The Halloween Obsession

I wasnt always a massive fan of Halloween, Until i had my own children. I Realised that it was dying out in my town. No one really celebrated it the same way they did when I was a child.

When I was a child you would spend weeks and weeks preparing your jokes, poems and songs to tell the people in the houses you visited! There were parties at my school and a dress-up day with games and bobbing for apples. Now the Halloween disco at school is referred to as an Autumn disco and very few children dress up.

I'm not sure where my obsession started or why but I think somewhere in my head it clicked that my kids were missing out on one of the most amazing seasons of the year and I was not really prepared to let Halloween just die out.

My first creation was an Alice and Wonderland costume that I gored up followed by My version of a Vampire Queen complete with a homemade headdress that took about 3 weeks to complete. Clip-in Vampire Fangs and a Gothic corset and Skirt. Very basic in comparison to a few of my next creations.

2016 - A Breaking moment in my Halloween Obsession. I gave myself the ultimate challenge, to recreate Jack Sparrow. I was not expecting it to turn out as it did but my 4-year-old at the time loved it so much she requested that I wear it to pick her up from school in! The reaction from adults was amazing. They weren't sure what to do or say and it amuses me still to this day! My Daughters face was a picture it lit up the playground so it was worth it!

I always dress the kids how they ask, be it a witch or a skeleton, though my Eldest daughter is more up for the challenge of having me spend hours using latex and making her look particularly gruesome! Shes had homemade devil horns and full facial burns in previous years.

2018 - I recreated Little dead Riding hood, She was my first adventure with wounds and scars on myself, previously I had only done those on my eldest daughter. These wounds included a chuck of neck flesh bitten out and some claw marks on my face, They were pretty gory and didn't fail to freak a few people out. the previous year I had set the bar so high with Captain Jack I struggle to find a way to beat it.

In 2019 I terrified a few trick or treaters with my recreation of Pennywise.

So, Halloween 2020 is quickly approaching. I have been practising, creating new make-up effects and putting together a few different look's. I have Settled on a VooDoo Doll Costume and I plan to use liquid latex, teddybear fluff and staples to complete my look. Working with latex is so much fun and I absolutely love creating gory looks. In my household, Halloween costumes are discussed as early ar April. the house gets decorated at the end of September and every year one decoration gets left up and forgotten about.

As the years go on I get older but that seems to make no difference to my love for Halloween. My only hope is that Halloween doesn't die out as it has been in my area over the years. I know for sure it won't for me!

I hope one day to be able to attend some courses at college, to improve and increase my SFX and theatrical makeup skills.