Celebrity Halloween costumes: These are the best of all time

Published Oct. 31, 2019 Updated Oct. 30, 2020 11:05 AM PT

Happy Holly-ween!

While we await this year’s crop of Halloween outfits, The Times rounded up a spook-tacular selection of past celebrity costumes, featuring stars dressed as movie characters, monsters and, well, other stars.

From Lizzo and Bette Midler to LeBron James and Harry Styles, here are some of the spookiest, cleverest, most over-the-top Hollywood Halloween looks of all time.

Heidi Klum as anything and everything

Who better to kick off this list than the queen of Halloween? Throughout the years, the German model has completely transformed herself into a variety of memorable looks, including clones of herself, Fiona from “Shrek,” Jessica Rabbit from “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” a werewolf from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” video and many, many more.

Beyoncé as a vintage Barbie

In 2016, Beyoncé was a Barbie girl in a Barbie world, on display in a life-size plastic box. Husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy also joined in on the fun to round out their family of dolls.

Neil Patrick Harris and family as “Star Wars” characters

The force was strong among Harris’ family in 2015. The “How I Met Your Mother” alum donned an iconic Jedi hood as Obi-Wan Kenobi, along with husband Han Solo, daughter Princess Leia and son Luke Skywalker.

Dwayne Johnson as Hulk

Fair to say Johnson’s 2012 costume was a graveyard — or Hulk — smash. With the help of his signature muscles, the “Jungle Cruise” star had no problem pulling off a convincing green giant.

Lupita Nyong’o as Dionne from “Clueless”

As if anyone could channel Stacey Dash’s Dionne better than Nyong’o did last year. The “Us” actress went full ’90s — brick phone and all — for this “Clueless” look at Klum’s 19th annual Halloween party.

Demi Lovato as Marie Antoinette

Let them eat cake! The “Skyscraper” hitmaker went all out in 2019 with this stunning Marie Antoinette ensemble, complete with some frosty makeup, all the ruffles and a sky-high platinum-blond wig.

Bette Midler as Marie Antoinette

The Divine Miss M got in on the royal action too. Whether she’s conjuring spells in “Hocus Pocus” or balancing a 1700s-style wig on her head as Marie Antoinette, nothing says spooky season quite like Midler at her own 2017 Hulaween event benefiting the New York Restoration Project.

Bruce Willis as the twins from “The Shining”

Willis and his assistant, Stephen J. Eads, were all play and no work while attending director M. Night Shyamalan’s “Shyamaween” party in Philadelphia. Though Willis is known for his pensive turn in Shyamalan’s “The Sixth Sense,” he decided to pay homage to a different horror classic, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining,” in 2017.

Jessica Alba as Juno and Kelly Sawyer as Paulie

Wait, is that Michael Cera and Ellen Page from “Juno”? Might as well be. Model Sawyer and actress Alba absolutely nailed these 2017 costumes inspired by Diablo Cody’s coming-of-age dramedy.

Orlando Bloom and Katy Perry as Bill and Hillary Clinton

Cue “Hail to the Chief.” “California Girls” singer Perry and “Pirates of the Caribbean” actor Bloom looked unrecognizable as Hillary and Bill Clinton ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Harry Styles as Elton John

I think it’s gonna be a long, long time before anyone dethrones Styles for best Elton John impersonation. The “Lights Up” singer sparkled in the musician’s iconic 1975 Dodger Stadium concert look at last year’s Casamigos Halloween party in Beverly Hills and even got the stamp of approval from the Rocketman himself, who wrote, “Now that’s what I call a Halloween costume” on Instagram.

Mindy Kaling as Brad Pitt as Cliff Booth

Brad Pitt who? The “Never Have I Ever” mastermind went full Hollywood in 2019 as Pitt’s beloved stunt-double character from Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood.” The laidback look also included a furry stuffed kitty that we can only assume is a clever stand-in for Margaret Qualley’s barefoot Pussycat.

Gemma Chan as Uma Thurman as Mia Wallace (and Richard Madden as a skeleton)

Speaking of Tarantino films, the Marvel and “Crazy Rich Asians” actress flawlessly channeled Thurman’s iconic femme fatale from “Pulp Fiction” in 2019.

Tina Fey and Will Ferrell as Roxanne and Megamind from “Megamind”

Comedians Fey and Ferrell went meta and mega as their own animated counterparts from “Megamind,” Roxanne and Megamind, for the “Today” show’s 2010 Halloween episode.

Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner as Gomez and Morticia Addams from “The Addams Family”

Spooky snaps for celebrity power couple Jonas and Turner. The “Sucker” singer and “Game of Thrones” star looked creepy, kooky and altogether ooky last year as Gomez and Morticia Addams.

Rihanna and friends as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

One power squad became another power squad in 2014 when Rihanna and friends dressed as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 2014. The “Love on the Brain” singer donned Raphael’s signature red mask, while her pals rounded out the team as Donatello, Leonardo and Michelangelo.

The Weeknd and Bella Hadid as Betelgeuse and Lydia from “Beetlejuice”

It’s showtime! “In the Night” singer the Weeknd and model Hadid were dead ringers for Michael Keaton’s Betelgeuse and Winona Ryder’s Lydia Deetz from “Beetlejuice” at Klum’s 2018 Halloween party.

LeBron James as Pennywise from “It”

You’ll float, too! Lakers star James traded basketballs for balloons two years ago as the sinister Pennywise the Dancing Clown from Stephen King’s “It.”

Iggy Azalea as Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians”

If this spot-on Cruella de Vil costume from “Fancy” rapper Azalea doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will. She even brought along her very own pooch to complete this monochrome look from Disney’s “101 Dalmatians” at Klum’s 2018 Halloween party.

Cardi B as Cruella de Vil

Another creative cosplay from 2017 inspired by the fan-favorite Disney villain. And we’ll give the “WAP” hitmaker extra points for best production design on this devilish photo shoot.

Chrissy Teigen as Guy Fieri

Teigen was positively funkalicious as fellow TV host Guy Fieri, a.k.a. the Mayor of Flavortown, in 2015.

Rita Ora as Post Malone

We can only say congratulations to “Girls” singer Ora for nailing this grungy look as rapper Post Malone, down to the last tattoo, at the 2018 KISS Halloween party.

Emily Ratajkowski as Marge Simpson from “The Simpsons”

Now it’s Ratajkowski’s time to shine as Marge Simpson. The model and “Gone Girl” actress fully committed to her “Simpsons” look at Klum’s 2015 Halloween party — yellow skin, blue hair and all.

Vanessa Hudgens as Sally and Austin Butler as Jack Skellington

Anyone else a little bummed we won’t get to see any more fashionable couples costumes from Hudgens and Butler, who split in 2020 after dating for nearly a decade? Because same. Luckily, the actors left us with this nostalgic “Nightmare Before Christmas” cosplay in 2019.

Gigi Hadid as Sandy from “Grease”

The model had herself a blast as a slick Sandy from “Grease,” successfully channeling Olivia Newton-John at Klum’s 2015 Halloween party.

America Ferrera as Mario

The “Superstore” star super-smashed this 2018 take on everyone’s favorite Nintendo character. But where is Luigi?

North West as a skunk

Kim Kardashian West and Kanye West have had plenty of their own Halloween moments, but their daughter North stole the show in 2014 as an adorable skunk.

Ciara and Russell Wilson as Beyoncé and Jay-Z

One celebrity power couple became another celebrity power couple in 2019 when the “One, Two Step” hitmaker and Seattle Seahawks star cosplayed as Bey and Jay in their “Apes—” music video.

Nicole Scherzinger as Cleopatra

From queen of the Pussycat Dolls to Queen of the Nile, Scherzinger reigned supreme on Halloween in 2017.

Jessica Biel and Justin Timberlake as ‘N Sync Justin Timberlake and microphone

The “Sinner” actress and “Can’t Stop the Feeling” hitmaker went hilariously meta in 2019, with the former dressing as her husband from his ‘N Sync boy-band days and the latter as her microphone.