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Halloween is coming up and to get into the spirit, let's meet makeup and set designers Kevon Ward and Evan Hedges. They work at the Denver haunted houses "13th Floor" and "Asylum." They competed on a special effects makeup reality show on SyFy called "Faceoff" this season. They told us about the competition, the horror genre, and shared some costume and decorating ideas. Ward and Hedges spoke to Nathan Heffel.
Costume tips:
- Pick up some liquid latex and cotton. You'd be surprised what you can sculpt with that directly onto your face.
- Once you decide what you want to be, go to thrift stores and piece it together yourself. If you want to be a zombie, rip the clothes and roll the clothes in the dirt.
- Create props with things like foam tubing wrapped in tape and latex. Toilet paper rolls and cheese cloth will also come in handy.
Here are some YouTube tutorials based on Colorado Matters' staff favorite scary movies:
Ryan Warner: Samara Morgan from "The Ring"
Rachel Estabrook: Ghostface from "Scream"
Michael de Yoanna: Zombies from "The Evil Dead"
Andrea Dukakis: Dorothy from "The Wizard of Oz"
Kareem Maddox: Demon from "Insidious"
Stephanie Wolf: Hannibal Lecter from "Silence of the Lambs."
Nathan Heffel: Count Orlok from "Nosferatu"
Home decoration tips:
- Cut out cardboard shapes and place them in an outside-facing window. Use a strobe light or a lamp to illuminate it from inside.
- Buy old dolls from thrift stores, and bury them with the feet protruding from the ground.
- Lots of Jack-O-Lanterns
- Find pink foam or styrofoam at a home improvement store. Mold it into shapes, and with a layer of quick-dry concrete it can be made to look like anything. Try making an easy headstone.
Behind the scenes at Asylum haunted house in Denver: