Use an Adafruit MONSTER M4SK to Take Your Halloween Costume to the Next Level

Halloween is just a couple of weeks away, and that means that it’s time to start putting the finishing touches on your costume. Hopefully you aren’t just now starting to plan that costume; but even if you are, this post might be worth looking at. Phillip Burgess has used an Adafruit MONSTER M4SK to add creepy animated eyes to his Halloween costume, and you can follow along with his build log to take inspiration for your own costume this year.

You shouldn’t approach Burgess’s build long like a step-by-step walkthrough, as his costume likely differs from yours. But it does give you a good idea of how you can do something similar. The two main features that he covers are the animated eyes and the voice changer. Those work well with his mask, which is a legitimately scary goat skull. As Burgess explains, you’ll want to find a mask that has holes for you to see through that are separate from the character’s eyes. The MONSTER M4SK screens would otherwise block your view. Other than that, you just want to make sure you have enough room inside for the electronics. A movable mouth also pairs very well with the voice changer.

The eyes are the easiest part to setup, as the Adafruit MONSTER M4SK development board was designed specifically for applications like this. You just have to snap the board into three pieces, solder wires between the pieces, and then glue them in place. A LiPo battery provides power, and plugs directly into the board. That board also handles the processing for the voice changer. A PDM microphone connects to the MONSTER M4SK, which alters your voice and then outputs an audio signal. That signal can then be amplified through a simple portable battery-operated speaker. The eye effects and voice changer really add to the creepiness of the costume, helping you terrify the neighborhood children this Halloween.