Home / Wheelchair Halloween costumes for adults / Anglerfish
Anglerfish Wheelchair Costume: How to Build It
- Time About 1 hour
- Help needed Little
- Best for Fastest build
An anglerfish is a deep-sea predator with a glowing lure that hangs in front of its mouth, and that is the whole costume: a dark hood, a row of teeth and a light on a stalk. It is the quickest build here because most of it is clothes, and the glow also makes you easy to see after dark.
What you will need
- A dark hoodie (blue, black, teal or gray)
- White or cream felt for teeth, and dark fabric or felt for fins
- A flexible rod: a goose-neck lamp arm, a bendy craft wire, a flexible tent pole or a thick plastic coat-hanger wire
- A small battery LED (blue or green) or a glow ball
- Sewing thread, fabric glue or safety pins
- Tape or hook-and-loop to fasten the rod to the hood
- Optional: face paint in teal and black
Step by step
- Cut a row of white felt triangles about 2 to 3 inches long. Glue or pin them around the hood opening, points facing inward, like teeth.
- Cut fin shapes from dark fabric or felt and sew or pin them along the outside of the sleeves and down the back.
- Make the lure: attach the LED to one end of the flexible rod and tape a small glowing ball over it.
- Anchor the other end of the rod to the back of the hood or a headband, so the rod arches up and forward over your head.
- Adjust the lure so it hangs above and ahead of your eyeline, not in front of your eyes. You should see past it.
- Add the finish: teal and black face paint, white glow dots on the hood, and a dark blanket over your lap.
- Turn off the room lights and switch on the lure.
Before you roll
Check. Sit in the chair, look straight ahead and check that the rod does not block your view or touch your face. Make sure the LED is a battery type and stays cool. The rod must clear the chair's push handles and any headrest.
Mistakes to avoid
- A lure hanging in the middle of your view. Keep it above and slightly to the side.
- A heavy rod that pulls the hood back. Use light wire and fasten to a headband.
- Pins near the face. Use fabric glue or sew teeth on.
Make it better
Add a second smaller light on one fin, a pair of sewn-on eyes on the hood, and a blue light strip across the chair's front frame (battery powered, attached to the frame only) so the whole chair glows like deep water.
Where to buy
Amazon links; check the product page against the notes before you order.
- Battery LED puck lights (battery powered and cool-running)
Safety for every build
- Nothing may block, touch or catch in the wheels, hand rims, brakes or controls. Keep fabric above the wheels and make every attachment quick to remove.
- On a power chair, also keep clear of the joystick, cables, battery and vents.
- Keep tall pieces light and low on the chair so they do not change your balance.
- Check that the finished build fits through a standard door.
- Add reflective tape or a battery LED so you are visible in low light.