The sexy and the strange- for better or worse these two Halloween costume categories come back every year to make us cringe and giggle (cringle?).

Whether you’re doing the Wolfman Boogie at a friend’s party, or pounding the pavement in search of free sugary treats, you’re bound to see some strange and sexy costumes out and about on Halloween.

Sexy costumes aren’t all that interesting, but weird costumes are always fun to look at, and every year a Halloween loving populace is exposed to a new batch of oddball costumes that amaze and delight.

There’s always at least one costume in the bunch that makes you wonder what the heck they were smoking thinking when they came up with such a strange concept, like this creepy Cheeseburger Mask:

Some costumes seem like a bad joke being played on the public, as if the costume companies are trying to make Halloweenies look like total, well, weenies!

Huffington Post put together a collection of weird Halloween costumes and products that should show you what to expect out there come Halloween night.  And if you're looking to see sexy costumes with the strange check out io9's post on the weirdest and sexiest costumes of 2014. 

What would you wear for a Halloween costume if you didn’t have a century of pop culture characters to select from? Masquerades are nothing new, but long ago there was a whole different group of characters to dress up as. However, if you emulated the fancy dress balls of the 19th century, you might have to explain to people who you are impersonating, and then explain who that person was. The exception is the skeleton show here, which is eternal. Enjoy some obscure but wickedly elaborate costumes from the 1884 book Male Character Costumes, a Guide to Gentlemen's Costume Suitable for Fancy Dress Balls and Private Theatricals at mental_floss. 

Dressing up and going trick-or-treating with your kids is a big part of Halloween for most parents, and even if the little one isn't old enough to walk around town on their own it's still great fun to dress them up

Here's a collection of parent and child, or entire family, costume ideas to inspire and delight:

1. Cereal Mascot-

Carrying a baby around on your chest is never more fashionable than on Halloween night, when you can turn that little tot into a ferocious cereal mascot!

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2. Duck Dynasty-

If you're dying to wear a fake beard with your costume then you might want to go as the cast of Duck Dynasty, complete with a little waddling duck! Or maybe it would be more fun to put a beard on your little one...

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3. The Wizard of Oz-

Neil Patrick Harris and his adorable familly show us how to do Halloween in style with their amazing Wizard of Oz themed costumes.

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4. Shark Attack!-

Are your little ones total terrors? Show the world what a day in the life of your fam looks like with this adorable Shark Attack costume set, and scare up some smiles!

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5. A Christmas Story-

A Christmas Story is another great movie to use as inspiration for a family set of costumes, and you can easily swap roles so everybody's happy!

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Candy is an intrinsic part of Halloween, and long after trick-or-treaters stop pounding the pavement in search of handouts our fascination with sweet seasonal candy lives on.

Despite the best efforts of the granola grannies and those skinflints who used to throw pennies into our trick-or-treat bags candy still reigns supreme on Halloween, but not all candy was created equal. 

Some sweets seem utterly pointless, and gross, to hand out to children working hard for the candy, while other divine confections show them why they bothered going through all the trouble in the first place. 

BuzzFeed has put together A Ranking Of 40 Halloween Candies From Nastiest To Raddest that is pretty much spot on (although I do admit to eating those little frosting pumpkins by the bagful), take a gander and see where your faves fall on their list.  (Contains some NSFW language)

Even more tempting than Snow White’s apple! These apples aren’t really poison; that’s just the name. They are candied apples, made with homemade caramel with some black gel food coloring, but don’t they look absolutely striking? You’ll find the recipe at Simply Delicious. I don’t know if the look of these apples can be replicated with store-bought caramel, but if you have an aversion to making your own candy, it would be fun to try. -via Buzzfeed

Redditor brynmarele made her German Shepherd into a skeleton using non-toxic face paint. Yes, the dog sat still for it, with a bribe of a nice bone. Next, she’ll try to bury her own leg! The paint job is a trial run for her Halloween masquerade. She said her dog, Nixe, is in training to be a search and rescue dog. Nixe didn’t even try to lick the paint, but it came off easily with water. That's a good dog.

Any time you get a bunch of people together who are all hopped up on candy and wearing costumes you’ve got some totally awkward moments in the making.

Add families and/or alcohol and the weirdness level is sure to increase, creating an environment full of candid moments just begging to be captured on film.

If you delight in viewing scenes of extreme awkwardness, and you have a healthy love of Halloween, then you will simply eat up Awkward Family Photo’s collection of 73 Awkward Halloween Costumes.

It’s chock full of cheesy goodness, and should make you feel better about any awkward moments you encounter this Halloween. Don't forget-If there's something strange in your neighborhood make sure you get a pic!

Bram Stoker's Dracula was a devilishly debonair bloodsucker with terrifying powers at his disposal, but over the years the Count's powers have waned.

Now it’s more common to see a goofy version of Dracula in movies and TV shows than a scary one, and sparkly vampires have been allowed to take over in Drac's absence.

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If you're looking for a vampire film that doesn't suck you should steer clear of the films on io9's list 12 Of The Worst Draculas Of All Time, some of which actually make the Twilight twerps seem legit.

Instead, get vampy by revisiting Bela Lugosi's portrayal of the Count, or the 1992 film starring Gary Oldman, now those two versions of Dracula have some bite!

Redditor ColoradoMovieCars has understated yet perfect Halloween decorations for his house. In fact, it’s the most harmless thing he could think of.

The 22-foot tall Stay Puft Marshmallow Man was left over from last year’s Ectoberfest charity event in Denver, in which donors to Children’s Hospital were delivered to various haunted houses in the Ecto-1 Ghostbusters car. This year, the event will benefit the Don’t Be A Monster anti-bullying campaign. See more pictures here.

You wanna hear something scary? There are only five more days to participate in our Pinterest Halloween contest. You can get all the details on entry here, but with less than a week to go it seems critical to remind you to get pinning and to repin your favorite items on the board to help vote for the winner. Don't feel discouraged if you're not into the popularity contest aspect -we're also choosing an editor favorite, so if you have something amazing, share it with us and you could win!

Again, visit this page to get all the details or head over to the board to start pinning now.

Halloween parties are all the rage with everybody from 3 to 103, and with good reason- candy, costumes and creepy decorations makes for one heck of a bash!

If you're planning on throwing a party this Halloween then you should take a look at these tutorials that cover the decor and the food, so you'll be ready to greet your ghoulish guests in style.

1. Wine Glass Mummy Candle Holder-

Decorating around the house means setting the right Halloween mood, and as every Halloweenie knows candlelight is just right.

These cute mummy candle holders are cleverly made out of dollar store wine glasses, and since you're doing the decorating you can paint them up to look like whichever monsters you like!

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2. and 3. Spooky Wreaths-

This fun variation on the traditional Christmas wreath is starting to catch on, like the Halloween tree, as a yearly tradition, and with these fun and easy tutorials your door will be stylin' all through the Hallowmas season.

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Here's a variation on the same theme, from the same source, that uses skulls instead of bony hands.

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4. Modge Podge Monsters-

Not every piece of Halloween home decor has to be scary- these modge podge monsters can be just as cute, or terrifying, as you want them to be.

They're fun for the whole family, suitable for display outdoors and built to last. And the best part- they're made out of stuff you can find at the dollar store!

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Even if you live for Halloween, you still probably put most of your decorations away by December, but this delightful, monster-like chair is perfect for use all year long. That's because when it's not lit up from precisely the right angle, it looks like just another vintage wooden dining chair. 

The styling is perfect as creator Yaara Derkel was striving to design something that was creepy and strange, yet familiar and inviting at the same time. 

Read more about the Coppelius chair at Homes and Hues: The Spookiest Chair This Side of Halloweentown

Each year the Hudson Valley region of New York is set ablaze in honor of Halloween, but don't worry- the blaze is safely contained within thousands of jack o'lanterns! 

This annual celebration is called The Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze, and people come in from all over the East Coast to check out amazing displays featuring "more than 5,000 individually hand-carved, illuminated jack o' lanterns", ranging from somewhat traditional to udderly awesome:

In the last ten years the event has gone from a few nights in October to a whopping 28 nights of grinning delights for folks who enjoy the fine art of jack o' lantern carving.

The event takes place on the grounds of Van Cortland Manor, giving the festivities a suitably spooky feel, and those who come for the carved pumpkins stay for the thrill of the Horseman's Hollow, a Sleepy Hollow themed haunted attraction.

Read more about Hudson Valley's Great Jack O' Lantern Blaze here

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Folks who enjoy a good pun don't have a stylish way to express their love of wordplay, unless you count a t-shirt with a pun spelled out on it as stylish, but around Halloween puns take on a life of their own- as Halloween costumes.

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Punny costumes are great ice breakers, although you may have to deal with a few groans from those darn anti-punites, and when you bring some punny business to the party folks will be high fiving you all night long!

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If you're looking for a clever pun themed costume to wear this Halloween then check out BuzzFeed's 23 Halloween Costume Ideas For The Pun Lover In You and discover your dream of being a Pot Head, or maybe you're more of a Cereal Killer...

When it comes to seasonal home decoration, Halloween is the second most popular holiday behind Christmas in the US. While some people just put out a few carved pumpkins, others like to go all out and these 14 horrific Halloween decorations on Homes and Hues are a great source of inspiration for those who really want to scare. 

The article covers everything from massive props (like a haunted tree with faces coming out of the bark) to small details (like multiple ways to make your store-bought skeleton look like a real decomposing body). 

There are even some cool tech-inspired decorations like this cool haunted mirror effect, so if you want to scare your neighbors and their children, you won't want to miss this great Homes and Hues article: 14 Over the Top Halloween Decorations To Terrify Trick or Treaters