The Creepy Guy for Halloween is a pretty cool looking figure. It was somewhat cobbled together from various props we had and turned out to be a big hit. The head is just so creepy and vacant looking, kinda like a stoned Uncle Fester. In his premier appearance we simply hung him on a coat hanger (see the Frankenstein page). I wanted to turn him into a full Monster dummy for Halloween, but not a big 7 foot tall figure. What I had in mind for him was a kind of hunchback/butler type of Monster, at around 5 feet tall. I could basically keep the same outfit and setup as the previous year, I just needed a frame.
 Because I was making a smaller frame than the other Monsters, I wanted to try something different for the frame. The Creepy Guy was dressed in a robe, so I didn't need a full body, just an upper body. I wanted to make a 3-Dimensional base that would stabilize it in all directions. Instead of using the fork system that I used for the other four Monsters, I decided on a kind of 4-way fork system for the Creep. I made an upper body, with shoulders and arms and neck like the other Monster dummies, but instead of a body-like frame, I made a single PVC pipe coming straight down from the neck and connecting to this fork system I used for the base.
 This fork system was two sets of perpendicular 'U's turned upside down. This worked to stabilize the dummies in 3-Demensions. To create this fork, I used two 4-way pipe connectors attached to each other, perpendicular to each other. The pipe coming from the body attached at the top, and a length of pipe came out of the bottom of the fork. Each 4-way connector had PVC pipes coming out, with a 90° connector to another piece of pipe running straight down to the ground at each end. Each 'U' was perpendicular to each other, making a 4-way 3-D fork. This set upgave the frame excellent stabilization, and I could put dowels in each pipe to further secure the dummy to the ground. Yeah, it's somewhat complicated, but not as much as you think. The Creep's black robe totally covers the fork. It works well for the short dummy, but I'm not so sure about the larger 7 foot tall frames. The fork was about 18 inches wide each way, and 20 inches tall. The frame for the Creepy Guy was just over 5 feet tall.
 For this version of the Creepy Guy, I would have to cut the head piece out of the centerpiece it originally came from. The centerpiece was cardboard with fake rubber fingers glued on, it was supposed to look like some kind of goulish party tray. I cut the head out and pinned the hood of the robe to it around the head to hide the cuts. The head was too small to put on a wig head, so I just stuck the head on the neck piece, which I adjusted by adding a 45° connector and small piece of PVC pipe to hold the head in place properly.
I liked the way his hand was posed in 2001, close to his chest as if he was holding his robe off the ground. I wanted to keep that pose for the dummy. I arranged that hand by using a 90° connector at the elbow, a short PVC pipe piece, and a 45° connector with another short piece of pipe. I took that hand and screwed it right into the pipe, and then pinned the robe to the hand to hold it in place.
 I only had the one hand and I couldn't find a match for the other side. I needed something to take the place of his left hand. If he was going to be a butler-type figure, I reasoned he should be holding a tray or a lantern, somewhat Igor-esque. What I came up with was to take one of my old foam light-up jack-o-lanterns and place that where the hand would go. Then I draped his robe sleeve up over the top of the jack-o-lantern and pinned it in place. This gave it the look of being held up to illuminate the dark, like a latern would. And, the jack-o-lantern was light-up, so I could plug it in out in the cemetery. I cut a hole in the back of the foam jack-o-lantern, and just slid it on to the left arm pipe (this is a little different from the first frame picture above, I adjusted the arm and frame to make the look I wanted).
 The Creepy Guy went in front corner opposite the Frankenstein. I slid it over 5 wood dowels, and plugged it in to light up that jack-o-lantern. I didn't screw it to the dowels, as I brought this dummy in every night. It was manageable enough to tote around, and I didn't want the jack-o-lantern getting wet. I thought of him as a kind of "Greeter" for the cemetery, showing the way to all the wayward ghosts and ghouls. His black robe had lots of slack, and it flowed and billowed nicely in the wind. Very Creepy!
I really liked the Creepy Guy, and instead of storing him away with the rest of the Dummies, I kept him at the house (much to my wife's shagrin), in a corner of the livingroom. At Christmas time, I wanted him to show his Christmas spirit, so I added a Santa hat and stuck him next to the tree (again, my wife wasn't so amused).
|
