In the Compton Union Building, Butch’s House of Nightmares, a Halloween event hosted by the Student Entertainment Board, ran through the night on Oct. 18. It featured a haunted house with dozens of scare actors in full makeup and costume, from bloody doctors to creepy dolls. Behind the blood, fake gashes and porcelain finishes was a small team of special effects makeup artists.

Two artists, Hope Dela Cruz, a sophomore majoring in creative writing, and Ainsley Brown, a freshman majoring in English education, shared their unique journeys in this medium.

Dela Cruz’s story began during her childhood when she could only express her interest in makeup.

“I was never allowed to touch makeup or use makeup unless it was Halloween,” she said. “So I would go all out.”

To Dela Cruz, makeup in general was both “an extension of painting” and a way to tell a story. Her interest in creating these stories helps her bring scare actors to life, a process she said is similar to how she would draw characters in visual art.

“It’s just another medium that I can express myself in,” Dela Cruz said.

Since freshman year, Dela Cruz has been able to truly experiment with the ins and outs of special effects makeup. With her newfound independence, she bought fake blood for Halloween, marking the start of her discoveries.

“I found out that you could use Vaseline and cornstarch to make your own wax,” she said.

Ever since, she has been keenly interested in the logistics of special effects makeup, such as the construction of injuries and gashes and simpler pursuits like painting someone’s skin an unnatural color. In investigating and experimenting with different materials, Dela Cruz discovered the challenges of special effects makeup as a medium.

“It’s unforgiving,” she said. “You have to be purposeful in how you use it.”

Fake blood, for example, easily stains both clothes and faces, rendering it difficult to wipe off after it has been applied. Dela Cruz said in the haunted house, scar wax was a particular challenge.

“The wax came hard, and due to the other materials I was working with, such as grease paint and, again, artificial blood, it stuck to my hands and it was hard to actually get to stay on scare actors,” she said.

The artists then had to switch over to latex, which she said was an issue because many people are allergic to it.

Other than special effects makeup, Dela Cruz also does traditional and digital art, including logo designs. A current project she is working on is related to a creative writing student organization, The Cougar’s Pen, for redesigning its logos.

Dela Cruz emphasized the need for stories in creating her visual effects media. In the haunted house, for example, she thanked the organizer, Puff Kesler.

“If I didn’t have the storyboard Puff wrote, I wouldn’t know what to do with the scarring, I wouldn’t know what to do with the costuming at all,” Dela Cruz said. “So, in its own way, writing is a very important medium when it comes to arts.”

If anyone needs special effects, she said, she is willing to provide her services. She can be contacted by email.

Another makeup artist, Ainsley Brown, also shared their experiences with special effects as a medium.

Their journey began in 2020 when they started cosplaying. They began to get more serious about special effects makeup in 2022 when they started posting their cosplays on TikTok.

“That was one of my first chances to try something more along the lines of special effects,” they said.

Brown said doing art in this way is interesting because while there are boundaries, “you can do almost anything you want.” It is meant to be larger than life, so people do not have to worry about the judgments of wearing the wrong makeup to the wrong occasion, they said.

They also mentioned there is a lot of freedom amid the boundaries. Similarly to Dela Cruz, Brown noted the connection between traditional painting and makeup.

“It’s like splashing paint on a canvas and figuring out what it looks like later, which I think is a lot of fun,” they said.

This line of work also comes with its challenges and pitfalls, as Brown had issues with latex during the haunted house.

“I was going to do people’s makeup, and I needed to use liquid latex,” they said. “It was stored improperly and completely solidified.”

Of course, this created a problem for the scare actors and makeup artists who needed to use the liquid latex for their costumes. It was an unplanned moment that prompted quick thinking.

“We had to improvise, which is what I’ve been doing for years,” Brown said. “You have no clue if someone is going to be allergic to something, or something’s going to happen to your materials, or you’re not going to have the right materials.”

Brown said they enjoy this aspect of special effects makeup despite its fickleness. It prompts them to find a creative solution, a challenge they enjoy.

Other than special effects, Brown is involved in many forms of art, including cosplay, music, writing, glassmaking and traditional and digital drawing.

“It’s shorter to list the things I haven’t done,” they said.

They also thanked the organizer for pushing them to become a haunted house makeup artist, which was not something they were originally planning to do.

“I signed up to be a scare actor,” they said. “So definitely a thank you to Puff for pushing me to go into this role because it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it a lot.”

While they are currently off social media, they have a few art and cosplay pages still up for viewing. They can be found on TikTok, Instagram and Tumblr.