The Pumpkin King Costume

These costumes are being worn by my husband Alex (Pumpkin King on the Horse), our long time friend Teal (Bohemeth blue guy with axe in his head) and our neighbor Tyler (Skeleton Tree). When I was a young kid my mother would put on Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas for me to watch everyday, it was and still is my favorite movie. One scene that always excited me was at the beginning when the "Pumpkin King" is pulled into Halloween Town on a giant straw horse by a giant man with a axe in his head and lights himself on fire to emerge as the Jack we all know and love! I also was intrigued by the giant walking tree and his singing skeletons that also make an appearance in the opening scene. Being that I couldnt stop their I also wanted to bring to the life the cutest ghost dog ever! Zero! So I started with the horse, he is made out of aluminum pipe and a barrel in the midsection. I then layered hay and expanding foam the shape the horse and bring it to life. We made the head removable so it would be easier to get in and out of door ways. Once his shape was sculpted I covered the whole horse in raffia table skirts with hot glue and used twine to gather it up and give it a authentic look. His tail was a piece or pipe insulation and was cover in pompus grass flowers. His platform he sat on was aluminum framing and a piece of plywood. I then took craft foam and cut it into strips and glued it on the platform then dremeled it to give it an authentic wooden plank look. We added swivel wheels we purchased at a hardware store. Strobe lights and a music speaker were added for dramatic effect. For the Pumpkin King I mached a pumpkin and cut out a hole at the bottom for his head and cut out the eyes, nose, and mouth. His costume was sewed by hand and I added more raffia skirting to make him look like a straw man. For the tree I got the shape with wire fencing and then added fabric on top. I layered pipe insulation over the whole tree to give it its tree like texture. It was then covered in tissue paper and painted (as paint doesn't stick to pipe insulation). I then added some fresh cut branches to the top to give it a more real feel. For my giant axe man Bohemeth I started by sewing a rather large set of overalls. I then sculpted, molded and painted a prosthetic to resemble the character from the movie. The axe was then 3d printed to keep the weight down and applied to the prosthetic. For Zero I purchased a RC car and started on the head. I used floral foam and craft foam to shape his head. I then draped some shimmery material over his back that gave him a ghostly look. I then added his collar which was made from thermo plastic and painted. Overall it was a very fun costume to make and it was great to see some of my favorite childhood characters come to life. This look was created in a 4 week span after a fault from our first costume idea caused us to have to change our theme!