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The use of the word “epic” in the title could mean any of its uses, possibly “awesome”, could be “larger than life”, or it could mean “it’s a long story” as it pertains to these Halloween costumes.
Chris Miller made his own Bender costume. The eyes moved by a servo controlled by his hands! He was a finalist in a costume contest, but I can’t imagine what costume could beat this.
Dr. Octopus is the superbad villain from Spiderman. It’s not a simple costume to pull off, but Rob at Cockeyed did it in 2004 and posted the complete story of building and using the contraption. He didn’t win the costume contest, but no doubt enjoyed more internet fame than the winners.
Eight more costumes, after the jump.
Have you ever looked at a broken umbrella and thought about how it resembles a flailing bat? I have, since most of my umbrella break pretty quickly. Lenore at Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories made this Umbrella Bat costume out of one umbrella and a hoodie, and posted instructions so you can do the same.
This Trash Can costume is also a prank!
When I was a kid there was a guy in our neighborhood that used to jump out of the bushes in a gorilla suit and scare the bejeezus out of us. It was one of my fondest memories of halloween. Last year I decided to be that guy.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any bushes. An alternative would be to build a trash barrel disguise. I built the disguise below and then sat in it right on the front lawn. Not one single kid realized that It wasn’t a trash can and I scared so many of them that I lost count.
You might not recognize the name Caterpillar Power Loader J-5000, but surely you remember the mechanical power suit Sigourney Weaver used to fight the alien queen in Aliens. Ben Hallert built this one for Halloween last year. Read his story with links to photos and a video. Hallert previously made an APU costume from The Matrix, and a Mech Warrior costume.
Flickr user mcredis built a Rubik’s Cube costume and posted the process in photographs. He wore it to a costume parade in New York, and heard “Can I solve you?” all night long.
The Flaming Carrot is one of the more bizarre comic book characters you’ll ever encounter, but it’s the look that makes a great costume, rather than the backstory. RoG posted details on how he contructed this one.
Transformer costumes may be hot for this year, but Mark has been making and selling them for years. These costumes will actually transform into vehicles, but it may take a bit of practice on the wearer’s part.
Jay Maynard, the Tron Guy, shows you step-by-step how he made the costume that made him an internet legend.
Honus at Instructables has already finished two Ghostbusters costumes for this year (and will possibly have a third). He also posted instructions for making your own, complete with goggles and weapons. The backpack really makes this; I hope it isn’t as heavy as it looks!
Previously on mental_floss:
• 11 Pictures Politicians Wish Were Never Taken
• Baby Jessica And Other Kids We’d Forgotten About
• 12 Classes We Wish Our Schools Had Offered
• Strange Gravestones
• Five Ballpark Promotions That Went Wrong
• Quiz: Discontinued Ben & Jerry’s Flavor or Band I Found On MySpace?
I love the trashcan idea!!!!!! I wonder how many drinks people will spill on themselves at the Halloween party?
posted by Mary on 10-11-2007 at 11:03 am
heh. rubik’s dude
posted by me on 10-11-2007 at 11:17 am
the Bender costume really cracked me up. Bender’s Big Score comes out on DVD next month!
posted by Andrew on 10-11-2007 at 11:49 am
One of my favorites is the Headless Marie Antoinette costume (which can be found at Makezine)
posted by scoobnut on 10-11-2007 at 11:49 am
Hi, this is Rob Cockerham, (Dr. Octopus above). Yes! The costume has four arms. No need to send a reminder to my email.
posted by Rob Cockerham on 10-11-2007 at 12:57 pm
I’m Ben Hallert, the guy who made the walking forklift. About 20 people have sent me this link today, pretty cool. Thanks for the nice writeup!
I guess this means I’m down to 13 minutes of fame left…
posted by Ben Hallert on 10-11-2007 at 1:20 pm
I’d sure like to see the transformer transform.
posted by Patricia Smith on 10-11-2007 at 1:30 pm
Eat noodle, baby.
johnstewart.com/v/halloween/2006/DSCN5505.JPG.html
posted by John on 10-11-2007 at 1:59 pm
How about my Frylock costume from 2004?
http : // photos1.blogger.com/img/253/2026/640/P1010060.jpg
posted by Sandy on 10-11-2007 at 6:46 pm
Ben has the coolest Halloween costumes. I can’t wait to see his next one! Oh and I worked with him, but never saw his Powerloader one in person.
posted by Ant on 10-11-2007 at 7:54 pm
check this guy out
friendster.com/photos/3068892/113435478/23960
posted by Optimus on 10-11-2007 at 8:42 pm
These are hilarious! I bet the bender costume would have gotten first place if he got it to belch fire lol.
I remember seeing a picture of a group of 3 guys dressed up as Pong. Two guys were the paddles and the third spray painted one of those collapsable globes white for the ball. They even did a bit where the ball guy ran back and forth between the other two. Classic.
posted by heather on 10-12-2007 at 12:31 am
One Halloween, back in the 90’s, I wanted to either be something original and scary, or not bother dressing up at all. At the last second I saw a news show with an update story about the unibomber and they showed that old (dumb) artist conception drawing of him. I grabbed my hooded sweatshirt, sunglasses, and carried a box(bomb) wrapped in brown paper with a mailing label on a string around my neck. I won the contest… But I found out later that it was actually too creepy for some people. A guy told me that his wife was even afraid of my car. For three years people would say, “Oh, you’re the unibomber guy.” I think I went “too scary”…
Actually that car was scary, it was a big old ugly “bomb” of a Buick with tinted windows.
posted by Tdave on 10-12-2007 at 2:29 am
One of the best I saw was a guy who went as a one night stand….literally cut room in a night stand for his head and arms, wore a lamp shade over his head, glued a picture frame with a picture of a girl (face blurred) and a condom wrapper.
Although I still like the Jesus and Mary Magdelene that my boyfriend and I did once……
posted by Kate on 10-12-2007 at 10:09 am
When my brother still lived at home, I went with him as the allegedly adult supervision (I’m 17 years older than he is). But I got dressed up too. One year, I went out as the Devil, all in red and black with a light up pitchfork, too. I knocked on this one old woman’s door and I didn’t even get to say “Trick or treat” when she ran back down the hallway yelling that the Devil had come to claim her.
posted by Bill on 10-12-2007 at 11:09 pm
Wouaaaaaah! I love the Dr Octopuss costume!
I personally choose to dress a witch costume for Halloween. Simple but I already have some related clothes ;-)
posted by Dominique on 10-13-2007 at 10:12 am
HAHA, mad. Hey to check out all our crazy adventures on acid and the like, check out our blog at chocolate-snow.blogspot.com
posted by Sparkle on 10-15-2007 at 4:07 am
For my first trip to a Ren fair in roughly 15 years I ended up with a full length tunic and hooded cloak, in pitch black. The hood is deep enough to completely cover my face and the material is thin enough to see through from the inside as long as it’s within a couple of inches of your eyes. When my wife or daughter were looking over some of the merchant stalls I was typically just standing still, and I startled more than a few people when I moved suddenly after the womenfolk were done browsing.
So I’m thinking this Hallowe’en I’ll put on the garb, stand perfectly still outside holding the candy bowl and see how many people I can freak out.
posted by Greg on 10-15-2007 at 8:38 am
One year my brother won first place in our town’s Halloween costume contest. He wore a rubber mask of some crazed old man and draped an old army blanket around his shoulders. What won the award though was the amazing way he had of walking like Quasimoto. I think it was the only time in his life where having a club foot and one leg three inches shorter than other actually came in handy!
posted by Rayzor on 10-26-2007 at 5:33 pm
For my Halloween party I purchased different style costume from Disney Shopping store at Couponalbum.com on discounted prices and saved $15 off……….It was nice shopping for me…………!!
posted by Tim on 10-29-2007 at 10:59 pm
Happy halloween guys! I think I’m getting a little old for this kind of things, but today I’m going to get as many candy as possible! Do you guys have a costume already? I saw this video that gives some makeup tips: weshow.com/us/p/21422/halloween_makeup_tips
Good luck on your candy hunting!
posted by Josh on 10-31-2007 at 9:02 am
I’ve always wanted to do something similar to the trashcan thing in some variation.
For example, dressing as a scarecrow and holding a bowl of candy outside perfectly still then scaring people.
Of course, I’m always too lazy/tired/bored to do it.
posted by Money Moose on 11-9-2007 at 2:47 pm
I’m surprised some Top-Gun costumes weren’t at the end, they’re not that Epic I guess. Some buddies of mine did it one year and had hordes of chicks following them… ladies… you know you can’t resist IceMan! LOL peace.
posted by Chad Reitsma on 12-14-2007 at 6:28 pm
I want my own powerloader, and yeah with servos and all built in *thinks*
posted by Bryan on 12-24-2007 at 11:42 pm
Love this Umbrella Bat costume!!
posted by Bee on 3-8-2008 at 12:24 am
I have a better bat costume than that girls lmao
posted by batgirl on 3-25-2008 at 4:18 am
Great post, the tron guy is my favorite!
posted by Chris on 4-14-2008 at 1:17 pm
Dr. Octopus (Rob Cockerham) has made excellent costumes for years and put them on his blog.
I came across this one last halloween, not as good as the Transformers one above but the dude put step by step instructions of how he made it. optimuscostume.blogspot.com
posted by Ruteger Pantaloon on 4-14-2008 at 1:26 pm
Theres a better Bender costume with pictures of how it was made but i’m too lazy to get the link. It doesn’t have servos or anything electronic in it but at least it looks like him.
posted by Joel on 4-14-2008 at 1:29 pm
If by epic, you mean pop culture icons that came about during YOUR lifetime, yes, mostly.
posted by Average joe on 4-14-2008 at 3:23 pm
I need that bender costume I wonder if he sold it on ebay Im going to check prior auctions.
posted by Futurama Quiz on 5-5-2008 at 1:50 pm