The young cast of the Disney show "The Wizards of Waverly Place" know a thing or two about spooks and spells.
So it's no wonder the young actors express an affinity for Halloween. Launched a year ago, "Wizards" portrays a seemingly normal New York City family. The hitch is all three kids are novice wizards being trained by their dad for the day when only one of them will get to keep his or her powers.
The stars are cooking up their own costumes as new episodes air on Sundays on the Disney Channel, but they have a few tips for young fans:
* Selena Gomez, who plays lead character Alex, is working on a 1920s flapper look with a dress she already has. She says her mom will do her hair in pin curls to get the appropriate wave in her dark hair.
The best part of Halloween for a 16-year-old girl? Gomez says it's getting ready with her friends.
"Picking the costumes out, making it your own, getting ready with your friends talking about how to do it that's the really fun part," Gomez says. "My friends and I love to take costumes and make them our own."
Her advice: Make a costume pop by going one-up with the makeup and accessories, such as adding glitter around your eyes, whether you're a witch or a cheerleader.
* Jennifer Stone, who portrays Harper, an eccentric best friend to wizard teen Alex, likes to pattern her Halloween costumes after something she's reading. One year, that was a biography of Marie Antoinette, the 15-year-old says.
This year, she's dressing up as Mrs. Lovett from the dark, gory (and very adult) "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" -- a Broadway musical-turned-Hollywood movie from last year.
"I love monsters," Stone says. "I love anything mythological. I'm a sci-fi person."
She suggests taking your idea to the local thrift store, with pictures for inspiration.
* David Henrie, 19, who plays eldest wizard brother Justin, is perhaps a bit old for trick or treating, but he can recall years dressed as a Power Ranger or Ninja Turtle.
"I was always a ninja of some sort," he recalls.
His advice for Halloween? Be safe and careful (spoken like a true grown-up).
* Jake T. Austin, who plays youngest wizard brother Max, is aiming to dress like either Austin Powers, from the Mike Meyers movies, or an old-fashioned, gypsy fortuneteller. One year, his mother made him dress up like Elvis.
"Now looking back on it, I see the comedy in it, and I think it's funny," says Austin, 13. "But at the time my friends were dressing up as ninjas."
Be something you enjoy, Austin says. And don't copy your friends. That's not creative.
"Be original, be creative, and be bold," Austin says. "And you can never go over the top for Halloween."
