Edvard Munch, The Scream (1893), National Museum of Art, Architecture and Design. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. By Kevin Williamson's account, Wes Craven saw this painting in the mask; the artist who drew Fun World's first ghost sketches says it was not her source. The Ghostface design is owned by Fun World and no free image of it exists.
The Ghostface mask
What it took directly
- statedThe mask worn in Scream took from a mask producer Marianne Maddalena found in an upstairs bedroom while scouting a house for the film"We were scouting a house, and I went up to this little bedroom upstairs and saw the mask." Marianne Maddalena, producer, to FANGORIA (2023); other accounts place the find in a garage (Kevin Williamson) or in the house of a mask collector (Fun World's R.J. Torbert)
- statedThe mask worn in Scream took from Fun World's "Fantastic Faces" Halloween assortment of 1991–92, where some called it the peanut-eyed ghost"When the mask was developed in 1991-1992, it was part of a style assortment called Fantastic Faces. Some people referred to it as the peanut eyed ghost." R.J. Torbert, licensing director at Fun World, to Examiner.com, quoted by Dread Central (2010)
- statedThe name "GhostFace" took from R.J. Torbert of Fun World, who pushed to name the mask, with the Geller family's blessing"It was here that I pushed hard to “baptize” the mask, and with the Gellers’ blessing “GhostFace®” was born." R.J. Torbert, quoted by Dread Central (2010)
- statedThe mask worn in Scream answered some twenty designs the production made of its own, all rejected by the studio"They must've done 20 different designs. Every one of them was rejected by the studio, and finally we were like, why don't we just get the rights to this mask?" Kevin Williamson, screenwriter, in an IGN anniversary video quoted by /Film (2023)
- documentedFun World's ghost face took from Alan Geller of Fun World, who says the design is his own"He insists the mask is his creation, and an upcoming documentary will reveal the true story behind its genesis." The Hollywood Reporter (Emmet McDermott, 2015), reporting Alan Geller's position; Geller gave no further detail
- statedIn Loren Gitthens's account, the ghost face took from his own 1990 Halloween costume at Tony Gardner's Alterian Studios, which became the Alterian Ghost Factory's "Wailer""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, special effects makeup artist, to FANGORIA (2023); Fun World credits the design to its own staff
What it learned to do
- statedFun World's ghost-face sketches learned from vintage animation's fluid, rubbery movement, and the jazz singer Cab Calloway"I just loved all vintage animation and that fluid, almost rubbery movement" Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden, who drew Fun World's initial concept sketches, to The Hollywood Reporter (2015); Alan Geller disputes that she created the mask
- statedFun World's ghost-face sketches learned from a picture of an existing design that Sleiertin-Linden was handed and asked to adapt"When this project was given to me, I was given a picture of something similar to what the finished masks would eventually look like." Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden, to FANGORIA (2023)
The tradition it sits in
- statedScream's reading of the mask took from Edvard Munch's The Scream, which Wes Craven saw in it at first sight"Wes [Craven] immediately looked at it and said, 'This is like the famous Scream painting.'" Kevin Williamson, recalling Craven's reaction, quoted by /Film (2023); Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden told The Hollywood Reporter (2015) that Munch was not her influence
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedThe Ghostface costume comes from the bedsheet ghost: Fun World first sold the face as a glow-in-the-dark ghost mask with a shroud"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." FANGORIA (Ryan Hills, 2023), citing Fun World's catalogue
- inferredThe Ghostface mask comes from several hands whose accounts do not agree: effects artists, a novelty-company designer, its owners, a producer and a licensing director"Seasonal novelty company Fun World legally owns the design and is credited for its creation" inferred — Fun World, FANGORIA's interviewees and The Hollywood Reporter's each credit different people; Fun World owns the design and is credited for it; none of the accounts is settled here
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