How to Make a Monster Costume

The classic image of the Frankenstein monster was defined by Boris Karloff's appearance in the 1931 movie "Frankenstein." Here's a way to make Dr. Frankenstein's monster in your own image that won't have you working in the lab late at night, but will be a graveyard smash. Read on to learn more.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• Old blue jeans or black pants
• Oversized old sneakers, platform shoes, or work boots
• Black or purple T-shirt
• Green socks
• Old black blazer
• Cotton batting
• Plastic gallon jug
• Green acrylic paint
• Silver pipe cleaners
• Nail
• Masking tape
• 2 5/8-inch bolt/washer/nut combinations
• Black elastic cord
• 2 5/8-inch bolt/washer/nut combinations
• Green cardboard
• Foam rubber
• Tape measure
• Double-sided mounting tape (optional)
• Black fright wig
• Green plastic gloves (optional)
• Green face paint
• Brown eye shadow
• Gray eyeliner (optional)

Digging Up Clothes

1. Cut the cuffs off a pair of pants and fringe the pant legs.
2. Take a pair of old tennis shoes, remove the laces, and cut off the tongues and toes. If using platform shoes or work boots for footwear, leave them as is, except to scuff them as needed.
3. Find a pair of green socks and stuff them with cotton batting.

Nuts and Bolts--Child

4. Remove the spout and handle off a one-gallon plastic jug.
5. Paint the outside of the jug green and wait for the paint to dry.
6. Poke holes in the side of the jug near the cut, then thread silver pipe cleaners through the holes, bending and flattening them to look like stitches. Fold the ends flat against the inside and cover with tape so they don't scratch.
7. Gouge holes near the top of the jug and thread bolts through holes so that the bolt heads are on the inside. Secure bolts with washers and nuts.
8. Make two pinholes near the top of the jug and run an elastic cord through them to make a chin strap.

Nuts and Bolts--Adult

9. Measure the circumference of your neck.
10. Cut a two-inch strip of foam rubber equal to the diameter of your neck. Cut a two-inch strip of green cardboard equal to the diameter of your neck plus several inches for overlap and several additional inches to allow for the thickness of the foam rubber.
11. Poke holes in the cardboard to accommodate the bolt threads. Ideally, one of the holes should go through the overlapping ends, so that attaching the nuts and washers will hold the appliance in place.
12. Thread the bolts through the holes, with the threads pointing outward.
13. Glue the foam rubber to the inside of the cardboard, covering the bolt heads.
14. Screw on the washers and nuts.

It's Alive! It's Alive!

15. Don the costume described under "Digging up Clothes."
16. Put on either of the appliances described in the "Nuts and Bolts" sections.
17. Apply green paint to the face and hands (or put on green gloves in lieu of painting the hands).
18. Accent the makeup with brown eye shadow on the eyelids and under the eyes for contrast. If wearing the adult neck appliance, use charcoal gray eyeliner to draw stitches on your forehead.
19. Cover your head (or the headgear, for a child) with a black fright wig. (For a child, attach the wig to the headgear with double-sided tape.)
20. Hold your hands in front of you and walk forward by keeping your legs stiff and rocking from side to side while taking tiny steps and groaning.

Tips & Warnings

• Look for bolts with thin heads. You can mill them thinner if necessary, but do not make them so thin that the heads will slip through the holes you made.
• Learn to impersonate Boris Karloff by saying "Antipasto" with a British accent and changing the pitch of your voice from low to high for each syllable. Then practice singing "Monster Mash" in that voice.

Who Can Help:

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