Boohooohooooo! October 31st is just around the corner! Halloween or All Hallows’ Eve is essentially an evening of horror movie marathons, trick or treating, carving pumpkins and jack-o’-lanterns, binging on candy corn, having costume parties and fun activities such as apple bobbing.

When people think Halloween, they think the following: scary, spooky, eerie, bizarre and gore! Creepy costumes and detailed, gruesome make-up ideas depicting rag dolls, Sally (Nightmare before Christmas), Lily Munster, Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Morticia Addams, etc. are popular TV and animation characters among individuals everywhere. Costume contests award those who are the spookiest and truth be told, this Halloween, you only need a couple of things and a lot more creativity to attain the result of this “stitched mouth” tutorial!

The things you’ll need are: liquid latex, face paint and make-up, paint brushes and paper towels, scissors, Q-tips, thread (preferably black) and a needle

The first step in creating the look is ripping up several sheets of paper towels and adjusting them to your lips, so that they cover your mouth entirely. Starting from the corners, apply sufficient latex until it covers the paper towels entirely. Build up ample layers of latex, thick enough to be able to cut and sew through. With the help of Q-tips and brushes, apply your make-up of choice onto the seemingly dried latex (e.g. flesh paint, blood red, etc.). Aim to make it as natural as possible and don’t worry too much about smears, since the idea is to make the “stitched mouth” as gory and repulsive as possible. At the end, you may prick holes with the needle or use the scissors to cut into the latex, for opening up the mouth. A tutorial video of a realistic stitched mouth was done by Youtube user Bonnie Corban SFX, who used safety pins instead of thread, attaining the same gory, repulsive look!

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yompRYTHfmA)

Tip: Pick out an interesting character that goes with your look and try out some role play! Lure others with your ooze of spookiness and don’t forget to jam to the greatest tune! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTgFtxHhCQ0), the Spooky Scary Skeletons dance from Disney’s 1929 cartoon The Skeleton Dance.