ShinyStyle’s top 10 scream queens

By Emily Borrett.

I love Hallowe’en. As a self-confessed lover of the hammy horror costumes and gorefest marathons (that is watching scary movies I mean, not murdering people), it’s one of my favourite times of year. Last year I went as Mrs Scissorhands – I definitely had the best costume, no doubt, but the giant foil spikes on my hands made picking up my drink and opening doors difficult. All the boys flinched whenever I walked past too. I’ve yet to master the perfect balance of Hallowe’en dressing for girls ; skimpy nurse/maid/cat/etc outfits are a bit of a cop-out, and you can go a little bit too far the other way if you make your costume too good (remember that Hallowe’en party in Mean Girls?). So this year I’m looking to some of the silver-screen and televisual greats of the horror genre, who manage to strike that fine balance between being sexy and scaring people off.

In celebration of the impending Hallowe’en celebrations and all of the costumes that will ensue (some scary, some sexy and some downright silly) we’re taking a look at some of cinema’s favourite scream queens..

10. Theda Bara

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American silent-film actress Theda Bara was pretty fabulous and way ahead of her time - hairy, scary and (most of the time) near-naked, she made being evil look sexy with the ridiculous underwear that we've ever seen. Note the bra made out of metal snakes and chain-links.