The “Red Death” is the second Figura Obscura figure to be released around Halloween (following 2022’s Headless Horseman). Interestingly, the Red Death was not even on a short list of possible characters we were initially considering for this Halloween release. The idea for this character came to Eric Treadaway one evening after he was struggling to decide which character he wanted to explore next for Figura Obscura. He began work on the new figure the next day, the idea flowing freely once he finally decided to tackle this somewhat obscure literary character.

One of the challenges, as well as one of the opportunities, for the Red Death figure was the fact that there is very little description of the character in the short story. Additionally, unlike previous Figura Obscura characters, there really are no previously presented versions in popular media that are considered to be the definitive looks for this macabre character. Interestingly, one of the most well-known interpretations of the Red Death comes from another horror classic – Gaston Leroux’s “The Phantom of the Opera.” The 1925 film, as well as the ultra-popular stage play based on this story, both show Erik the Phantom attending a masquerade ball dressed as the Red Death. For our Figura Obscura release, we did not want to make this version, which is presented in a somewhat elegant looking masquerade-style costume. We wanted something that was creepier and more in line with the description from the original text, which reads:

The figure was tall and gaunt, and shrouded from head to foot in the habiliments of the grave. The mask which concealed the visage was made so nearly to resemble the countenance of a stiffened corpse that the closest scrutiny must have had difficulty in detecting the cheat.

Our Figura Obscura: The Masque of the Red Death figure features a gaunt, zombie-like body. Fans will recognize some of these “zombie-limbs” from the Poxxus figure in the Mythic Legions wave of the same name, as well as in our Undead Builder Pack from the Necronominus wave. This particular figure uses those previously shown limbs, but also includes body parts never seen before now - namely the lower arms and lower legs, torso, as well as a new waist piece and loin attachment, which can be seen in one of the images below.