Hallowmas Eve - Day Three: The Masks We Wear

Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.
- James A. Baldwin

Are you not terrified (by the lack of craftsmanship)?

I think the whole concept of mass produced, kiddie-grade Halloween masks went out in the 80's, or possibly the early 90's (when I wasn't paying attention).  I remember the plasticine smell and suffocating feeling of wearing a cheapy, nearly flat, Chinese-made Frankenstein or Dracula mask as a kid that my parents would pick up at the local drug store.  That dangling rubber band that would pinch the back of my neck until it got too stretch out or broke, rending the whole chintzy affair over within days.

This guy just looks tired, on all levels.

Then, the kids who were better loved in the neighborhood were lucky enough to get the full-head model, made of molded foam rubber which had a different smell, and a different sense of suffocation when worn, but at least you knew this sucker was going to last until next year.

These days, we take our masking a bit more seriously, as evidenced by what I think is one of the coolest masks to slither out of the amazing minds of some Lovecraftian toiling away in a dank basement.

Behold, the Leather Cthulhu:

Old One mug shot... "Okay, fuck-o, turn to your right..."

...." and now to your left."

I'm actually frightened looking at these bad boys, which is a rare treat these days.  Cosmic kudos (I know, it's corny) to the makers of the Leather Cthulhu, which includes Bob Basset Art Group in the Ukraine, which made the one below:

 
Bob's beasts also conjure up this one:

The one below has a little old school rubber thrown into the mix, as a nod to the Elder Ones (in the mask biz and otherwise), :

I'm not sure what to make of this guy, but I'm pretty sure he and I could share a Mythos beer or two (in a well lit, crowded room, obviously):

Mask up right, folks, and mind the rubber band...