Spooky Season – The 6 Scariest Sneakers for Halloween

Happy Haunting!

Want to drip like the fake blood on your face? Make sure to keep your shoes as fire as your Jack-o’-Lantern for this Halloween! This will ensure that nothing will frighten you as much as getting your shoes dirty – monsters will have no chance to compete!  

Like most festivities, Halloween has provided inspiration for numerous crazy sneakers throughout the years, many of which we tend to forget until October hits and Instagram is bombarded with the Freddy Kruger Dunks and the Air Force 1 Skeletons. That being said, the choices are endless, but we have picked out the most special one’s for you!

6. Adidas Superstar “Halloween”

In the past, Adidas has remained somewhat under the radar when it comes to Halloween-releases. However, 2021 saw a lot of changes for the German sportswear giant, one of which being a Halloween-exclusive rework of the iconic Adidas Superstar.

Spooked up with a black corduroy upper, the sneaker features an array of materials and Halloween-inspired colours, including dark plaid eyestays, bright green lining and orange details on the tongue and the laces.

Obviously, you won’t go trick-or-treating during the day. To make sure you’re still scarily fashionable at night, the shell toe, midsole and rubber outsole feature glow-in-the-dark materials. To give the inspiration a more explicit nod, the Superstar features a pumpkin lace jewel to fully complete the theme.

5. Amiri Skel-Toe

Some of you might have seen this sneaker on feet, initially thinking it’s a casual Jordan 1 High, and then be perplexed by the Swoosh being replaced by a bone-like element. The American luxury house certainly drew some inspiration from the likes of AJ1’s in the design process, mainly making the shoe a little spookier and absolutely Halloween-ready.

The shoe features a white leather base with premium black leather overlays. Resting atop the leather foundation is an array of leather patches that holistically resemble the bone-anatomy of a foot.

A must-have sneaker if you’re looking for a high-end Halloween drip. Put the skeleton in your closet.

4. Off-White Nike Blazer Mid “All Hallows Eve”

Classic Silhouette. Pumpkin inspired. Virgil executed. One of the most popular Nike Off-White sneakers of all time, the Nike Blazer Mid “All Hallows Eve” pays homage to Halloween with the choice of a bright neon orange swoosh to imitate the Jack-o’-Lantern on your balcony.

Possibly the most non-Halloween wearable sneaker of this list, the All Hallows Eve took a while to truly convince sneakerheads of its beautiful design and colour-blocking but has now reached the legendary status in the collection of Nike x Off-White silhouettes.

It is October, and it’s surely getting cold. The durable leather upper will keep you warm whilst waiting for your neighbor to get the candy.

3. Air Force 1 Skeleton Range

Air Force 1 Skeleton Court Purple (2021)

Initiating the trend in 2018, Nike has made their choice of Halloween-sneakers quite easy in the last few years, merely switching up the colourway of their reworked Air Force 1 Skeleton. The sneaker was initially released in an all-white colourway, bound to become an instant fan-favourite. Followed by a black version in 2019 and an appropriately orange edition in 2020, this year Nike has opted for a crispy purple in their palette choice.

Air Force 1 Skeleton Black (2019)

The most notable Halloween-aspect of this sneaker is an X-Ray image of a foot on the lateral side of the shoe, complemented by a glow-in-the-dark outsole, so your flex is acknowledged at night.

Air Force 1 Skeleton Orange (2020)

We can only speculate on the upcoming colourways, but Nike has already used up the most Halloween-appropriate colourways, so we will have to wait and see what they have in store for us next year. Until then, feel the Air Force 1 Skeleton in your bones.

2. Nike SB Dunk Low Freddy Krueger

Albeit the chances of you wearing this sneaker on October 31^st are near-negligible, any Halloween list would be incomplete without this legendary shoe. Inspired by the cult film series “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, specifically the antagonist Freddy Krueger, the shoe encapsulates the spirit of Halloween flawlessly.

The canvas base features the shiver-inducing pattern of Krueger’s infamous sweater, the leather overlay is covered in skin-like materials with scarily realistic blood drops flowing downwards. Obviously, Freddy’s razored gloves can’t be missing to finish off the design, so the swoosh receives a metallic leather treatment. Five, Six, Grab your Crucifix.

However, due to legal complications, the sneaker faced a cease-and-desits, so with only around 30 pairs existing worldwide, you can only dream of this sneaker.

And it will probably be your worst nightmare.

1. Nike SB Dunk Low Night of Mischief

At the ideal moment of the Dunk’s hype peak, Nike found the ideal timepoint to release one of the most interesting and intricate Nike SB Dunk Lows of the last year. The “Night of Mischief” is the ultimate Halloween-shoe, no sneaker on this list features this many spook-inspired elements.

Starting from the obvious purple-orange-black colour blocking, the Dunk features an embroided spider-web on the quarter, with the accompanying spider on the lateral heel. The toe-box perforations form the shape of a smiling Jack-o’-Lantern, the heel tabs replace “Nike” with “Treat”, the Swoosh on the tongue drips blood-like, and wait until you see the insole.

The Night of Mischief is the ideal shoe for this year’s Halloween: the Dunk Low is still riding the craziest sneaker-hype wave we have seen in the last decade, and this is the perfect moment to wear one of the model’s best colorways.

Trick or Treat!

by Freddy Schwoerer of Drip Drops