With Halloween breathing down our necks, we’re saying fangs but no fangs to zombies and ghosts by moving on to this week’s DIY Halloween costume guide: vampires. Follow our makeup tutorial, create your own bat companions and learn all about the history of Dracula.
Take a bite of our feature to discover what’s at stake this week.
makeup tutorial
get the vampire look
You will need face paint, a clean makeup sponge, brushes, dark red or purple eye shadow and fake blood to get the look!
the bat pack
Follow our step-by-step tutorial to create your own 3D bats outfit. You will need a black A4 piece of card, A4 stencil, marker, ruler and a pair of scissors.
Download and print out stencil provided, then cut out the bat shape
Fold the A4 black card in half, place the stencil on the fold and draw around it
Cut out the bat carefully, following the outline drawn in step 2
Fold the wings in the opposite direction to the middle fold, using the dotted line on the stencil as a guide
Dracula: a horrible history
Dracula (or Count Dracula) was first written into fiction by Bram Stoker in his 1897 novel ‘Dracula’. The story tells of a battle between Dracula and Van Helsing after the former moves to England from Transylvania in the hope of finding new blood and spreading his undead curse.
Since his debut Dracula has featured in numerous subsequent novels and has been seen in countless films. But who was he really?
It is widely accepted that Stoker’s inspiration for Count Dracula came from one of Romania’s best-known historical figures: Vlad III Dracula, a.k.a. Vlad the Impaler – talk about flattering nicknames!
Stoker is said to have read a book about Wallachia, the region of Romania ruled at times by the Dracula family, and the surname – perhaps due to the fact it translated as ‘devil’ – struck him.
Back in the 1400s, Vlad III spent time as a hostage and eventually led an army to avenge his father’s death and take back his seat. He ruled with brutal power, and his nickname comes from his fame of impaling his victims on spikes.
From gruesome history to gory tales, it’s no wonder Dracula is a Halloween legend!
