Dismembered Body Halloween Costume with Zombie

I have two children. One of them is content with a pound store werewolf mask. The other is a little more creative, (and by that I mean demanding!). Ever since the success of our headless halloween costume a few years ago, Abbi has wanted something equally spectacular. Hopefully this dismembered body halloween costume being carried by a zombie will fit the bill!

Materials Needed:

For the head:

Halloween Mask (Full head version)
Bubble wrap
Packing tape

Making the zombie body:

Cardboard
Wooden Spoon*
Bubble wrap
Packing tape
Rucksack*
Zip up sweatshirt with hoodie*
Large lightweight jacket*
White rubber gloves

For the dismembered body:

Sweat shirt
Old rags
Liquid latex
Fake blood

*These items wont be damaged, and can be reused.

Method:

Although this may seem quite a complicated costume. Don’t be put off, it was actually fairly easy, and mainly uses things you probably already have around your house (with the exception possibly of the latex). The costume essentially makes half a bubble wrap body encased in a sweatshirt and jacket, on a backpack.

To make it easier, I’ve broken down into sections how we made it.

The Head

For the head, we bought a cheap zombie style mask from the pound store. You need the sort with the full head covered at the back to make a full skull.

First of all, bunch up the bubble wrap into a ball shape, using packaging tape, to keep it in place. Once you have an approximate head shape, this will be stuffed inside the mask and attached to the body.

The Zombie Body

We’ve used the cardboard and rucksack method before for the headless halloween costume

After a few unsuccessful attempts without the cardboard,(the zombie was too slouchy on Abbis back), we went back to this old faithful method.

First cut a large sheet of cardboard, and make a rough torso shape, leaving a “neck” sticking up, to attach the zombie head to.

Attach a wooden spoon to make sure the thin neck doesn’t buckle / warp.

Finally use two sheets of cardboard for stability, before parcel taping up the lot to keep it all in place.

With the torso made, attach the bubblewrap head to the cardboard neck. Then, so that the zombie torso sits high (and comfortably) on your back, attach a rucksack to the cardboard torso, again taping the whole lot securely.

To make the hands: Take light coloured rubber gloves, and stuff small rolls of bubble wrap into the fingers, using the same method to fill up the hands and wrists.

After that, make shoulders and arms the same length as your hoodie, with a roll of bubblewrap. Use tape to keep it all tight. Attach these to the rubber glove hands, making sure you put the correct hand with the correct sleeve.

Feed the arms shoulders and hands into the hoodie jumper, and place the rest of the cardboard body into this hoodie too before attaching the head. I had some off cuts from the dismembered body sweatshirt, which I used to cover the rucksack straps – which meant they weren’t seen on Abbis shoulders when she put the zombie torso on her back.

A final large jacket will be needed to “combine” the zombie body to the real legs.

The Dismembered Body

The dismembered body requires a trashable large shirt or sweatshirt, which needs to hang down (i.e. not be fitted). Ours had a cuff around the bottom that we cut off (and used to wrap the rucksack straps).

As this part of the costume is dismembered, it needs a lot of blood. Have fun with the fake blood effects, and to really add to the effect add some trailing bloody entrails.For the bloody entrails: Cut an old sheet or any rags into strips and dip into liquid latex. Scrunch up for texture and leave to dry.
Once dry, coat in fake blood before attaching to the front of the bloodied hoody.

Assemble all together:

This bloodied sweatshirt is worn by the trick or treater.

Wear the rucksack wth zombie torso attached, and add an over sized jacket to the zombie.

Finally, tie / zip / secure the jacket around the trip or treaters waist, to make it look like the legs belong to the zombie.

and there you are, all ready for trick or treating.

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