Creating monsters out of makeup and costuming is intense work. Fox’s Sleepy Hollow does this type of work on a regular basis. In the new book Sleepy Hollow: Creating Heroes, Demons and Monsters fans of the television and costume designers get a chance to see the process of creating a character design, costuming and makeup elements. Written by Tara Bennett and Paul Terry, the book does an excellent job of expressing the challenges that go along with creating elaborate designs for television, as well as what to do when timing for filming becomes and issue and actors need to switch out last minute.
I found myself a little chilled when reading Sleepy Hollow: Creating Heroes, Demons and Monsters . To be fair, when many of your monsters are headless horsemen or frightening demons bent on the destruction of humanity as a whole, it does tend to be a little creepier seeing the finished product. However, the careful breakdown and descriptions of how each
costume is made and the challenges for each did help to calm my fears a bit. Avid fans of Sleepy Hollow will recognize the characters and find the creative process interesting. As someone who has not religiously watched the show, I did find myself recognizing a few creatures and ghoulies here and there. It also had the fun side effect of making me want to go back and power watch Sleepy Hollow to see these characters in action.
Sleepy Hollow: Creating Heroes, Demons and Monsters is a great gift idea for fans of Sleepy Hollow or aspiring makeup artists and cosplayers in your home. It is now available from Titan Books.