MONSTROUS MASK REVIEWS: The Duke of Devonshire Mask by Lord Grimley’s Manor
2021 is shaping up to be a great year for new Halloween mask designs. I have seen the previews from multiple companies and I am very impressed with Lord Grimley’s Manor’s exclusive lineup. Not only are the masks beautifully sculpted and painted, they all have a story behind the character and are all inter-related somehow. This makes this series a lot of fun. The one I would like to discuss in this entry is the Duke of Devonshire mask.
I have mentioned before that though I have been aware of Lord Grimley’s Manor for years, this is the first time I have received anything from them. They distribute mask from many companies but this series is exclusive to them. This is also a companion piece to their Duchess of Devonshire mask.
When buying from a new company, you just never know what you will get. I have been burned in the past when ordering sight unseen online. A company will advertise a mask that looks amazing and when you receive it, it looks like your younger brother, who has no artistic talent, painted it. I cannot emphasize enough at how impressed I am with this series.
The Duke of Devonshire mask was sculpted by Anders Lerche and is beautifully done. For a rotted corpse it is one of the best. The wrinkled brown skin contracts perfectly with the exposed bone and jaw. The fact that the jaw is unattached on one side is a nice added detail. The rotted-out areas are sufficiently gross without being too much and it’s nice to see teeth that actually look like real teeth.
The finishing work is exceptional. The base colors are perfect for the living dead and all exposed bone looks like real bone! The eyes are painted beautifully, giving the impression of a dead character that can still see you. The hairwork is well done, especially with the moustache. It is obvious that this was not an easy process as the hair is glued on, as opposed to using a novelty moustache instead.
As with all of the masks in this series, the Duke of Devonshire has a back story to the character. “They are the quiet couple residing at the manor. The Duke and Duchess bring an eerie calm to the manor’s walls. Each in their own world of wait and want … The Duke prefers his evening strolls among the dead and recently undead. He chats with the old farmers in the nearby fields. Their rotting corpses propped up on an elbow, talking about the weather and grunting their approval or disapproval of the local gossip. Terrors to those outside of the daily routine, they bide their time and await the next victim. Time is all they have. The Duke sits upon the manor porch. He slowly rocks in his chair, the divots in the wood rubbed smooth by years of creaking floors and haunted dreams.”
To order your own copy, just click HERE. You can also order from my eBay Store. Make sure to check out my other entries in my MONSTROUS MASK REVIEWS series.
~David Albaugh
