COFOH 2025: Terror in the Corn Spotlight Bodypainting

 

Terror in the Corn has been a fixture at the Colorado Festival of Horror. They are one of the major 'haunt' attractions in the state. This year they had a set up where they not only were doing their own cast's makeup, but they were also doing complimentary make up for con goers.

They have a super cute pumpkin faced mascot.

The above picture and below picture were of two con goers that were in line ahead of me. The top one they were working on a zombie effect, while the bottom was all slashed up with staple stitches.

This picture doesn't catch the amazing detail that this makeup artist did. Each little staple actually looked 3D.

This was one of their cast members getting their look done.

So then I decide to have a go at it. This was an experience I had never had before. Most of my past experience has been with either the traditional cream paints or non-airbrush paints. I was wearing my shinny skull mask and told the male artist that he could run with any idea he had to complete my look.

For my skeletal look it took about 20 minutes.

This bottom picture shows the hole in the makeup. I had an under mask on to help prevent me from getting con funk and to stop the mask from rubbing my face raw.

The experience was not what I was expecting and gave me even more respect for actors and models that go through the experience. Seeing the process on Face/Off did not really show the actual experience and they just covered the process. First off, it was super cold. Not jumping as it hit the different parts of my skin was super hard. It was a super condensed cold air that I personally can not relate to any other experience.

Then the most shocking part was when he got near my nose. Even though he did no work around the nostrils (see picture above for reference of how far away the paint was) it felt like I was getting blasted up the nose with that super cold air. It felt like I was drowning with too much pressure. It took everything I had to not panic. The sensation did not get better even when I 'got used' to it. Holding my breath also did not help. The experience also helped me to develop a whole new understanding of people who use continuous flow CPAP machines. I can see why they struggle with too much air. 

Then as a side note the air also had a slight smell, but not as bad as I thought it would.

Overall, the experience was interesting. Xander liked the look when he saw it. He asked if I was going to enter it into the costume contest, and I told him no since I didn't want to take credit for someone else's work. Would I do it again? Possibly, but at least moving forward I would have an idea of what to expect. Does it make me give up my wishful dream of doing creature acting? No, but it would make me more aware of the makeup choices that artists choose to use. Would I want to work in a haunted house again? Totally.