It’s not every year Halloween creeps into the weekend. Though, when the timing’s right, Halloweekend yields costume after costume, day and night, rain or shine, all the way through October 32nd. While for some, it’s the final weekend of pulling looks, others’ haunting festivities have just begun, by way of DIY get-ups, last minute concepts, and scary looks that have been months in the making.

For fashion college student Anh Pham, 19, seeing all the effort and creativity her peers put into their costumes is what makes the season so memorable. “Fashion week doesn’t get everybody dressed up. But on Halloween, you see people having fun [with] their friends. It feels free and liberating,” she tells Teen Vogue. Pham herself created this year’s costume out of crochet wire and countless paper clips, resulting in a sort of Joan-of-Arc-as-siren ensemble. “It’s like acting or putting on another persona, bringing out something within you,” she adds of the pure thrill of pretending to be someone else, even if just for a weekend.

From subway commutes in head-to-toe costuming, to eldritch concerts and parades, Teen Vogue lurked the cobblestoned streets of New York City for the strangest, most unusual, and delightfully bone-chilling looks this Halloweekend season. Keep reading, if you dare.