Tooth Fairy

Tooth fairy by Nathan Gallagher

Inside the House by Nathan Gallagher

Kids: Little Sister

Little Sister from BioShock

Source: Boo Radlus

Source: Boo Radlus

Sith Witch

Mary Ellen Berglund as a Sith Witch
Photographed by Bryan Humphrey

Steampunk Ash

Steampunk Ash (from Army of Darkness) by Clifton

Photos by Dim Horizon Studio

Design by Atlanta cosplayer Matt Silva of Penny Dreadful Productions

I picked Ash Williams as a costume because I love the character – he is such an imperfect and unlikely hero. Unlike most modern protagonists, Ash doesn’t have mutant powers, insane martial arts skills, or magic weapons. Instead, Ash starts the series as a laid-back everyman who is constantly suffering from the Murphy’s law adage that “anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.” I think at one point or another, everyone has had a time in their life where it felt like something was out to get them. So I think you can’t help but empathize with Ash and relate to the choices he makes when faced with terrifying, undead adversity. Even when he is a relatively incompetent and ill-tempered jerk, you can’t help but love him because he’s been through it all, survived, and grown into a self-assured, badass demon slayer with a chainsaw-hand and fist full of boomstick. To some degree or another, I think we all secretly envision ourselves that way—I certainly do. As it turned out, sauntering around a convention with a chainsaw hand, an uplifted eyebrow, and a penchant for telling random women to “Give me some sugar, Baby” was a delightful way to bring one of my favorite characters to life.

As far as the steampunk adaptation on the character, I first encountered that genre of costuming at DragonCon 2008. I don’t know if it was growing up reading classic sci-fi like Jules Verne, the romantic Victorian flair, or my previous career as an engineer, but I found that the steampunk style innately appealed to me. At the time, I was wearing a movie version costume of Ash from Army of Darkness and it occurred to me that the Evil Dead trilogy had a lot of Steampunk characteristics. So the idea of an alternate-era Ash with a ridiculous steam powered chainsaw became the top choice for my next DragonCon costume. I think my favorite thing about the steampunk style of costuming is the freedom of creative expression it allows. Unlike most character-based costumes where you slavishly try to reproduce every detail of a character’s ensemble, steampunk allows you to add whatever unique style you can imagine.

As far as the costume goes, I think that the chainsaw hand is definitely the most recognizable aspect of an Ash costume, but if you truly plan to pull off character, a mighty chin, and the ol’ Bruce Campbell swagger is definitely key to rocking an Ash costume.

Scarecrow

Scarecrow by Sam Howzit

Taken at MegaCon 2010 in Orlando, Florida

Nurse Harley Quinn

Harley Quinn (from "Batman: Arkham Asylum" video game) by True Enchantment Entertainment

Source: LJinto via Flickr

Played by Rebecca D Young

My costume from Halloween 2009, I was Harley Quinn from the "Batman: Arkham Asylum" video game (one of my favorites!). This was my first attempt at a full scale cosplay project, didn't turn out too bad in my opinion but I just thought I would share.

*I am currently in the middle of updating my costume to be more Game Accurate. Stay tuned for a new video of my costume progress!*

Zombie Supergirl

Zombie Supergirl by Corey Wilson

Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo 2010

Silent Hill Nurses

Silent Hill Nurses by Walkerspace

Shot at Ohayocon 2011, the largest winter anime convention in North America

BioShock

Here's an absolutely amazing gallery of professional shots of Big Daddy and Little Sister from Bioshock from Dim Horizon Studio. It makes me wish they'd make this game into a live-action movie they way they did with Silent Hill. I think it would be brilliant.