The Ghostface mask, an emblem of the Scream franchise, has a history shrouded in mystery. Though the original Scream was released 27 years ago, the franchise is still one of the youngest of the iconic Slasher franchises. With the success of last year's Scream and the anticipation and excitement surrounding the upcoming Scream VI, the series has a growing, newfound generation of fans. One aspect of the series that has always been shrouded in mystery since the beginning is just exactly where the iconic design of the Scream mask originated.
Seasonal novelty company Fun World legally owns the design and is credited for its creation, but for a group of talented, accomplished artists, there is a lot more to the story.
Here's a deep dive into the origins and evolution of this iconic symbol of fear.
The Pre-Scream Origins
In the fall of 1990, Loren Gitthens was a special effects makeup artist working in Los Angeles at Tony Gardner's Alterian Studios. Inevitably, on Halloween, Gitthens says, “An artist from one of the effects shops would throw a party. It was an opportunity for the community of effects artists to let loose and come up with unique designs. My costume idea was an advanced take on the classic Halloween costume of a bedsheet with eye holes for a ghost, which integrated a formed buckram ghost face mask.
Loren Gitthens sculpting his “Screamer Long Jaw” mask for Alterian
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Tony Gardner remembers in the following months, “There wasn't much film work. Everyone working at Alterian was always way into Halloween and felt like there weren't very many cool Halloween masks out on the market at the time. We thought we could use our downtime to create a line of Halloween masks.
While coming up with mask design ideas, Loren “Suggested we make a line of masks from my bed sheet ghost idea. We put together a kit that included a rigid, vacuform plastic ghost face, glue, and paints. We called it ‘Ghost Maker.' The idea was that you would use your own bed sheet, then attach it and blend in the ghost face.”
The Alterian Ghost Factory created a group of six ghosts, with some sized down for kids to wear. Alterian hired Loren's childhood friend, Bill Boes, to create hang tags and product art for the Ghost Maker Kits.
Boes was a toy designer for Galoob Toys at the time and familiar with creating product artwork, “Alterian was trying to put these mask kits out, and Loren contacted me in '91, to do the package artwork.
The Halloween Trade Show
In 1991, Loren drove cross country with fellow Alterian Ghost Factory artist Jim Eusterman to the annual Halloween trade show in Chicago. It was the largest event of its kind for novelty companies to show their products.
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Tony recalls, “It was in March of 1991.
Alterian Ghost Factory's trade show display pieces
Fun World and the "Fantastic Faces"
Within months after the trade show, Fun World gave their new in-house designer, Brigitte Sleiertin-Liden, a recent graduate of The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, a project to adapt existing designs into their own line of Halloween ghost masks.
“When this project was given to me, I was given a picture of something similar to what the finished masks would eventually look like. I was asked if I thought these could be made as masks and to do some drawings with a similar look and feel. So I did a bunch of sketches of different faces with that same white, melty face with simplistic black facial feature shapes. I didn't make the decision on which of my drawings would become sculpted into the masks for that assortment.
Fun World’s 1992 Fantastic Faces Ghost Masks with shrouds
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The final four masks were ready for retail in 1992 and listed in Fun World's catalog as “Item #9206 Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost Mask with Shroud”, available in an assortment of four styles, with either white or black cotton shrouds.
Looking at the four masks, it would be very hard to imagine the inspiration came from anywhere other than the Alterian Ghost Maker ghosts.
About a year later, Loren left the special effects industry, “I was tiring of trying to sell masks and work in the makeup effects business, and I gave it all up and moved to Santa Cruz to start a new life with my wife.”
A year or two later, at the start of the Halloween season, Loren saw something surprising, “I was in a drugstore and saw Fun World's mass-produced, knock-off versions of my ‘Wailer' and other Ghost Maker faces. But instead of being sold as a kit, it was a face already attached to a small, head-sized ‘sheet'. Clearly, it appeared to be a direct rendering of my original creation.
Scream and the Rise of Ghostface
In March of 1995, Wes Craven was just a few weeks away from principal photography on Scream. Craven and his production team, including producer Marianne Maddalena, were location scouting at the time.
There was one unresolved issue looming over them. “KNB Effects Group had a lot of design sketches and sculptures, but we had not found the look, and it was getting late. We were scouting a house, and I went up to this little bedroom upstairs and saw the mask. I took it, ran downstairs, and showed it to Bruce Miller, the production designer, Wes, and probably Nick Mastandrea, our first AD. I said, ‘oh my god, you guys, look at this mask! How about this?' and they said, no… we want to create our own mask'. I begrudgingly put it back in the bedroom.
Ghostface mask from the Scream franchise
Scream was a phenomenal hit, grossing $173 million on a budget of $14.5 million.
Tony Gardner remembers he was “Genuinely flattered that they had used our mask design. I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was a great compliment that ‘Wailer' was up there on the big screen and in such a great film. I was a bit naive at the time and assumed that since it had been years since we created the mask, there would be no way to fight for it.
An interview in FANGORIA issue #189 from January 2000 with Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden and Stanley Geller, noted, “The mask was actually designed by Fun World employee Brigitte Sleiertin prior to the movie's conception. Brigitte stated, “The idea is something I worked on with Alan Geller, the vice president of the company… Of the entire assortment, that face was the strongest one.”
Chet Zar wrote in the July 2000 issue of FANGORIA #194, saying, “I recently read an article in Fango on a company called Fun World that said they designed the mask used in the Scream movies… Well, this is simply not true.
From then on, Brigitte's involvement would be denied or ignored in any interviews with Fun World representatives.
Tony Gardner remembers The Alterian Ghost Factory as “A labor of love that was completely self-financed by my wife Cindy and I, with employees like Loren Gitthens, Chet Zar, and more, who shared our same passion for Halloween and all things spooky. So the years that the Ghost Factory existed were a real joy.
Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden today still looks back fondly on her involvement with the design, “The Scream Ghost is one of many projects that make up my vast portfolio of creative work over a thirty-five plus years career. It has its place in my past and in some ways, it shaped my future.
For Marianne Maddalena, “This is such an exciting time because I knew when I first laid eyes on that mask that it was special and magical.
The Evolution Of GHOSTFACE/SCREAM (Animated)
Evolution of the Ghostface Mask in the Scream Films
The Ghostface mask has undergone subtle changes throughout the Scream film series.
Original Scream (1996)
In the original Scream (1996), Ghostface wears a sparkly lurex fabric robe with square arm tatters and pointed frills on the bottom edges.
During production, more Ghoulish masks were considered before finally settling on the peanut-eyed ghost mask.
Ghostface primarily wears a Fantastic Faces Weeping Ghost mask, also known as a Gen 1 mask, which is the mask that has the more peanut-shaped eyes, yet are slightly slim.
A second mask called the KNB mask was also used in various scenes throughout the movie.
Scream 2
In Scream 2, a copycat appears.
Their robe is of the same material, yet has more circular arm tatters, squared-off rips on the bottom hem, and a more pronounced neckline.
Ghostface wears a Fantastic Faces Weeping Ghost mask, but this one is a different mold called a Gen 2 mask.
The Gen 2 mask has a less curved right-eye, a creased mouth, and more pronounced cheeks.
Ghostface also wears a secondary mask featuring squinty eyes and a larger mouth, called the EU MK stamped mask, also coined the RDS.
Scream 3
In Scream 3, the robe is the same pattern and fabric as the one from the previous film.
He wears an Easter Unlimited Black and Red Tag Ghostface mask, with the tag on the inside.
His mask lacks the former's mouth crease and has more curved eyes.
Scream 4
In Scream 4, Ghostface's robe pattern is the same as in Scream 2-3, and the mask's eyes are slightly spaced apart while also looking more like a pair of curved peanuts, the nose is the same as in "Scream 3", and the plastic has a more shiny and glossy look than previous Ghostface masks.
The robes are more shiny this time, with the glitter being noticable and slightly brighter in the lighting of certain scenes.
Scream (TV Series)
In the television series of the same name, Ghostface was rebranded during the show's Season 1 and 2, which aired on MTV.
Ghostface is now referred to as The Lakewood Slasher, who dons a vacuum-formed plastic human-shaped mask which is painted with white coats, aging glazes, black airbrushing and clear coats.
It is then put together by leather connectors with rivets and rectangle rings, connected to aged cotton strapping with weathered and stippled slide buckles.
In Season 3, now airing on VH1, Ghostface is back.
The robe is made of a black gauze woven fabric, and Ghostface wears a non-retail EU mask, which has a floppier hood and at times features a shiny or bone white finish and even has a more prevalent jawline.
Scream (2022)
In Scream (2022), the Ghostface robe has had a major makeover since the events of Scream 4.