A dad made a 'killer Zoom meeting' Halloween costume for his 12-year-old daughter, and it sums up 2020 so well
- Every year Greg Dietzenbach is challenged by his two kids to create unique Halloween costumes.
- This year, his daughter gave him the task of creating a costume that sums up 2020. He came up with "A Killer Zoom Meeting."
- "Social distancing has made my kids Zoom experts, it's how they attended school and see family and friends," Dietzenbach told Insider.
- Previously, his kids have dressed up as everything from President Taft in a bathtub to being eaten by piranhas.
It's officially spooky season, and although this year's macabre festivities might look a little different, there are still those who are determined to make the best of it. One person is Greg Dietzenbach, a father from Marion, Iowa who is challenged by his kids to create unique costumes for Halloween every year.
This year, the 42-year-old father of two — who is also an author and illustrator — was tasked by his 12-year-old daughter, Ada, to create a costume that sums up 2020. So Dietzenbach put on his thinking cap and came up with the perfect costume: a Zoom screen.
Named "A Killer Zoom Meeting," the costume is a spooky ode to 2020.
"Social distancing has made my kids Zoom experts, it's how they attended school and see family and friends. It felt like it was a costume idea worth exploring," Dietzenbach told Insider.
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To build the costume, he first recreated the Zoom interface using Adobe Illustrator. For those who are familiar with Zoom, you'd probably appreciate the little jokes he included on the interface, including having 666 participants. Rather than "Share Screen," it says "Share Scream," and instead of "End Meeting for All," it reads "End Life."
There are nine squares, all filled with iconic horror characters like Dracula, A Mummy, Frankenstein's Monster, and the Wolf Man. These were all his daughter, who was transformed into the creatures using a program called Procreate.
Two of the coolest aspects of the costume are the middle and top middle squares. The middle square is cut out to reveal the costume wearer along with the caption "The Masked Murderer" (because even murderers mask up), and the top middle square titled "Next Victim" consists of an iPad running a mirror app.
Dietzenbach said that the best part of creating the costume was the photoshoot he had with his daughter. "We were laughing the whole time as we tried to make all the monster faces," he told Insider.
Dietzenbach said that the costume challenges themselves "started small."
"I made a Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man costume for my son, Milo, when he was 5 months old and I made a cow costume for my daughter when she was almost two."
Last year, he created a transforming sock robot for his son that Dietzenbach said took "way too many hours" and broke his brain for a bit, but was worth it. Past costumes also include a neighbor's door, President Taft in a bathtub, being eaten by piranhas, lasagna, and BB-8 from "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."
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Dietzenbach's costumes would usually begin their inception from mid-September, but he doesn't start creating them until October 1. He said the Zoom costume was the quickest one he's built so far.
The Halloween spirit doesn't just stop at his kids, though. Dietzenbach has been creating costumes for himself for years and recounted the time he attended a friend's party as a political "attack ad."
"I pulled embarrassing photos from their social media accounts and 'attacked' each one of them while asking people to vote for me," he told Insider.
Plenty of people are taking the time to create their own costumes, even if the age-old tradition of trick-or-treating isn't on the cards this year. A mother from Columbia, South Carolina has been creating costumes for her kids every day throughout the whole month of October.
For Dietzenbach, it's the time that he gets to spend with his kids that's the most important. Although his costumes have gained popularity with friends, family, and neighbors alike, it's really for them.
"But I really do it for my kids. Halloween was one of my favorite holidays when I was a kid and I'm happy to share my love of Halloween with them," he said.
To see more of Dietzenbach's work, as well as his own Halloween costumes, visit his website.
- Read more:
- A mom is making Halloween costumes for her kids every day in October, and the details are incredible
- 20 vintage photos of people celebrating Halloween
- The most popular Halloween costumes over the past 150 years — and the fascinating history behind how costume trends have changed
- 6 ways for kids to celebrate Halloween safely, from drive-thru trick-or-treating to at-home candy hunts