Step inside legendary FX make-up studio Demonic Pumpkins

HOW TO: create gory wounds, bruises and a slit throat using FX make-up! PLUS make perfect fake blood!

HOW TO: turn yourself into a zombie in five easy steps!

HOW TO: make a gobsmackingly realistic disembowelment!

Dave Brockie, or mighty Oderus Urungus, lead singer of of veteran, thrash band Gwar, on how to survive live special effects

Make your own costume
“You understand your needs better than anyone else. My costume is soaked in blood for the entire show, so I make sure that it’s water-repellent or I’d be a big fucking tampon out there.”

Don’t use foam latex
“It’s great for movies, but it’s not durable enough for playing onstage night after night. Use latex rubber – it’ll last forever.”

Beware latex disease
“I don’t really know what this is, but sometimes latex will just start melting. It’s a mystery to us: I had a mask turn into a mouldering pile of shit in just two weeks.”

Have a good team
“There are four slaves in total, working all the monsters and characters, and they’re every bit as much a part of GWAR as the band. We’re a big family.”

Pace yourself
“When we started out, there were three murders during the first song! So we had a chest-rip, a decapitation, a shotgun blast, a head exploding and blood everywhere, plus GWAR crashing through the backdrop. We’ve learned to trim it down...”

Be smart with stage space
“Our giant World Maggot (a character from fourth album This Toilet Earth) is like a big accordion. One slave jumps into the costume, puts his legs in the holes and walks forward. When he ‘eats’ people, they really just hide under the drum riser.”

Don’t let the audience know you fucked up
“Three words that will save you: improvise, adapt and overcome. And whatever happens, keep going – the only way the audience will know you fucked up is if you fucking tell them!”

Use the right blood
“We have two types of blood: the stuff we shoot through the hydraulic system is just water and food colouring, but the thick stuff we have onstage contains carrageenan, which is made from seaweed.”

Don’t jizz organically on the audience
“When Oderus used to shoot off into the crowd, we made the cum with warm coffee creamer and salt. But because it was organic it started to rot and it got too disgusting. Don’t use anything that rots!”

Drill holes in your shoes
“If you don’t, your shoes will fill with water. I’m serious. I could pour half a gallon out of each of my big rubber feet after a show.”

Wear Marigolds
“If your fake hands fill up with blood, your fingernails will go red, so wear washing up gloves underneath.”

REMEMBER Aloe vera is the fucking shit
“You can use baby oil to clean off the make-up, but latex rubber really dries out your skin, so you need to moisturise. Aloe vera is the wonder-shit.”

Keep your moulds
“Do as much as you can with moulds. You never know when you might need to replace a piece if you break it, or lose it, or trade it for a blow job after the show.”

Never have sex in costume
“I don’t even know where my penis is when I’m wearing that thing. It’d be too foul for me, let alone the poor woman. I don’t think I could even get an erection, it’d be too disgusting.”

GWAR are celebrating their 25th anniversary with a two-year tour and
the album Lust In Space. For more information go to GWAR.net