There are countless Halloween masks available today. At Halloween specialty stores and online shops, you will find a mask in the likeness of every ghoul, alien, and creepy character of any and every variety. Everyone, from heroes like Spiderman and Superman, to movie bad guys, like Freddy Kruger, The Alien, and Hellraiser's Pin Head, are available in the form of latex. You will even find Halloween masks of today's most popular politicians, and masks of obscure characters like, zombie vikings, alien clowns, and mad scientists.

The price of a Halloween mask depends on it's quality, subject, and the materials used to create it. You can pay anywhere from $30 to $300 and up for a high-quality mask. Expect to pay more for detailed masks of today's most popular characters from movies and television. Many Halloween masks are collector's pieces, true works of art -- and they are priced accordingly! Masks costing over $500 often include human hair, foam filled heads, and intricate custom paint jobs.

The level of detail and animation in some Halloween masks is truly impressive. Masks are first sculpted by artists. The artist sculpts a head, or a full bust out of clay. A cast of this bust is made, and then that cast is used repeatedly, to make identical latex masks. After that, the masks are painted, and extras like eyeballs, adornments, and hair are added.

When shopping for Halloween masks, remember that some may impair visibility. Also, latex gets hot, so try to say cool while wearing a mask for extended amounts of time!

James writes for Ghoulish Halloween, a site that tries to entertain and inform. For more great Halloween mask ideas, visit our Halloween Masks section.