It may not be Friday the 13th, but Halloween is the perfect time to dress up as Jason Voorhees. There are masks based on the character sold online, but any dirty hockey mask with the red triangles drawn on will work. For the clothes, wear a dark utility shirt and pants with work boots. As long as you avoid anyone dressed as Freddy Kreuger, you’ll be all good.

“Squid Game”

Play a game of red light, green light this Halloween and dress as the guards from “Squid Game.” There are replicated costumes from the hit Netflix show on the internet for sale, but a do-it-yourself (DIY) version of the costume is relatively easy as well. Don a red tracksuit and black gloves, boots and a belt. The mask conveniently ties in the whole costume and can quickly be made with a black fencing or ski mask. Just use white paint or tape to create the circle, triangle or square and you are all set to go. If you really want to add a bit of horror to your costume, play the music from “Squid Game” on a speaker as you walk around or open doors for trick-or-treaters.

“Money Heist”

Gather all your friends for this popular group costume and dress as the robbers from another Netflix series, “Money Heist.” If you need two costumes this year, simply reuse the red tracksuit from the “Squid Game” costume and just switch out the masks. Besides the outfit, all you need is the creepy face mask and the costume is complete.

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s” Mask Scene

Fans of the Audrey Hepburn movie will remember the scene when the main characters, Holly Golightly and Paul Varjak, steal animal masks from the store and run off laughing into the streets of New York City. In the scene, Holly wears black heels, a long red coat, black tights and a gray dress. Paul is in a simple white button-up with a red tie, blue suit jacket and gray work pants. The fun and COVID-19-friendly part of this costume is the vintage-styled cat and dog masks they wear. It’s a simple and les-known character-inspired costume, but it’s a fun and easy costume for pairs of two.

Marshmello

No, not the white fluffy treat, but the DJ Marshmello’s hit songs “Wolves” and “Happier” have made him well known, but his costume is how almost everyone recognizes him. There are masks and costumes inspired by Marshmello at Party City, Amazon and other stores. A DIY option is painting a face shield white and using black paint to make the mouth and x’s for the eyes. Pretend you are the real DJ visiting Binghamton University and wait for the rumors to spread on campus that Marshmello is actually here.

Evil dentist or surgeon

Perhaps the easiest — yet safest — Halloween costume is a scary dentist or surgeon. The dentist and surgeries are scary in general, but once you throw in “evil,” then it can count as a costume. Wear your surgical masks, scrubs and plastic gloves, splatter some fake blood all over you and you’re all set.

There are plenty more ways to incorporate masks into a costume than those listed above, but throwing on any mask is always an easy and safe alternative. Halloween may be all about horror, but there is nothing more frightening than waking up feeling sick.