# Brought The Wraith out of retirement!



## Phantom Scarecrow (Sep 27, 2011)

I made this Wraith costume about 8 years ago, and used it at the amusement park in 2008 and '09. I retired it because I had built other costumes, and wasn't wearing it. This year, I was put in charge of the Stalkers for the park. (We're the Free-roamers, not confined to a haunt or scare zone.) One of our new guys wears glasses, so he can't wear a mask. I think he was feeling a little bad about having to be an escort instead of being in costume all the time, so I brought the Wraith out for him. The head is a hard hat with chicken wire over it to form a cowl. The face is see-through fabric (You can see out, no one can see in) with red LED eyes. The body is a huge, hand-stitched coat with layers of shredded fabric "Shrouding". It has a hump back to add some depth and make the cowl fit to the cloak better, and a Darth Vader voice changer set to "Echo", which makes a horrible screaming noise if you inhale into the mike. Mosi was very happy to have a costume he could wear, and I have to admit, it fits him better than it fit me, even though I made it for myself. I had never seen anyone else wear it either, so I never realised how creepy the thing is!


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

That is Hot!


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## Copchick (Apr 10, 2012)

Hey PS, this looks cool!


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## Troll Wizard (May 3, 2012)

Looks really Great!


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## Joiseygal (Sep 3, 2008)

Very cool!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

The shrouding is really beautiful. It adds depth to the costume.


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## Uruk-Hai (Nov 4, 2006)

LOVE IT!! That looks really great!


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

That is a phenominal costume! Definately creepy. Very, very nice work.


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## Dr. Maniaco (Sep 7, 2012)

Sweeeet!


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## JustJimAZ (Aug 19, 2010)

I'll bet under the right lights that freaks people out! Nice.


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## silentskream (Sep 20, 2012)

The shrouding is spot on. This is very similar to my vision of the reaper (static prop) im building. If mine is half this good, ill be happy.


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## fontgeek (Jul 24, 2006)

Those extra long arms make him look REALLY short.
If you haven't already, you should do a how-to on building the costume.


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## Phantom Scarecrow (Sep 27, 2011)

fontgeek said:


> Those extra long arms make him look REALLY short.
> If you haven't already, you should do a how-to on building the costume.


The guy wearing it now is only about 5'6", whereas I'm 6'4". The cape wings are actually much longer, but he's holding them differently. The build was simple but time-consuming. I sewed a huge "Bathrobe" out of cheap upholstery fabric, then layered pieces of different, lighter-weight fabrics. There's some t-shirt fabric, some plain cotton, and some lightweight sheer curtain fabric. I took a pair of scissors and ran them down the fabric, tearing holes in it. The cowl is a plastic hard hat with chicken wire over it to give it shape, with a piece of see-through mesh fabric in the face. Two small red LEDs, powered by a 9-volt battery, make the eyes glow. I used two pieces of foam pipe insulation (swimming noodles work, too!) to make the hunchback. One noodle is looped around and the ends are taped to make an oval, then the second one is cut in two and attached to the oval in an arch. Rope loops hold it on like a backpack. The hunchback gives it extra thickness, and allows the cowl to sit onto the back better. The wings have plastic candy canes with noodle padding as supports, and used to be attached to the robe. There is a Darth Vader voice changer hanging around the actor's neck, with the microphone on a wire near their mouth. It makes a horrible, reverberating echo when the actor inhales through it.


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