Stilt Spirit DIY
In 2010 artist Melissa Irwin and her husband built some amazing Halloween costumes inspired by the landstriders from Dark Crystal. The arms are extra-long medical crutches and the legs were stilts from The Spinsterz; the bodies are mainly upholstery foam and fabric. She notes:
We tried different faces and masks, but nothing seemed to creep out people more than the blank and expressionless human face. On Halloween we stand in yards to pretend like we are decorations then follow families down the street. FREAKS THEM OUT!!! We also walk in our town on random days in the year just to surprise people.
Here’s a time-lapse video of a couple of their build “test runs,” plus some footage of them walking around and creeping people out:
Response to the costumes has been so overwhelming that she is now offering a downloadable set of instructions for $10US on Etsy.
I love how weird and organic these things look, as though they’ve emerged from a forest that exists only in your nightmares. The build is a little ambitious in terms of price–forearm crutches are around $75 and stilts are over $200–but if you view it as a long-term investment in giving people the heebie-jeebies for years to come it’s worth it.
(via Geyser of Awesome)
Posted in Resources | 7 Comments »
May 14th, 2015 at 6:55 am
Gee Ma, it followed me home, can I keep it?!?
I think they look a little too cutesy although in the dark they might be a bit more disconcerting. I don’t remember where I saw them but someone had used the same crutches/stilts basic only instead of hairy foam used scores of yards of gauze. Oh, and the head was pointy. THAT was trippy. ( by the way, it is more than halfway to Halloween. That’s scarey!)
May 14th, 2015 at 7:40 am
Wow. They are very imaginative, but kinda scary too. Something tells me a few kiddies may have had bad dreams after seeing those on the streets.
May 14th, 2015 at 11:27 am
Landstriders were my favorite!!!
May 14th, 2015 at 8:41 pm
Oh! That’s going up on Lonesome October!
May 15th, 2015 at 5:51 am
Amazing! Absolutely fabulous!! Would love to see those walking down my street anytime :)
May 17th, 2015 at 4:53 am
People that put this much effort into their costumes deserve all the love.
May 22nd, 2015 at 10:54 pm
Oh they look like the Wheelies from Return to Oz, which have always creeped me out!