Supplies for Vampire Halloween Costume

Series Summary

Once bitten, twice shy…or so they say. The vampire myth is one of the oldest and most widely-held stories told in society today. Not merely a phenomenon local to Transylvania, the idea of blood sucking nostferatu roaming the earth, enslaving makind to a sort of undead servitude, inhabits the global pop culture imagination. This is, of course, due largely to the work of Bram Stoker, an author who crystallized the classic Dracula story in a book of the same name.

Vampiric origins are often said to be found in reports of the appearance of the decaying dead—whose fingernails and teeth seem to grow well after death, and whose skin has a flushed appearance, engorged with blood. But the vampire story has been told in the Slavic cultures for hundreds of years, and the Chinese have their own version of the creature, who raises from the dead to steal life energy. Even the ancient Greeks and Persians had vampire-like myths in their time. The myth has been around, in some form or another, for a long, long time, perhaps because at its heart, it represents a visceral fear about life and death.

If you want to invoke that fear this Halloween, watch these videos and learn how to dress in a vampire costume. Our expert will show you how to put together a classic Dracula outfit, complete with cape and medallion, as well as give you Halloween makeup tips to get that pale, undead appearance, fangs included. Also learn how to give your vampire Halloween costume a modern twist by replacing the Victorian Era wardrobe with a leather jacket and some sunglasses.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Matt Cail and on behalf of Expert Village I'm here today to show you how to make a vampire costume. There are two basic pieces that make up a good vampiric mix for your Halloween this year. The first is make-up. It's important to have good make-up. Most people do not look like vampires and that's a good thing. For make-up you are going to need to have whites, blacks, grays and of course the color red. You're going to need something to do have at least a smattering of blood no matter how under or over stated it is. In addition to make-up you can't just stop there you are also going to need to have some wardrobe help. Now this wardrobe help may come from your very own. It could be that you have a lot of the clothes that we are going to be talking about today. But in case you don't definitely consider going to a thrift store or a second hand store. These are really great places to go. They have really great deals. You don't have to spend a fortune on having a costume. You don't even have to spend a fortune on having a really really nice looking costume. So consider a thrift store for several of the clothing items we are talking about today before you go to a convenient store or even a costume store which tends to be more pricey in general."