Samuel Dean, owner of Samhain Studios, lifts up replicas he made of Jason Voorhees' mask Thursday afternoon in Chehalis. He also made the under-mask for authenticity.
Samuel Dean, owner of Samhain Studios, holds up a mold for a replica he's making of Corey Taylor's Slipknot mask Thursday afternoon in Chehalis.
Samuel Dean, owner of Samhain Studios, is seen in a reflection of a mirror in his studio, while holding a facehugger model he made Thursday afternoon in Chehalis.
Samuel Dean, owner of Samhain Studios, holds up a facehugger model he made Thursday afternoon in Chehalis.
Samuel Dean, owner of Samhain Studios, points at a Michael Myers mask replica he made Thursday afternoon in Chehalis. The original Michael Myers mask was actually a William Shatner, James Kirk mask with white spray paint on it.
For many 20-year-olds, living in the garage of their parents’ house wouldn’t exactly qualify as living the dream. For Chehalis resident Samuel Dean, it looks more like a nightmare, but that’s exactly what he intended, and his parents don’t seem to mind at all.
Spending time at home is nothing new for Dean, who was homeschooled by his parents. Now though, he spends his time curating intricately detailed masks scary enough to make a warlock gasp.
Dean says he became interested in the detailed work that goes into making movies seem real after watching the killer shark thriller, “Jaws,” with his father when he was little. One could say all those teeth and all that blood made a real impression on young Sam.
“He is self taught and has been sculpting his entire life,” confirmed David Dean, Samuel’s scary movie buff father.
“Being homeschooled definitely did provide me the time to learn. I’m still learning,” said the younger Dean. “I focus a lot on horror icons, stuff that I would personally like to have.”
His workspace doubles as his bedroom and the walls are lined with impressive recreations of menacing faces ranging from “Friday the 13th” to “Alien” to “Predator.” Dean goes to extreme lengths in order to make the masks authentic to the originals. He says he spends a lot of time on internet message boards dedicated to Hollywood costume and makeup secrets where people share insight on the creation of various configurations. Dean says he can often even track down the actual people who worked behind the scenes and on the set of specific films.
While he has nearly a complete set of Jason Voorhees masks from the “Friday the 13th” scary movie series, he only displays a few Michael Myers masks from the “Halloween” classics. It’s not that he doesn't like the character, it’s just that he’s taking his time to make sure to get the masks just right.
“The Michael Myers people can be pretty particular and brutal in their critique, especially online,” said Dean, who noted that the original mask for the first Halloween movie was simply a Star Trek Captain Kirk mask from a department store with a layer of white paint.
“Regular spray paint doesn’t stick to latex very well so it started to peel all over the place during filming. It wound up giving it a very unique and memorable look,” explained Dean.
While Dean got his start in mask-making with inspirations drawn almost exclusively from the scary movie genre, he has since expanded his work to include some of the more hardcore music scenes.
“Metal and horror go together in the same vein,” said Dean, who made a set of masks for the band Five Finger Death Punch last summer. He then took the masks with him to a show in Seattle where the band, with their avant garde zombie-apocalypse inspired onstage look, was performing. He wound up getting in for free after a security guard delivered them backstage.
Dean says his parents are entirely supportive of his undertakings and don’t seem to mind their garage overflowing with creepy characters who seem poised to come alive if you turn your back too long.
“My dad is basically the one who got me into this. We like the same type of movies,” said Dean. “Now, music is different. He’s The Beatles and I’m Slipknot.”
Dean’s mask crafting began as a hobby but has since morphed into a small-business known as Samhain Studios. Through the business Dean stays busy making custom masks for bands, short-films and regular old people who just like to get a little freaky.
“I ship a lot to the U.K. and Germany,” said Dean, who primarily promotes Samhain Studios through his company Facebook page. A few weeks after that fortuitous Five Finger Death Punch concert, the band posted photos of the masks on Facebook along with a thank you to Dean. He says that shoutout from the band created an instant uptick in sales and social media interaction for his business.
To make the masks, Dean uses an oil-based clay to create the molds and then pours in latex in layers to create the actual face. After that, he trims the mask up and strengthens it with a hard set plaster. He then airbrushes the gory details on and uses leather straps, metal grommets and buckles to bring it all together. He says it usually takes him about two weeks just to sculpt the head into shape for final preparation and decoration, but you’d never guess that from the price.
Dean says he typically sells a full mask for about $140 while a half mask runs about $65. That’s a far cry from the multiple hundreds of dollars that many mask-makers ask for far less intricate creations.
“The average person doesn’t generally pay more than $50 for a Halloween mask, so I try to keep it reasonable. I cater to the people who don’t have that kind of money,” said Dean. “I’m trying the make the masks that I would have wanted as a kid, but they were too expensive.”
Looking forward, Dean says he would ultimately like to break into the film industry to work on costumes, makeup and special effects. For now though, he’s focused on turning Samhain Studios into a viable business. He doesn’t have another job and he isn’t going to school, so he is grateful to his parents for providing him the opportunity to follow his passion.
“They have really helped me to be able to pursue it,” said Dean. “I’m basically head first into this realm of monsters.”
In addition to running his business, Dean also volunteers at the Dead Ending Haunted House at the Fairway Center in Centralia. A stickler for the details, he has spent many hours helping to decorate, including providing a custom-made set of 3-foot-tall “Alien”-inspired eggs. The Dead Ending Haunted House will be open every Friday and Saturday in October from 6:30 p.m. until about 11 p.m., as well as Oct. 30-31.
Samuel Dean can be reached at Samhain Studios by phone at 360-880-1521 or by email at samueldean15@aol.com. He can also be found online on Instagram and Facebook.
