In case you haven’t heard, Scary clowns are all the rage this fall. The trend has sparked terror all across the country and internationally as people don Scary Clown costumes at night and head out to terrorize their neighborhood.

With a costume this hot, nobody wants to be left out. So if you’re planning to be your own breed of scary clown this Halloween, or even tonight, here are some tips on how to do it right.

There are lots of scary clown styles to choose from, from Stephen King’s It to Clownhouse to Carnival of Souls to Zombieland. Here are some top scary looks and how to get them:

Stephen King’s IT

The hair - He doesn’t have the classic Ronald McDonald Hair, instead he has frizzy red hair and a majorly receding hairline. So, you’ll need to cover up your own hairline with a swim-cap or other cap before you don the wig.
The face - Use white face-paint and lots of it. If you put a thin layer on, your skin tone will still shine through so make sure you pile on the white face-paint to get his look right.
The nose - He doesn’t have one of those perfectly red noses, instead it’s textured and bulbous. You can get the same effect by covering a traditional red nose with a sponge material and painting it red.
The eyes - Red contacts can help you imitate his menacing gaze.
The teeth - This clown’s got killer teeth. And they’re yellow to boot. Look for a set of scary sharp teeth to complete your look and dirty them up with brown and yellow food coloring before going out.

Clownhouse

There’s more than one scary clown in this film but the lead clown’s look is the best.
The hair - Again, he has a receding hairline, but with shorter hair than the It clown. You’ll need to don that swim-cap again to cover up your hairline before putting on the wig.
The face - Use a base of white face-paint first. This clown has triangles above his eyes and he frames the eyes with a black line that goes from the temples and across the forehead which can be drawn in with black eyeliner or face-paint.
The nose - A traditional clown’s nose made out of rubber, not plastic, will work here.
The lips - His lips are filled in with a deep red color that goes outside the border of his lips, making for a creepy looking red mouth.

Carnival of Souls

The hair - This guy doesn’t have the traditional red hair. Instead, you can find a dark green wig for the hair. Top it off with his signature purple top-hat.
The face - Begin with a base of white face-paint. Then draw in exaggerated arched eyebrows with black eyeliner or face-paint. For his creepy eye look, use red face-paint all around the eyes. His mouth has a downturned smile, so use red face-paint or lipstick to fill in and around the lips.

Zombieland

The hair - This clown is also a zombie and has two green tufts of hair growing out of either side and is bald in the middle.
The face - You’ll have a lot of fun with this one. His zombie look has rotten flesh around the chin and deep unhealed scars across his temples and cheeks. Use a base of grey-ish white face-paint for his undead look. Black face-paint around the eyes will create a sunken eyeball look. Add a turned up red clown’s smile around the mouth with lipstick or face-paint. His bulbous red nose is shiny plastic.
The accessory - You simply can’t ignore this guy’s bowtie. The enormous blue and white polka-dot tie would make this scary clown outfit complete.

Choose your favorite scary clown look to scare your neighbors tonight or to have the most popular Halloween costume of the season.

image credit: flickr.com