Bill Johnson isn’t afraid of the dark. He makes the dark scary.

As one of the top designers of frightening characters for Netherworld Haunted House, Johnson creates characters who are bloody, mangled, gory – just plain scary. And each year, because the characters and themes change annually, he gets to create something new.

Werewolves and Frankenstein. Serial killers and vampires. In its 13 years in the scare business, Netherworld has featured all types of spine-tingling creatures.

This year’s icon characters include Nosferatu and a zombie. “For Nosferatu, we went with more bat-like features,” Johnson says. “Kind of pointy ears. [Co-founder] Ben Armstrong picked out these cool contact lenses for him to wear.”

Johnson admits there’s only so many variations a designer can do on a zombie. “There’s not a whole lot of room for creativity,” he says. “A zombie is a zombie.” But seems the house has put a bit of a spin on how the characters become zombies: quenching their thirst with a sport drink.

The concepts for the characters come from Armstrong who then relays his vision to Johnson. Instead of sketching out the framework for the character, Johnson gets right to sculpting. “You kind of have to let the clay speak to you,” he says.

Clay is a forgiving medium. “You may find happy little mistakes. You might find an area that’s kind of cool and you enhance that,” he adds. “The great thing about clay is you can take off and put back on.”

Once the mask is formed, Johnson uses silicone to create the flesh, which makes it realistic. “It moves like skin, feels like it, is heavy like it,” Johnson says. He uses a silicone-based paint for the airbrushed veins and other details. The paint fuses to the mask so it holds up a lot longer.

“Silicone holds up many more years,” he says. “It has a translucency. It’s a very realistic material.”

In addition, props and costumes may be needed for the character’s body as well. But it depends on the character. Johnson says, “Some can be impractical for it to be full body.”

When the masks and any body work are completed, the character comes alive. Armstrong dons the mask and Johnson takes pictures of the character in order to create the graphics for Netherworld’s tickets, posters and other promotional items.

Johnson has been working with Netherworld for its entirety, but he was into creating scary things long before the Atlanta attraction came to fruition. In the late ’70s, he began working in makeup for super-eight features and then began creating effects for student films at the University of Georgia. He graduated with a degree in graphic design and enrolled in Dick Smith’s Advanced Professional Makeup Course. He’s worked on films such as The Patriot, Eight-Legged Freaks, October Sky and Zombieland (which filmed some sequences at Netherworld).

RISE FROM THE DEAD

Netherworld Haunted House scare master Bill Johnson offers some low-budget tips on making yourself into a frightful zombie for Halloween.

• If using prosthetics from a party store, attach these to your face first.
• Spread a thin layer of corn syrup on your skin and on the prosthetic. When the syrup begins to get sticky, separate a two-ply tissue and place one sheet on your face, making sure to incorporate some wrinkles. This makes your skin seem papery thin.
• Stale bread crumbs stuck to the tissue and corn syrup mixture will give your face a crusty look.
• Use makeup to further enhance the effect. Darker colors should go under your eyes and under your cheekbones to accentuate your shadows. Lighter colors go on your bone ridges and cheekbones.
• For a more gory look, mix red food coloring with corn syrup and apply to your face on top of the tissue. Mold it as it starts to get sticky.
• Shop for suits or dresses at a thrift store (remember a zombie has come back from the dead and frequently, the dead are buried in their Sunday best).
• Use sandpaper on the clothing to make it ratty. Drag it behind your car in the neighborhood. Rub it around in the dirt.
• Don’t use the corn syrup for bloody clothing. (You don’t want to leave bloody handprints all over the walls!) Instead, Johnson recommends Design Master paints (found at craft stores).