What are Creatures of the Swamp?

Oh! That’s what a Swamp creature looks like!

What a great costume party theme. It conjures up ideas of 1950’s schlock horror movies, slime, mutant fish-men creatures, claw like nails, ripped clothing, green netting, gills.

Diggin’ the way that creature is rocking those bright red lips

What lives in swamp land? Crocodiles, Alligators, Bunyips. Catfish, Tadpoles, frogmen, slime, slimy algae. People on the run hide out in swamp land. Unsuspecting lovers are captured and turned into zombies in swampland. Aliens land in swampland and breed with what ever species that can safely acquire access to. HillBilly rednecks.

Hollywood takes an idea and owns it. Creates a whole genre around a single theme.

Here are some movie titles you might be interested in exploring before defining your character:

Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954), Revenge of the Creature (1955), Curse of the Swamp Creature (1966), Bog (1979), Swamp Thing (1982),Frankenfish (2004), Swamp Zombies (2005), Swamp Shark (2011),

Turning a traditionally understood Costume Theme on it’s head

Who’s to say, there aren’t any swamp fairies? or magical creatures? who’s to say there are no swamp version mermaid or siren type entities hanging around, softening their creamy skin with clay and bog. Plaiting their looooong messy tresses with swamp reeds, or “old mans beard” epiphytes which grow long in the humid swampland air.

Who’s to say swamp creatures don’t hold their own rock eisteddfod dance competitions? That might sound a bit far fetched, but in some lights, at some angles, slimy surfaces can glitter and sparkle like a jazz ballet solo costume. Trust me, I’m a professional.

Swamp Fins

Is it too much to believe a mermaid might somehow traverse inland by magic to visit her long lost relatives? Sure, along the way she may change her glow, a changed environment takes a toll on everybody. Certainly it may not be the norm, but it’s not utterly unheard of..is it.

Swampy Zombie Mermaid eyes

In April I shall myself be attending a Creatures of the Swamp birthday party. My husband purchased a Wilder beast hide with the expectation that I, the “fabulous, can-do-anything, gorgeous, loving, master of the universe”  costume maker will make a vest out of it for him, preserving the mohawk and the tail. I’m going to have to hire some heavy duty machinery to cope with that thick leathery skin and take a day off to fulfil this request.

Perhaps at this event, I may capture some swampland magic imagery to further fill out this swampland ideas Agent Costume post, for future interest..and if any of my creations survive, they may possibly be available for future hires, or Festival purchase.

Swampland has a reputation for attracting the weird and the wonderful.

Voodoo, supernatural practices, robes…i could probably go on..

If you need a particular costume designed and personalised for your next event, then keep scrolling to get to the contact form

the following gallery are pieces from my collection, some for hire some for purchase: