[Wolfman]

Those of you who have been in this Forum for a few years have come to realize that I am one of the guys on the Forum who push things right to the edge...

This year my daughter and I will be hosting the Haunted House as Zombies. We have plans to include LIVE MAGGOTS in our facial make-up. Easy, just apply healthy Mealworms to the face using a dab of Spirit Gum. Mealworms are the larvae of a small beetle and are used to feed Tropical Fish and Reptiles. They're about an inch long, very lively, and are readily available from most larger Pet Stores.

We do "push the envelope" at my haunt, yessiree. Live rats, a REAL Human Skeleton, and we were, so far as I can tell, the first to use a real chainsaw to scare the kids, way back in 1989. You come to our place I GUARANTEE, your jaw will drop.

Anyone else out there crazy enough to use living maggots in their make-up?

 

[the dogman]

The thought has passed by me and I don't think its the greatest idea to have a meal worm attached to your face.
For one you can't be sure how the spirit gum, or latex as I was thinking, will affect them. It could very well kill them.
Second, you would have to keep them still enough, without squishing them, to make sure the spirit gum adhered properly.
Third, you may have a moment of forgetfulness and squish the worms right on your face, which isn't going to be a pleasant feeling.

I'm not saying you shouldn't have the worms in your haunt, but perhaps not on your face.
Maybe you could put fake maggots that look good enough to be real on the face and carry a handful of meal worms to offer to guests passing through the haunt?
Or have the meal worms writhing in a zombie corpse's belly by having an actor lay down with a rotting belly full of meal worms?

 

[The Pod]

Love the idea, but have to agree with the Dog..... If you end up harming the meal worms, you could create an issue with an animal rights group. I had to deal with them once when I used live roaches crawling under the guest feet (actually under the plexi-glass floor). I had to show them that the bugs were not gettng harmed and that I was actually taking them home at night and feeding them.

 

[DeepSix]

I don't know so much about animal rights considering they're used to feed reptiles, if anyone gives you sass for using them I seriously recommend telling them where to "shove it"; but I have to be completely honest with you, this idea sounds like it's going to bomb. I don't see how you're going to adhere the meal worms to your face without making a huge mess, mostly because they will be moving around a great deal, and in order for something to adhere properly it has to stay in place, right? It just seems unlikely that you'll be able to use them in the way you desire. I agree with dogman in the idea of keeping them in your haunt, just not a part of your costume.

 

[The Pod]

I don't know so much about animal rights considering they're used to feed reptiles, if anyone gives you sass for using them I seriously recommend telling them where to "shove it".

Wish it was that easy. If you were feeding the worms (as their intended use) to reptiles, you wouldn't have any issues. Putting an animal in stress or killing them inhumanely (or what they seem to think is inhumane) is where these people get off. Trust me you don't want to insult or tell these people off. Get them mad at you and they will find a way and shut your haunt down.

But like you said Deepsix with the worms moving they would eventually pull themselves free. Or if they couldn't they'd be scratching and biting at your face trying to free themselves.

 

[Wolfman]

Here's some info on Mealworms -

Darkling Beetle/Mealworm Information

I intend to use the "Giant" Mealworms, about 1" long as opposed to the regular ones that rarely exceed 3/4". These little guys are not, by any means, "lively", in that they crawl slowly, and cannot scratch or bite with any vigor. Spirit Gum may not set fast enough though, I might need some advice on how to keep them in place.

As for some over-zealous Evangelical Christian having the Haunt shut down, well, we're only running for 4-5 hours on Halloween Night, and who they gonna call; the Cops? Somehow I think the Cops will have enough on their plates that night that they won't want to deal with a complaint about a guy with worms on his face.

 

[The Pod]

These little guys are not, by any means, "lively", in that they crawl slowly, and cannot scratch or bite with any vigor. Spirit Gum may not set fast enough though, I might need some advice on how to keep them in place.

Its a really cool idea, but 4-5 hrs of them rubbing against the actors face and you may have second thoughts about it.

I don't have any meal worms currently available at home (daughter's toads cleaned me out), have to wait until the next reptile show this coming weekend to pick some more so not sure what type of glue might work to hold them and not kill them. I've seen people glue a long piece of hair to a fly with superglue and watch it fly in circles around a pencil, so superglue might work just not on your face. I think if you could make like a latex scare first, then use some sort of quick setting glue (like superglue) to attach the worms to it first, then spirit gum the whole thing to the actor's face might be the best route to go vs. trying to attach one worm at a time to the actor's face. The best bet would be if you could glue on the back of the worm's head then it's tail would really be squirming about and his legs and mouth would be pointing upward and less likely reach or bother the actor's face.

 

[pdcollins6092]

My sister tried that a couple of years back and the spirit gum wouldn't hold them straight to her face without them wiggleing off. What she did though was put the mill worms under a peice of toilet paper an used latex over it. You were able to see the worms and see them moving under what looked like her skin and it did look pretty grose.

 

[Sychoclown]

I'm still trying to figure out if those people that were concerned about the worms were serious. I suppose I should catch and release any flies in my house. I would go with a thin layer of latex.

 

[Lot27]

I used to feed these to my reptiles. The part about squishing the heads to avoid the possibility of them chewing their way into the stomach lining of a reptile is all I have to remember. Thses things can bite.
To me it's too much for myself to try. Good luck with that

 

[The Pod]

I'm still trying to figure out if those people that were concerned about the worms were serious. I suppose I should catch and release any flies in my house.

Yes and don't you ever think of swatting a mosquito again!

 

[the dogman]

I still think it's a bad idea to be attaching them to a person, especially on the soft tissues of the face. I don't have any concern for the worms, but I do have concern for the people.

If you are adamant about this, then at least see how latex, spirit gum and super glue affect the worms. I'm guessing your effect wont be as impressive if the worms are dead or cant move at all.

I do hope you consider an alternative to attaching biting grubs to an actors face.

 

[GDfreak]

If their meal worms animal right activist shouldn't have a problem. At six flags we used have this event where gust could eat live hissing roaches and win stuff. Well PETA had a fit about it so we had to change the roaches to feeding crickets. Apparently as long as their "feeding" bugs PETA finds it ok.

 

[The Pod]

If their meal worms animal right activist shouldn't have a problem. At six flags we used have this event where gust could eat live hissing roaches and win stuff. Well PETA had a fit about it so we had to change the roaches to feeding crickets. Apparently as long as their "feeding" bugs PETA finds it ok.

Interesting..... As people breed and sell roaches as a food source for lizards and such. Just call everything "Lunch Bugs" and we'll be safe from PETA. LMAO Actually I don't think they have any set guide lines..... If one of them has a bug up their behind that day you'll hear about it.

 

[netsirk]

Ok, I'll just come right out and say it (must be the only one), but.....YUCK!

 

[kprimm]

I have used live earthworms in a zombie makeup job before, they looked great squirming out of my face. Creeped alot of people out.

 

[Wolfman]

Live Earthworms is definitely another option. There's a really good bait shop not too far from us. I've decided to make a few prosthetic scars, pustules and wounds, and attach the mealworms directly to them rather than to my skin. I've got some incredibly realistic Cockroaches (courtesy of ebay) that will also be used. My daughters have also volunteered to be Zombie hostesses (sans the live worms) and we'll all be wearing "Grateful Dead" Tee Shirts for the event.

 

[UnOrthodOx]

Here's some info on Mealworms -

Darkling Beetle/Mealworm Information

I intend to use the "Giant" Mealworms, about 1" long as opposed to the regular ones that rarely exceed 3/4". These little guys are not, by any means, "lively", in that they crawl slowly, and cannot scratch or bite with any vigor. Spirit Gum may not set fast enough though, I might need some advice on how to keep them in place.

As for some over-zealous Evangelical Christian having the Haunt shut down, well, we're only running for 4-5 hours on Halloween Night, and who they gonna call; the Cops? Somehow I think the Cops will have enough on their plates that night that they won't want to deal with a complaint about a guy with worms on his face.

As I was once an avid bug collector (wife didn't want the collection in the house, so it's at the museum now), My best 2 reccomendations are thus:

The best means of mounting larvae is with rubber cement on a paper cutout. Now, extrapolating that to Halloween, you COULD mount the thing onto a latex prosthetic with the rubber cement. I'm not entirely sure how long it would remain ALIVE in such a manner, however.

Problems would include covering too much of their body with the cement will suffocate them. As, potentially, the fumes may.

The second means, the one I would try first, would actually be to PIN them in place on a prosthetic or appliance. This could be done via an actual pin (just behind the legs), or by fishing line to tie them in place. This should result in a nice squirmy bug alive and kicking for a while. However, it's possible it could squirm free of the fishing line...

 

[madmimi]

You are insane....and I love the idea! Please, if you get it to work, post a pic!

 

[Pat-f]

I like your idea, I've always thought of doing similar with the Power Bait grubs at Walmart. I have to agree with the adhering them to a prosthetic though. You might try using a dab of super glue. Another idea would be to use the fake ones, but put pager motors in them to get them to move. That was what I was going to do.