‘A killer Zoom Meeting’: Dad creates coronavirus-inspired Halloween costume

MARION, Iowa — As Halloween approaches, many families are adjusting plans in efforts to celebrate the holiday while staying safe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

One Iowa man — who also happens to be a creative director at an advertising and marketing agency — decided to put a fun spin on an often unfavorable new norm: Zoom video calls.

Greg Dietzenbach posted a video of his daughter wearing the costume Sunday on Twitter along with a video of how the costume came to be.

In one video, Dietzenbach shows his 12-year-old daughter, Ada, knocking on someone’s door.

She stands wearing what appears to be a board covered with a screenshot print of a Zoom call. Call attendees include characters with punny names, such as “Invisible Man,” a werewolf named Wolf Man, Frank (Frankenstien), Blaire (Blair Witch), Mummy (a play on “Mommy”) and Drac (Dracula).

A cutout in the center features Ada with her COVID-19 face covering, cleverly named “The Masked Murderer.”

Another attendee shows the person answering the door, labeled “Next Victim.” The front-facing camera on an iPad attached to the costume allows the “Next Victim” guest to change with each new person that appears in front of the costume-wearer.

“My kids challenge me every year to make a unique costume. Building a ‘Transformers’ sock robot for my son almost broke my brain," Dietzenbach told CNN. "Another year, [my daughter] went as our neighbors' doors. So, this year I wanted to make it a lot simpler.”

Dietzenbach said the best part of making the costume was the photo shoot he had with his daughter, who dressed up as each of the call attendees.

“We were laughing the whole time as we tried to make all the monster faces,” he said.

Other unique features are the call name — Zoom and Gloom Meeting — and the number of listed participants, 666. Instead of “Share Screen,” Dietzenbach printed “Share Scream.”

“Halloween was one of my favorite holidays when I was a kid and I’m happy to share my love of Halloween with my kids,” Dietzenbach told CNN. “2020 has been tough. It’s nice to know we’ll be giving some joy to others — at a safe distance of course.”

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