WANT TO GO?

HallowEast Zombie Walk

WHERE: Begins at Charleston Area Alliance, 1116 Smith St.; ends at Mary Price Ratrie Greenspace

WHEN: 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. (Zombie participants should meet at 6 p.m. for makeup.)

TICKETS: Free

CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Aspiring makeup magician Chris Woodall got into doing movie monster style makeup as a kid.

The 27 year-old, who will be doing the makeup for the HallowEast zombie walk Friday, says he got a book from his mother when he was in elementary school.

"She got me this book, 'How to Make Yourself into a Monster.' It had directions on how to turn yourself into different movie monsters."

Some of the monsters were nothing special, but Woodall was really impressed by how you could make someone look like a mummy.

"You took tissue paper and corn syrup to make wrinkles," he said with delight.

By day, Woodall is a fry cook and occasional tattoo artist, but by night, he becomes one of writer/director Eamon Hardiman's film collaborators.

Woodall did makeup and special effects for last year's slasher comedy "Porkchop" as well as the upcoming "Zombie Babies," which should premiere locally sometime in November.

Woodall made the mask used by the killer in "Porkchop" and designed the zombie babies. With the babies, he sculpted them then created a mold. Latex was poured into the mold and a puppet form was made.

"Zombie Babies" is a lot gorier than "Porkchop" and required more makeup and special effects.

"There really wasn't a lot of makeup to do in 'Porkchop.' We did use a lot of fake blood, though."

Fake blood, Woodall explains, is usually made with corn syrup, red food coloring and just a drop of blue dye.

"You can add chocolate syrup to get it to look a certain way, but then it goes bad," he said. "You have to use it up right away."

Woodall also came up with his own blend of fake blood using soap.

"Which is good because you get it to froth." 

Making monsters and scary things has been kind of an obsession for Woodall. He studied stage makeup at Capital High School and attended a workshop or two, but most of his technique he's picked up on his own.

"A lot of it comes from experimenting," he said. "There are some books and stuff out there that will teach you some of it, but I think you just have to learn the basics and try things out."

He's always trying new things. Lately, he's become enamored of tinted latex paints. Unfortunately, he can't always find the supplies he needs locally -- at least, not in sufficient quantities.

Turning people into zombies for the zombie walk, however, won't take a lot of special gear, Woodall says.

"It really depends on how far you want go with it," he said. "But mostly, just a couple of minutes and you're done."

Woodall would love to turn his movie makeup hobby into a career but is content, for the time being, to continue helping out with local film productions and stage shows. It's all building blocks. He's still learning his craft.

"Mark Scarpelli and Dan Kehde did 'Frankenstein' and 'Griswald and the Goblin King,'" he said. "I'd love to do that again."

Reach Bill Lynch at ly...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-5195.