“Halloween is a time to investigate fears, transform them, and celebrate the unknown,” she said in a Sept. 17 statement provided by the group. “Horror has always been a space to honor the horror classics, like the films that shaped me, while championing bold new voices and reinventing the way stories are told.”

And her story of how she became the HalloQueen started well before she became famous.

“My costumes got better as I got more jobs,” Janelle told the Hollywood Reporter in 2024. “I was a maid. I was a waitress. I worked at Blockbuster, which I loved because I got to see all the movies before other customers. I got first dibs. I can’t imagine what my life would be like without having access to films that were around before I was born, like Night of the Living Dead and Psycho.”

She continued, “I used to take money from those jobs and use it to elevate my costumes by mixing and matching from Spencer’s, Party City and thrift stores. That continued over the years. I looked at it as an art project, a moment when I got the chance to show people that I’m an artist with vision. People pay attention to Halloween costumes, so let me give them something to look at.”

As you count down the days until Halloween 2025, see more celebs kicking off the holiday a few weeks early…