To Be Frank, a Monster Salesman
Ever since Mary Shelley created him more than a century ago, Frankenstein’s monster has seemed larger than life, and now he is--literally.
At 27 feet tall--sitting down--the sculpture towering and glowering at motorists from atop a mini-mall flower shop dwarfs just about everything around him.
The figure cost $8,000 to make, according to its creator, Lazar McDaniels, a 22-year-old “concept designer.” Formed of steel and window screen, with an outer plastic coating applied with a spray gun, the monster will keep watch from his perch above Arroyo Parkway through Halloween.
McDaniels built the figure in two weeks--much faster than it took Dr. Frankenstein in Shelley’s novel, “Frankenstein.” McDaniels and Mike Duran, owner of Duran’s Flowers, dragged pieces of the
monster one by one up to the roof, where the operation was completed.
And the figure can move: the head shakes and bobs, and the body turns from side to side.
Add that to the “plain but mysterious look on his face,” McDaniels said, and “it’s kinda like you don’t know what he’s gonna do next, like get off the roof and chase people.”
Upright, the monster would be 55 feet tall, McDaniels said.
Enough to scare away the little ones, perhaps, but not potential customers. Although Halloween is not a holiday known for the giving of flowers, Duran estimated that sales at his shop have gone up nearly 25% since the monster made its rooftop debut Oct. 12.
