Looking for quirky Halloween printables? Download free spooky vintage art, skeleton calendars, posters, and macabre illustrations.
If you’re looking for something a little different for your Halloween decor this year, I’ve put together a quirky collection of fun vintage spooky images you can print for free. This isn’t your usual set of pumpkins and witches, though I do have those in my vintage Halloween postcards post. Instead, this roundup is more eclectic, mixing the strange and the macabre with a playful twist.
Macabre & Fun: The Prints Featured Here
You’ll find the mischievous skeletons of the Antikamnia Calendar, old posters and catalogue illustrations for Halloween treat pails, and even some wonderfully creepy specimen jars and pickled curiosities from vintage anatomy books. They’re weird, a little unsettling, and perfect if you like your Halloween decor with a touch of Victorian curiosity-shop flair.
If you prefer something more classic, you can also explore my collection of vintage Halloween art prints, which features medieval illustrations, such as Holbein’s Dance of Death. But if you’re in the mood for oddities and fun, dive into this printable gallery of spooky treasures—you never know which skeleton or jarred creature might catch your eye.
To download the spooky Halloween image you want, click on the title above it, and a higher-resolution picture will open in a new tab, which you can then print or save.
Antikamnia Calendar Skeletons
These quirky skeletons were initially made to advertise medicine in the late 1800s, but they’ve become cult favourites thanks to their dark humour. The illustrations depict skeletons cooking, reading, and even relaxing at the spa, a macabre yet tongue-in-cheek scene. They create brilliant Halloween prints if you prefer your spooky decor with a touch of vintage wit.
This print has the humorous inscription of “May We Never Meet Him”
“The First Tooth”
“The Diagnosis”
“Expert Testimony”
“Tis The Genuine”
“An Opening Bud”
With a joke.
Print 9: Beer Drinking Skeleton
“The Doctor’s Enemy”
“The Prodigal’s Return”
“A Rough Rider”
Print 14: Wood Wittling Skeleton
“Ah, There! Girls!”
“His Fourth of July”
Print 17: Skelton Riding A Bike
A “Century” Maid
Print 19: Skeletons In A Pharmacy
Specimen Jars & Pickled Curiosities
Nothing says spooky quite like a shelf lined with strange things floating in jars. These vintage medical and anatomy illustrations feature a diverse range of subjects, from curious creatures to eerie, preserved specimens. They’re a little unsettling, but that’s what makes them perfect for Halloween; print them out for wall art that feels straight out of an old curiosity cabinet.
Thesaurus Animalium Primus (1710) by Dutch anatomist Frederik Ruysch is a fascinating mix of science and art. The book catalogues preserved animal specimens, illustrated with finely detailed engravings that show creatures suspended in jars and arranged in eerie, almost theatrical displays. Intended as serious anatomy, the images now feel wonderfully macabre, perfect for adding a touch of vintage curiosity-cabinet spookiness to Halloween.
Print 20: Death Fredrik Ruysch
Skeletons on the organs of the human body.
Print 21: Arm and Hand in Specimen Jar
Print 22: Skeletons & Body Parts
Another macabre image of death by Fredick Ruysch with skeletons and human body parts.
Print 23: More Skeletons & Body Parts
Two dissected frogs with snakes in specimen jars.
Print 25: Fish and Hand Specimen Jars
Another two creepy specimen jars by Ruysch, the second appears to contain a human hand clutching a hatching turtle egg.
Print 26: Molluscs Specimen Jars
Vintage Halloween Posters & Catalogue Images
Halloween used to be just as much about quirky fun as it was about fright, and these old posters and catalogue pages prove it. From ads for party supplies to illustrations of cheerful treat pails, this Halloween ephemera brings a nostalgic, slightly creepy charm to your Halloween decorations.
A witch and a black cat paper toy from a magazine.
A vintage French poster for a Black Magic show.
An assortment of papier-mâché heads from a costume catalogue by Demoulin Brothers and Company, 1908.
Print 30: Assorted Halloween Costumes
From the same catalogue above.
Print 31: Shackman’s Halloween Favours
Print 32: Thurston The Great Magician
Creepy Oddities & Macabre Illustrations
This collection also includes a few unusual and intriguing extras, creepy creatures, Gothic details, and illustrations that blur the line between science and nightmare. They’re fascinating as much as they are eerie, making them great conversation starters when used as DIY decor.
Print 33: A Skeleton in Fine Atire
From the Wellcome Collection
Print 34: Skeleton On the Shoulders of a Doctor
Print 35: Drinking with the Devil
An old man drinks from a cup while a devil and a skeleton stand behind him.
The Devil and Dr Faustus meet, from the Wellcome Collection.
More Creepy Goodies
I hope you’ve enjoyed this mix of spooky and fun vintage Halloween ephemera. All of these images are free to download and easy to use in your own seasonal projects—whether you frame them for instant wall art or cut them up for crafts. They’d look especially good in a DIY Halloween shadow box, where you can layer skeletons, jars, and posters into a creepy little scene.
If you’re still hunting for more eerie printables, don’t miss my collection of Halloween patent prints, these classic vintage bat drawings, and a whole gallery of vintage spider illustrations. Together, they make a treasure trove of quirky, macabre art to mix and match for your Halloween decor.
If you fancy, you can Buy Me A Coffee Here.
Linda
Wednesday 17th of September 2025
Cool and creepy! Love them!
claire
Thursday 18th of September 2025
Thank you, I had fun finding them.