NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Veronica Bosley's been experimenting with horrific and fantastical makeup as a hobby. Now she's running to be the first-ever "Face of Horror."
Bosley's cleared the first quarter final hurdle in the online voting contest, putting her in the company of nearly 800 other competitors going into the next round. She's already survived 10 rounds and thousands of contestants.
The grand prize winner gets $13,000, a photo shoot with Kane Hodder ("Jason Voorhees") in Rue Morgue Magazine, a walk-in on in an independent film and two nights at the Buffalo Bill's house (from "Silence of the Lambs") in Pennsylvania.
"The 'Face of Horror' is really hard," she said. "The initial grouping was 100 and now the top ones are competing. ... Everyone who placed first is competing for three more rounds."
She isn't sure why exactly she started doing special effect makeups, other than a love for horror films.
"I really love horror movies and watch them all the time, year-round," Bosley said. "There's a lot of things you can do at home so I thought I'd try it."
She's taught workshops locally for people to learn how to create their own spooky looks.
Her Facebook friends have been aware of her hobby for awhile now — every so often a creepy or disturbing creature pops up on their newsfeed. She started an Instagram account documenting her creations.
"I've been doing gross stuff for a number of years," she said. "I made an intentional account of what I'm trying to do for myself and to share because people were sharing them."
Her creativity intensified during the pandemic, like a lot of people who had to spend more time at home.
The best part, she said, is that you don't need a lot of special materials. Face paint and makeup, liquid latex and found objects around the house inspire much of her macabre creations.
"It's not like a lot of high-tech kind of stuff, which I like because you can play with this," she said. "A lot of it is just liquid latex. You put it on your skin and dries to a rubbery consistency. It's not a lot of specialty stuff."
One her grosser creations (if you've seen her Instagram, you know which one) was made out of liquid latex, tissue and cotton balls.
"Now it's a little easier to get into because there are YouTube accounts," Bosley said. "The concept is that you could accomplish some really cool gross stuff at home."
This is the first Face of Horror competition. Contestants are put into groups go through a number of online voting rounds with the top competitors from each group being progressively reduced each round.
This past weekend, the "Re-Animator Round" allowed for runners-up to get back in the game and voting on the Hellraiser Round started on Monday morning and, so far, Bosley is fourth. The votes are being reset for this and the next two rounds, starting Oct. 28 and Nov. 4, with the winner being announced on Nov. 10.
Voting is free once every 24 hours — which means you can vote for your favorite once every day — and you can buy extra or B-plus votes. Voting is through Facebook or sms verification.
The B-plus is for the Andrew McDonough B+ Foundation, a children's cancer charity that provides financial support to families and funds research. The foundation is the beneficiary of the contest.
"Through donations I've been able to raise over $700 so far. It's amazing to see how generous people are and how excited they are for me to win," Bosley said in announcing her participation. "I know the Berkshires are a very caring community but I'm honestly flattered that people have been so supportive."
Bosley says there's a real mix of competitors, many of whom are just fans like herself.
"Some are professionals and some are people interested in makeup," she said. "But a lot are horror enthusiasts."
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
Colegrove Park Recognized as Top 10 School Statewide in Attendance
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
Superintendent Barbara Malkas, left, Colegrove Principal Amy Meehan, Mayor Jennifer Macksey and Dean of Students Jonathan Slocum pose with the Celtics basketball award on Friday.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Boston Celtics gave gold to Colegrove Park Elementary School on Friday for scoring in the top 10 schools for attendance statewide. The school saw its chronic absenteeism numbers drop by 11 percent last year.
Tim Connor, assistant director for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's west and central district, arrived with a gold basketball signed by the champion team to reward the students for their achievement.
"An award like this doesn't come easy. It takes a lot of work from all of you, the students, the parents, and especially Ms. Meehan and her wonderful staff, so a big round of applause," said Mayor Jennifer Macksey, after leading the assembly in the gym to chants of "Colegrove rocks!" "I am so proud of this school and the community that all of you have built. So everyone should be really excited about today, and this is an excellent way to start your school."
Superintendent Barbara Malkas asked last year's fifth-graders at Colegrove to join her at the front of the gym for a special applause.
"When we track attendance of all the students in the whole district, these students have the highest attendance rate, the lowest chronic absenteeism rate in the entire district," Malkas said. "While all Colegrove students have been recognized as attendance all-stars, these students led the way in being attendance all-stars, so let's give them one more round of applause."
Colegrove switched this year to house Grades 3 to 6, so some of the younger students who helped earn the award are now at Brayton Elementary. However, all three elementary schools open last year saw improvement in attendance.
Schools statewide have been working to reduce chronic absenteeism — the percentage of students missing 10 percent of the school year, or 18 days — which peaked during the pandemic.
Last week, the nonprofit held a ceremonial groundbreaking for a 900-square-foot wooden structure with a full foundation and a composting toilet. The excavation process began this week, and completion is expected in 2026.
click for more
The Boston Celtics gave gold to Colegrove Park Elementary School on Friday for scoring in the top 10 schools for attendance statewide. The school saw its chronic absenteeism numbers drop by 11 percent last year. click for more