While I was working on the Mars Attacks Trooper, I had promised my little Brother I would make him a costume. His very favorite character is Venom, the sybiotic alien half-good, half-bad guy from Spiderman. With his rows of teeth and slimed tongue, he sure seems like a great monster. And if he was going to go Trick or Treating as Venom, that meant I had to be Venom's all-evil sibling (?) Carnage; again lots of teeth with a blood red oozing form.

So we found this toy chest armor and flimsy plastic mask set of Venom for the basis. From there I built up the masks using the flimsy plastic mask over an inflated balloon with some added cardboard to define the form. I then used plaster bandages like traditional paper maché to build up the masks. Each mask is made of a helmet top with the eyes and upper jaw and then separate a lower Jaw. I used the basic form of the plastic toy mask's jaw again built up with cardboard to make the lower jaws. The jaws were then hindged carefully to the helmet top with a bend of clothes hanger wire - pointy side out. They were then painted, and the eyes are covered with sheer cloth and teeth added from cut white vinyl. Venom's tongue was just a sewn up twisted strip with glow-in-the-dark slobber for added effect. Black fabric finished off the mouths to prevent anyone from seeing our faces.

The costumes turned out great and we had one of the very best times I have ever had Trick or Treating. Halloween is the best, and this outing proved it.

by Earl B.