By Divine Hanna
Walking through campus on Halloween, you might see the typical costumes for this time of year: black cats, superheroes, mummies, clowns, or the occasional werewolf. But then, you hear a sudden stomping creeping up behind you. Slowly turning your head, you see Circus Baby from “Five Nights at Freddy’s” (FNaF) walking down the school halls in all its glory. Underneath the intricate and realistic costume is senior Justin Walden, full-time student, part-time costume designer.
Walden is as creative as it gets. His journey of costume-making began in 2015, when he and his friends were brainstorming ideas for what to do on their group YouTube channel. This friend group, who are huge fans of the viral video game “Five Nights at Freddy’s,” decided to form a channel around FNaF and the characters from this game. Walden decided he would make the costumes, and the rest is history.
“My friends were getting into building a ‘Five Nights At Freddy’s’ YouTube channel, and I offered to make the costumes,” Walden said. “So I started building all these costumes and perfecting my craft.”
Video game costumes have dominated the world of costume design throughout the years, and FNaF is no exception. This game is popular because of the younger generations love of all things horror. The game takes place in Freddy Fazbear’s Pizza, a haunted pizzeria employed with animatronics. To succeed at playing this game, you must survive five nights in this pizzeria through the obstacles of fighting the frightening characters and challenges, such as hallucinations and getting past certain animatronics.
Walden’s interest in FNaF began in 2014, the year of peak popularity of this viral video game. His involvement in the game has skyrocketed since. Although his friends no longer participate in content making for this channel, Walden continued to further his platform on YouTube and Instagram and stayed dedicated to costume making.
“Even though my friends couldn’t be involved, I still continued it and kept building all these costumes and got better at making costumes,” Walden said.
Walden takes costume-making to the next level, using unconventional materials to create these animatronic characters in real life. Using household items and lots of hot glue, Walden is able to transform ordinary items to sensational masterpieces.
“The first costume I have ever made was a Golden Freddy costume, made out of plastic flower pots covered in fabric,” Walden said. “I made other costumes out of craft foam and puzzle piece foam, and lots of hot glue.”
Through the platform of his YouTube channel, Walden shows off the wonderful costumes to over two thousand subscribers and has racked up over 500,000 views total. He has received lots of positive feedback on his FNaF costumes and music video remakes.
After lots of requests from fans, Walden has recently begun to sell his costumes on commission. It is very impressive how far he’s come, being a self-taught costume designer. After lots of practice and time spent making these costumes, Walden definitely perfected his craft.
“It takes approximately $55-$70 worth of materials to make a costume.” Walden said. “The price range of my commissions depends on how complex the costume is, but it’s usually between $120 to $200.”
One of the reasons Walden continues to create these costumes is the joy he brings to the FNaF community.
The Plaid Press 