Afternoon Of The Living Dead At C.H. Booth Library

By Nancy K. Crevier

Eight students, ages 10 to 13, joined theatrical makeup professional Caroline Wilcox and her daughter, Jessica, the “Zombie Response Team,” for an afternoon of imagination, disguise, and disgust at the C.H. Booth Library, Monday, July 30.

Using paraffin-based professional quality paint makeup, latex and wax products, medical grade adhesives, and various household and hardware store items, Ms Wilcox demonstrated how it is possible for humans to become zombies — after testing each participant, first, for the zombie virus, with “fresh tongue” (candy).

“If they are salivating over it, or are really interested in the fresh tongue,” cautioned Ms Wilcox, “they may already be infected with the zombie virus.” Infected students would, of course, have been escorted away, while the remainder would set about protecting themselves from a zombie apocalypse.

By teaching these young people how to disguise themselves as zombies, as well as how to act like one, it would be possible to leave the library “quarantine zone” and walk among zombies at large — without being detected.

Ms Wilcox is a fantasy face painter and theatrical makeup artist from Portland, Conn. She started out doing face painting at children’s parties, ten years ago, when her own children were small. Taking a special effects class, though, found her hooked on the art of turning gorgeous into gruesome.

On July 30, she moved quickly up and down the length of the table in the meeting room, dabbing a little more purple on a bruise here, exposing a bloody wound there, and dotting on a bite mark. She kept up ongoing tales of gore on how these wounds had come to be, and invited the group to come up with their own tales of terror. She also passed along tips for looking a little more dead, having more pallor, and how to create a realistic burn.

“I was looking at the library website and saw this,” said Kate Suba, age 12. “I love Halloween, my whole family does, and I thought this class looked really good,” she said, as Jessica dabbed a bruise beneath her eye. Thirteen-year-old Simran Chand admitted that the program attracted her, because “I like horror and gruesome stuff.”

For Amelia Henriques, 11, the interest was piqued by her sister having taken a theatrical makeup class at summer camp. Plus, she added, “I’m really interested in zombies and thought this looked cool.”

Sabryna Cappola, 12, dabbed a bit of yellow and purple onto her lifelike arm bruise, and said that reading a lot of zombie apocalypse books, like the popular Nutmeg Book Award winner Rot & Ruin, by Jonathan Maberry, brought her to the library program. “I like zombies,” said Sabryna, “and I thought it would be really fun.”

Moving on to still more gross things, Ms Wilcox demonstrated the art of cuts and scars, using molding wax and more paint makeup. The stipple sponge, she told the ever-more-ghastly group, “adds to the horrible effect.”

Because high-quality makeup, such as that used in the July 30 class, can be expensive for amateur wound makers, Ms Wilcox also advised on homemade concoctions. Sticky red jelly is a good substitute for blood paste makeup, when making a burn, and real ashes from the fireplace are ideal for that smoldering effect.

By the end of an hour, the eight participants were looking less like themselves and more like the cast of Night of the Living Dead.

“I enjoy teaching kids to do this to themselves,” said Ms Wilcox. “I’m just crazy about all this!”