Every year around Halloween, your social media feeds fill with people posting their costumes and tributes to pop culture. But the Horth family does it bigger than just about anybody else.
They’ve been in the game for a few years now and go big for the spooky holiday through something they call HalloWEEK. The family’s been posting different photos of their costumes and, like in previous years, they take inspiration from all kinds of popular culture.
Here’s an example from last year to show you how serious their costume game is:
HalloWEEK is the brainchild of husband and wife team Reed Horth and Kat Barrow-Horth. In their day jobs they run Robin Rile Fine Art, a fine art gallery that specializes in 19th-21st century art including work from artists like Andy Warhol, Salvador Dali, and many more.
We talked to Kat about what’s different this time around and how the family plots out their elaborate photo shoots.
HOW IT COMES TOGETHER: Kat told us that she keeps a folder in her email called HalloWEEK and she adds new ideas as she thinks of them. “You can save so much time if you just brainstorm,” she said. Friends and family send in dozens of ideas too and then she eventually narrows it down and starts to plot out the shoots.
In addition to the Avengers, this year’s themes include a few modern and classic movies, old school album covers, British history, and James Bond.
The shoots involve green screens and some Photoshop work to add effects. The costumes are all sourced from local thrift stores, online shops, and the family’s personal closet.
For example, the Henry VIII costume that Reed wears is actually Kat’s dress, her jewelry and her socks.
WHAT’S DIFFERENT THIS YEAR: Beyond doing different themes this year, one of the biggest changes for the family is that they’re using their phones for a lot more of the photos. Before it was pretty much all done with digital cameras.
And the biggest change is the youngest star of the show, Kat’s 4-year-old son Ronan, is much more involved than in past years.
“Before when he was a baby we would kind of just plop him in,” Kat said. “At least now when we say smile or make a mad face he can do it…It still will take 30 pictures to get it right, but at least we can coach him now.”
This year there are also a few more 305 touches. “One thing we failed to do in the past is to incorporate more Miami landmarks and Miami staples,” she said. So when they decided on the Avengers theme they made sure to include the “Hulk Baby” mural from the Wynwood Walls. They also posed in front of the orb in the Design District’s Palm Court for their classic album shoot.
You can find all of their photos over on their Instagram page. And you can find us looking for new costume ideas and anticipating what next year’s HalloWEEK will bring.