NeXt: Sophomore slays with monster-like masterpieces
Halloween is only two days away. For most of us, it means time to put on our costumes and hit the streets with our buddies for a night of trick-or-treating. For the exclusive few though, Halloween isn't just a day of transient frolic. Rather, it's all about the long period of intense preparation but satisfying outcomes that lead up to the big night.
Back in the early weeks of September, while Halloween hangs in the limbo of back-to-school fever for most students, Alan Craft was already busily occupied in his basement working on the framework of his latest Halloween masterpiece.
He begins with PVC pipes for the frame. From there, he builds a back panel attached with straps to form a backpack. Then he uses chicken wire to create the dome, which is also supported by foam. The headpiece is held on by an iron rod and attached to a spring for an animated wobbly effect. Afterward, he decorates it with red, purple, green, and yellow long, ragged attire. He then customizes the pre-ordered unembellished hands by repainting and stuffing them with cotton. Finally, to finish off his work, he attaches the most essential and necessary component to the framework, a cup holder.
"Obnoxious, creepy and nasty," is how Cleveland Hill sophomore Alan Craft summarizes his most recent Halloween costume, Insano the Clown.
Many hours in September and October have been accumulated to complete the costume, over a period of four weeks.
Alan has done a total of five costumes over the years, including the Undertaker in 2006, the Black Stilts in 2007 and the Hunchback in 2008. He refers to his most recent costumes, Insano the Clown and the Hunchback, as "backpack costumes" because they are worn like a backpack. A cup holder — he takes much pride in showing off this innovative quality — is placed inside the costume for hydration purposes when he wears his elaborate costumes.
His Black Stilts creation is pretty straightforward. This creature of the night involves maneuvering around on stilts while also dressed in black from head to toe.
"It took me a couple of days to learn how to balance on them ... It's like learning how to ride a bike," said Alan.
His inspiration centers around one piece of the costumes and from there he gradually builds it up. Figuring out where to start is the most complicated part in Alan's process of making these elaborate costumes. Each costume costs him around $200 to $300. This includes all the materials for the frame, with the pre-ordered hands and headpiece being the most expensive parts.
When he's done with his costume, he usually takes it for a stroll around his neighborhood. He even visits the fire hall to give the little kids there a scare. Alan is also in his school district's elementary Halloween parade. Every year, he's offered a chance to display his costumes to his schoolmates on stage. Last year, he surprised the audience when he tried something different by adding lighting effects.
"I like to see people's reactions," he said. "If they like it or if they don't like it."
Just a few years ago, Alan found inspiration from his neighbor's lawn decoration to start his own front yard display. Since then, he sets up a display with some assistance from his parents. On his front lawn are costumes and props he has acquired through the years. There's a man being hanged, the grim reaper, a guillotine, a witch and her cauldron, a limbless being helplessly strapped to a table, and a skeleton looking out of his coffin.
For a few years now, Alan and a couple of his friends have started a tradition of setting up a haunted house tour. He and his friends do what they love best by dressing up in characters. He has a lot of other costumes set around so people don't know which ones are real people. Unfortunately, that's all he is letting us in on so as not to ruin the scary surprises.
"Halloween has always been a thing," said Alan. "I've always liked to put things together."
Alan's mom, Janet Craft, says her son gets inspired very easily.
Alan began getting serious with his costume-making in seventh grade. Before that it was just Halloween props that he purchased. The Internet was the inspiration that gave him the final push. Seeing the costumes online gave him the motivation to try something grand and obnoxious.
The idea for the PVC-pipe frames is linked to his own rendering of Blue Man Group, a creative musical group best known for its spectacular theatrical shows and concerts. Alan and two other schoolmates — along with the accompaniment of three other bands — form Anonymous Incorporated, their own group emulating the Blue Man Group. Here's the creative part: Instead of traditional instruments, they use PVC pipes to create astonishing sounds.
Alan's creative ambitions include playing multiple instruments and doing modern abstract art with acrylics.
The aptly named Alan Craft has "been creative since Day One. Since he was a little kid, he's always wanted to do stuff on his own and make it," his mother said. "All his artistic endeavors, you didn't have to prompt him, he just takes off and he does the project until it's completed."
For Alan, Halloween has always been between the months of September and October. It's this time of year where he puts all distractions aside and re-establishes his energy and time on everything Halloween.
"I love the haunted houses; I love to get scared; and I love to scare people even more," said Alan.
Spoken like a true lover of Halloween.
Family affair
Less than a hour from Cleveland Hill is Dunkirk. There reside Miguel Rosario, a single father, and his three children, Miguel Jr., 13; Rosabella, 11; and Enrico, 5. The family works as a team to make costumes.
It all started one day through Miguel Jr.'s suggestion during a yard sale. Miguel Jr. brought up the idea that they should use a sleeping bag as a costume. They got a lot of sales that day after displaying a Santa sleeping bag costume that they made.
Their latest costume creation is a gecko. Rosario and his kids utilized popcorn foam, couch foam and paint to form the gecko's head. Miguel Jr. sketches something up and they try to get as precise to the drawing as possible. They use recyclable materials, things they find in the dumpster and around their apartment, to create their costumes.
"The kids love it," said Rosario. "I always tell them that they're making their own creation."
Through hard work, the family aspires to expand costume-making into a family business where they can make their specialized "gigantic" costumes to promote other businesses.
Nhan Bui is a junior at Cheektowaga Central High School.
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