Sadako costume - 2005 Expo

This was my costume for the autumn 2005 London Expo. My theory for costumes is to pick something simple, but to go the whole hog with it.

Sadako/Samara is essentially a very simple one to go for: white dress + hairstyle. I went the whole hog by getting the extreme wig (which is technically inaccurate but makes for a plausible exaggeration), getting a dress that was authentically 30 years old (thanks mum!), dipping my fingers and toes in black ink 5 days in advance (so by the time of the Expo I was just left with black gunk in the nail furrows), going barefoot, and staying in costume (and character) for pretty much the entire day.

I won the horror category, but there wasn't much competition. What was much more fun was genuinely scaring the crap out of a bunch of people. When it comes down to it, not being able to see someone's face + freaky movements = fundamentally terrifying. Adding in the guttural noise from The Grudge sometimes helped a bit too.

(Just a bit of Photoshopping used here to add atmosphere!)


P.S. Yah, I'm a guy. But in the minds of those that have seen The Ring, Sadako is a terrifying nightmare figure first and a girl a distant second - it didn't feel odd at all.