An 8-foot, monstrous figure lurches toward a crowd of strangers, ready to give them a surprise. In the creature’s outstretched metal arm is a single item, one that provokes many questions but answers few of them: a business card.
IU alumnus Reilly Donaldson frequently haunts Bloomington and the campus in his cybernetic zombie costume. The creation serves as a marketing tool for Donaldson to promote Laser Hands Studio and show off his work. He first started walking around the campus in August.
Donaldson said he walked around in costume because it works as an ever-evolving portfolio. It also draws attention to his business Laser Hands Studio, a freelance art business.
“I can’t afford a bunch of ad space or run my Instagram or various things, so I just use it as marketing,” Donaldson said.
The costume, aptly named the skeleton harvester, is made of basic construction materials, old mechanical parts and objects he found lying around. The skeleton harvester has metallic claws and two masks for more creative design. The inner mask’s mouth is stitched shut with old guitar strings to add a creepier effect.
Halloween was always a big holiday in Donaldson’s family. He said he’s been scaring trick-or-treaters at his mother’s house for years. He has created all of his costumes from scratch, so this new rendition was the culmination of all his work in the past few years, Donaldson said.
Donaldson said a lot of his joy comes from scaring people and being able to get the big, buff guy to jump and scream.
The alleys throughout Bloomington are some of his most frequented haunts, because people are constantly cutting through. He said the creepy atmosphere in the alleys enhances the fear.
Earlier this year, Donaldson was going through Dunn Woods in costume when he came upon a group of students. He said he knew an opportunity was in front of him, so he was going to take it.
The people saw him and immediately freaked out, starting to scream and yell. However, he said some of the group, mostly the girls, had the common sense to run when they saw him. The boys stood still.
“The girls were smart, they took off long before I emerged,” Donaldson said.
However, Donaldson said after he chased them, they all began laughing and bonded. He handed out business cards and was featured on a few of the student’s Instagram profiles.
Robin Donaldson, Reilly’s mother, said all of their family is creative. Her sons are musicians, authors and artists. She herself is a published author. Her house is decorated with artwork, both her own and her son’s.`
“Halloween is one of those holidays that allows you to be creative, as creative as possible,” Robin Donaldson said.
Halloween is about being creative and expressing yourself in ways you may not be able to everyday, Reilly Donaldson said.
“Part of Halloween is being creative and becoming something else,” Reilly Donaldson said. “I basically just wanted my own custom, more individualized Halloween costume.”
Before his intricate costumes, Reilly Donaldson liked to draw on walls as a kid.
Robin Donaldson said Reilly has always been creative. From making a zombie lunch lady costume to drawing fiery meatballs with wings and lightning, her son had always made art.
“Reilly’s been creative pretty much since he could put stuff together,” Robin Donaldson said.
As he grew up, he started looking at colleges to expand his craft and landed at IU. Reilly Donaldson said his education has helped him define what art meant to him.
“Art is about making something that didn't exist beforehand,” Reilly Donaldson said.
Reilly Donaldson said at the end of the day, his costumes and the different antics he gets into are all about people having fun and being able to scare people.
“You get to play the monster for a day,” Reilly Donaldson said.
