Spider Host
October 18, 2019 5:21 PM Subscribe
For Halloween this year, I finally have a house that faces the street where I hope to get trick-or-treaters! My house has a bunch of weird metal sculpture art in the front yard, including some big metal spiders on the roof, so I ran with that and spiderwebbed everything. Now I need to figure out what to wear as I hand out candy (and non-candy treats for the kids with allergies). Obviously something spider-themed... Please help!
What I'd like to convey is that I am a person who is in the process of being taken over by spiders/turning into a spider? But I'm not sure how to do that. I'm thinking of painting my face something like one of the pictures on this site, if I have the skillz (possible, I used to be pretty good at theatrical makeup in college...). But I'm not sure what else to do to sell the illusion. And should I use Ben Nye makeup or is there something better? Any other ideas?
(Bonus question, are those novelty contacts really safe? I've always avoided them but they seem to be getting more mainstream...)
What I'd like to convey is that I am a person who is in the process of being taken over by spiders/turning into a spider? But I'm not sure how to do that. I'm thinking of painting my face something like one of the pictures on this site, if I have the skillz (possible, I used to be pretty good at theatrical makeup in college...). But I'm not sure what else to do to sell the illusion. And should I use Ben Nye makeup or is there something better? Any other ideas?
(Bonus question, are those novelty contacts really safe? I've always avoided them but they seem to be getting more mainstream...)
Dress as a fly! A webbed-up fly.
posted by Gneisskate at 5:35 PM on October 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
posted by Gneisskate at 5:35 PM on October 18, 2019 [10 favorites]
You could probably find some oversized spider props at the Halloween store. Maybe you could cut up a big spider toy and have some legs in your hair. Black pipe cleaners randomly sticking out of your hair or framing one side of your face could create a good spidery effect.
There are also ways to make costumes with extra arms.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:47 PM on October 18, 2019
There are also ways to make costumes with extra arms.
posted by Ursula Hitler at 5:47 PM on October 18, 2019
Best answer: Spider rings for the no-candy kids!
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:55 PM on October 18, 2019
posted by toodleydoodley at 5:55 PM on October 18, 2019
Maybe consider sharing a photo of this house that normally has metal spiders on the roof?
posted by marimeko at 5:58 PM on October 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by marimeko at 5:58 PM on October 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: You’re absolutely right! You guys need photos! Here’s some! The existing spiders are on top of the garage and on top of the porch.
posted by Weeping_angel at 6:17 PM on October 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
posted by Weeping_angel at 6:17 PM on October 18, 2019 [9 favorites]
Best answer: That is amazing. You have the most popular house in your neighborhood, all year long. People give out directions based on your place, even if it's the long way around.
I vote fly, or butterfly, with ragged wings. (And I'm in the minority - I think the make-up effects in your link are best suited to a Halloween costume party for grown-ups.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:36 PM on October 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
I vote fly, or butterfly, with ragged wings. (And I'm in the minority - I think the make-up effects in your link are best suited to a Halloween costume party for grown-ups.)
posted by Iris Gambol at 6:36 PM on October 18, 2019 [6 favorites]
Best answer: Once you're dressed (either in something costume-y or totally normal, everyday clothing), have someone wrap you up in a cocoon of the same type of webs you've used on your house. Wrap your arms separately so you can move them - or, wrap just one arm against your body and have the other free. Wrap your legs just to your knees with loose webs otherwise dragging around you in a sort of train-but make it 10 or 20 feet long! You could have some other object (or many small objects) wrapped up in the webs with you-something humorous that speaks to whatever you were doing right before the spider trapped you (a large stuffed animal, another person, a frying pan). Wrap your head and create an elaborate hairstyle out of the webs (huge messy bun, long braids, mohawk). And have the webs sort of dripping from your fingers and basically bedraggled.
posted by marimeko at 7:01 PM on October 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
posted by marimeko at 7:01 PM on October 18, 2019 [5 favorites]
Oh wow that house is already massively selling your costume idea. Of course someone who lives there is being spiderified. I don't have an exact vision right now but I'm liking what "Arachne spider" is pulling up in Google image search (in Greek mythology, Arachne challenged Athena's weaving prowess and got turned into a spider). Adding "costume" gives some more definitive ideas but they do often seem to be referencing specific characters people might recognize.
posted by teremala at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by teremala at 7:05 PM on October 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
The makeup in your link would be likely to really scare small kids, in the bad not fun way, so if you think you might get kids under 7 or so I’d say skip that.
Extra arms? Tubes of fabric (socks or tights even) stuffed and attached to a shirt? All black clothing with a white web painted on you and either a big toy spider attached to your clothes, or make your face a spider body with pipe cleaner legs in your hair as suggested above?
posted by john_snow at 7:06 PM on October 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
Extra arms? Tubes of fabric (socks or tights even) stuffed and attached to a shirt? All black clothing with a white web painted on you and either a big toy spider attached to your clothes, or make your face a spider body with pipe cleaner legs in your hair as suggested above?
posted by john_snow at 7:06 PM on October 18, 2019 [2 favorites]
When I was a kid my mother made me a Black Widow costume (she was from Texas and the reference was largely lost on my New Jersey audience.) Anyway, we took a long sleeved leotard, sewed padded panels to the torso to make the signature abdomen, complete with red hourglass. For the extra legs, she sewed tubes of black cloth and stuffed them with poly fill. Then she strung them together so that when I raised my arms, the other three arms on each side rose as well.
It was a great costume, and easily made by someone with so-so sewing/craft skills.
posted by workerant at 8:59 PM on October 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
It was a great costume, and easily made by someone with so-so sewing/craft skills.
posted by workerant at 8:59 PM on October 18, 2019 [1 favorite]
Spiderman
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:58 AM on October 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:58 AM on October 19, 2019 [2 favorites]
I can tell by your photos that you are nowhere near me geographically, but if you were, I'd lend you my spider skirt or poncho!
(if you like either of these, there are many places to buy them, or similar.)
posted by 41swans at 5:02 PM on October 19, 2019
(if you like either of these, there are many places to buy them, or similar.)
posted by 41swans at 5:02 PM on October 19, 2019
Some sort of bustle might work. I was thinking of something less sexy but this gives the idea. Here's another. Black bustles always remind me of the big abdomen on black widow spiders.
posted by BoscosMom at 9:10 PM on October 19, 2019
posted by BoscosMom at 9:10 PM on October 19, 2019
Best answer: If you can find a big floppy spider at the Halloween store, it makes a great add-on to marimeko's brilliant idea. Wrap the legs around you, make it look like it's on your back biting or cocooning you.
posted by Freyja at 3:49 AM on October 20, 2019
posted by Freyja at 3:49 AM on October 20, 2019
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posted by curious nu at 5:24 PM on October 18, 2019 [4 favorites]