Not only does wearing a mask work as a disguise, but it’s also a scare tactic. The Phantom Killer
On February 22nd, 1946, Jimmy Hollis and Mary Jeanne Larey were violently attacked in their car. Thankfully, they survived to report the assault as eyewitnesses. Except, they didn’t see their attackers face. They claimed that the man wore a white mask with cut-out holes for his mouth and eyes. There was no way to tell his identity. They were just his first victims. Over the next 10 weeks, the man would murder five people and severely injure three more. The murders were never solved because no one could get a look at his face. The Zodiac KillerÂ
Between 1968 and 1969, the Zodiac killer five people. In cryptic letters, he claims to have killed 37, though that goes unfounded. He wore a costume during at least one of his crimes. A survivor said that he had a black executioner-style hood with clothes decorated in zodiac symbols. The Zodiac Killer also targeted young couples, but also sent threatening and cryptic letters to the media and police. No one knows who the Zodiac Killer was. James Eagan Holmes
This is the man who committed the mass murder of 12 people in Aurora, Colorado in 2012. The victims were at a midnight screening of The Dark Night Rises. Holmes entered the building looking like the Joker, dyed hair and everything. When he was apprehended, he told authorities that he “was the Joker” over and over again. Ed Gein
Ed Gein was a serial murderer and grave robber who liked to make costumes and furniture from the bodies of his victims. He was formally convicted of two people: Bernice Worden and Mary Hogan. He is also the inspiration behind Leatherface, Norman Bates, and Buffalo Bill. Police found masks made of human faces, a belt of nipples, a corset from human skin, and other horrifying objects. He said that he would dress up in the human-made costumes in the comfort of his own home.