Dr. Madd Headless Costume

I made this costume for my son, Drew. I found the idea online and had to purchase the lab coat and shoes from a local second-hand store, purchased the pull-up handle bookbag from JCPennys (only because I could not find one at a second-hand store), and purchased thin plaster from Dick Blick for the neck. To make: I first constructed the fake body using the pull-up handle bookbag. I did not want the handle to drop on the bag, as this is the neck piece of the fake body, so I constructed with small, lightweight boards and a few screws, a harness around the locking device on the pull-up handle. I also used plastic hangers and an old butter dish to construct the neck piece. I used duck tape to attach the hangers on either side of the butter dish so it created a shoulder and neck affect at the top of the handle of the bookbag. I then used empty cereal boxes and put a cover over the hangers to create a smooth shoulder. I then used the plaster and covered the shoulder area and butter dish to create the neck and shoulders. I bunched some of the plaster to create rigid areas around the neck to resemble bones and veins and also around the top to create an uneven, cut-off effect. I then painted the neck area and added some blue around the vein areas and tons of blood! I already had a scrub shirt and pants so I cut a hole in the lab shirt at the spot where my sons head would fit through. I used an old plastic ornament container for the jar to go around his head and added red paint and red celiphane glued to the inside, but cut the top and bottom out so he could get air. I also found a multi-colored small light used for plants and glued it to the back of the plastic ornament piece so that when it got dark outside we could still illuminate his face inside the 'jar'! I then stuffed the fake arms with plastic air filled bags to create the look of real arms...using air filled bags allowed the arms to slightly move around when my son was walking, creating an effect of muscles in the arms and making them look more real! Plus it was not heavy for my son to have on his shoulders! I used gloves as the hands and just stuffed them with newspapers and attached them to the arms with safety pins and glue. I used duck tape and taped two pillows around the handle of the bookbag to create the back and belly of the fake man. This also created a good backing for my sons head! I painted his face in pale whites and gray to create the effect of death and then had him place his arms into the pants. I also used air filled bags inside the shoes as they were too big for my son, this helped him wear them perfectly! The lab coat was a button up one so it was easy for my son to place his head through the scrub top and lab coat and put inside of the 'jar'. I used small wires to attach the jar to the lab coat and attach the hands to the top and bottom of the jar. I then put fake blood all over and tada! It is done!! :)