Originally published by Ryan Hills for Scream-Thrillogy.com
As fans and general audiences look forward to the opening of Scream 7 on February 27, the history of the franchise’s famous mask has become the subject of a new legal dispute. On February 6, lawyers for Alterian, a Los Angeles-based special effects studio, claims it is the original creator and owner of what was originally known as the "Wailer" ghost mask and instantly recognizable as the iconic "Ghostface". First released in 1991, the mask was part of Alterian's "Ghost Maker" product line. Alterian alleges that the company Fun World copied this design in 1992 to create its "Fantastic Faces" line, which was later licensed and became the iconic mask used in the Scream film franchise. Alterian is now suing Fun World, Paramount Pictures, and Spyglass Media Group, asserting that they have earned hundreds of millions of dollars from the unauthorized use of its design while the original creator received no compensation. Although the mask has appeared in films for decades, Alterian explains it only recently sought legal intervention after receiving corrected legal advice and failing to reach a settlement with the companies in early 2026 and initial talks in 2024.
This article is an extended and revised version of a piece I originally wrote for Fangoria in 2023. I spoke to many of those involved with this story directly and I hope their words may provide clarity and shine light on the complicated history of the Scream franchise's iconic Ghostface mask.
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| Ghostface returns to the screen in Scream 7 (2026). |
In the fall of 1990, Loren Gitthens was a special effects makeup artist working in Los Angeles at Tony Gardner’s Alterian Studios. Inevitably, on Halloween, “an artist from one of the effects shops would throw a party. It was an opportunity for the community of effects artists to let loose and come up with unique designs. My costume idea was an advanced take on the classic Halloween costume of a bedsheet with eye holes for a ghost, which integrated a formed buckram ghost face mask. The face design was inspired loosely by a mask I made in 1985 that I had called ‘Screamer Long Jaw’.”
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| The two custom costumes Loren created for a 1990 special effects industry Halloween party. |
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| The two ghosts at the Halloween party. |
A few months later, Tony Gardner remembers how, “there wasn't much film work. Everyone working at Alterian was always way into Halloween, and felt like there weren't very many cool Halloween masks out on the market at the time. We thought we could use our downtime to create a line of Halloween masks. We started out by designing and creating six different character masks and ran an ad in Fangoria to see if there was a market.” Tony decided to “start a second business based on the response to the masks, and came up with the name The Alterian Ghost Factory.”
While coming up with mask design ideas, Loren “suggested we make a line of masks from my bed sheet ghost idea. We put together a kit that included a rigid, vacuform plastic ghost face, glue, and paints. We called it ‘Ghost Maker.’ The idea was that you would use your own bed sheet, then attach it and blend in the ghost face.” They decided to create a group of six ghosts, with some sized down for kids to be able to wear. Loren’s wailing ghost design from his Halloween costume was used for one of the six ghost designs, with artist Chet Zar designing others.
While coming up with mask design ideas, Loren “suggested we make a line of masks from my bed sheet ghost idea. We put together a kit that included a rigid, vacuform plastic ghost face, glue, and paints. We called it ‘Ghost Maker.’ The idea was that you would use your own bed sheet, then attach it and blend in the ghost face.” They decided to create a group of six ghosts, with some sized down for kids to be able to wear. Loren’s wailing ghost design from his Halloween costume was used for one of the six ghost designs, with artist Chet Zar designing others.
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| The ghosts of the Ghost Maker kits. |
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| The Alterian Ghost Maker Kit featured the Wailer design in the included instructions for the product. |
Alterian hired Loren’s childhood friend, Bill Boes, to create hang tag and product art for the Ghost Maker Kits. Boes was a toy designer for Galoob Toys at the time and familiar with creating product artwork. “Alterian was trying to put these mask kits out and Loren contacted me in ’91 to do the package artwork. He sent me a ‘Wailer’ mask for reference, and it was done old-school illustration style, penciled out and painted on illustration board.”
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| Bill Boes original Ghost Maker product artwork. |
In 1991, Loren drove cross-country with fellow Alterian Ghost Factory artist, Jim Eusterman, to the annual Transworld Halloween trade show, held that year in Chicago. It was the largest event of its kind for novelty companies to show their products. Tony remembers, “That it was in March of 1991. We showed and sold our Ghost Maker kits there—they were the cornerstone of our booth display.” Loren and Jim Eusterman dressed in white lab coats, taking orders on clipboards.
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| Alterian's 1991 Transworld tradeshow display. |
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| A 1991 brochure showing Alterian's products, including the Ghost Maker kits. |
Within months after the trade show, Fun World gave their new in-house designer, Brigitte Sleiertin-Liden, a recent graduate of The School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, a project to adapt existing designs into their own line of Halloween ghost masks. “When this project was given to me, I was given a picture of something similar to what the finished masks would eventually look like. I was asked if I thought these could be made as masks and to do some drawings with a similar look and feel. So I did a bunch of sketches of different faces with that same white, melty face with simplistic black facial feature shapes. I didn't make the decision which of my drawings would become sculpted into the masks for that assortment. Alan Geller, Stanley Geller, and one of the other product managers at the time decided which ones they liked and moved forward with those.”
The final four masks were ready for retail in 1992 and listed in Fun World’s catalog as “item #9206 Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost Mask with Shroud,” available in an assortment of four styles with either white or black cotton shrouds. Looking at the four masks, the direct rendering from the Alterian Ghost Maker ghosts is obvious—in particular, Loren’s striking “Wailer” design.
The final four masks were ready for retail in 1992 and listed in Fun World’s catalog as “item #9206 Glow-in-the-Dark Ghost Mask with Shroud,” available in an assortment of four styles with either white or black cotton shrouds. Looking at the four masks, the direct rendering from the Alterian Ghost Maker ghosts is obvious—in particular, Loren’s striking “Wailer” design.
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| A page from Fun World's 1992 Halloween product catalog. |
About a year later, Loren left the special effects industry. “I was tiring of trying to sell masks and work in the makeup effects business, and I gave it all up and moved to Santa Cruz to start a new life with my wife.” A year or two later, at the start of the Halloween season, Loren saw something surprising: “I was in a drugstore and saw Fun World’s mass-produced, knock-off versions of my ‘Wailer’ and other Ghost Maker faces. But instead of being sold as a kit, it was a face already attached to a small, head-sized ‘sheet.’ Clearly, it appeared to be a direct rendering of my original creation. I was a bit amused, but didn’t pursue it looking into it any further as I had left that part of my life behind and was on to a new one.”
In March of 1995, Wes Craven was just a few weeks away from principal photography on Scream. Craven and his production team, including producer Marianne Maddalena, were location scouting at the time. There was one unresolved issue looming over them. Marianne Maddalena remembers how hard it was deciding what exactly the perfect mask for the killer would be, described in the script only as a “ghostly white mask”:
“KNB Effects Group had a lot of design sketches and sculptures, but we had not found the look, and it was getting late. We were scouting a house and I went up to this little bedroom upstairs, and I saw the mask. I took it, and I ran downstairs and showed it to Bruce Miller, the production designer, Wes, and probably Nick Mastandrea, our first AD. I said, 'Oh my god, you guys, look at this mask! How about this?', and they said, 'No… we want to create our own mask.' I begrudgingly put it back in the bedroom. A couple of weeks went by and I got Wes to take another look at it, and he said, 'Let's go with it.’ Of course, we had to call and get the rights from Fun World.”
In March of 1995, Wes Craven was just a few weeks away from principal photography on Scream. Craven and his production team, including producer Marianne Maddalena, were location scouting at the time. There was one unresolved issue looming over them. Marianne Maddalena remembers how hard it was deciding what exactly the perfect mask for the killer would be, described in the script only as a “ghostly white mask”:
“KNB Effects Group had a lot of design sketches and sculptures, but we had not found the look, and it was getting late. We were scouting a house and I went up to this little bedroom upstairs, and I saw the mask. I took it, and I ran downstairs and showed it to Bruce Miller, the production designer, Wes, and probably Nick Mastandrea, our first AD. I said, 'Oh my god, you guys, look at this mask! How about this?', and they said, 'No… we want to create our own mask.' I begrudgingly put it back in the bedroom. A couple of weeks went by and I got Wes to take another look at it, and he said, 'Let's go with it.’ Of course, we had to call and get the rights from Fun World.”
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| The Ghostface mask as seen in Scream (1996). |
Scream was a phenomenal hit, grossing $173 million on a budget of $14.5 million. Tony Gardner remembers that he was “genuinely flattered that they had used our mask design. I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was a great compliment that 'Wailer' was up there on the big screen, and in such a great film. I was a bit naive at the time, and assumed that since it had been years since we created the mask, there would be no way to fight for it. I also assumed that the movie was a one-time deal and that the ship had already sailed.” In 1996, Fun World trademarked the design and named it “GhostFace.”
An interview in FANGORIA issue #189 from January 2000 with Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden and Stanley Geller noted, “The mask was actually designed by Fun World employee Brigitte Sleiertin prior to the movie’s conception.” Brigitte stated, “The idea is something I worked on with Alan Geller, the vice president of the company… Of the entire assortment, that face was the strongest one.” Chet Zar wrote in the July 2000 issue of FANGORIA #194, saying, “I recently read an article in Fango on a company called Fun World that said they designed the mask used in the Scream movies… Well, this is simply not true. The mask was originally created by Loren Gitthens at a company called the Alterian Ghost Factory… The only difference was that it was sold as a mask and not a kit.”
From then on, Brigitte’s involvement would be denied or ignored in any interviews with Fun World representatives. Strangely today, Alan Geller, President of Fun World, is credited as the sole creator of the design on their website.
Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden today still looks back fondly on her involvement with the design: “The Scream Ghost is one of many projects that make up my vast portfolio of creative work over a thirty-five-plus years career. It has its place in my past and in some ways it shaped my future. I am always in gratitude for the experience.”
For Marianne Maddalena, “This is such an exciting time because I knew when I first laid eyes on that mask that it was special and magical. I'm fascinated with the origins and if you go to my website you can see some of the earliest designs of what would become the mask. I'm quite obsessed with the mask and I'm so glad that so many other people are!”
Loren remains positive, saying, “I know Fun World claims to own the design, but morally it's wrong that they have profited so much while myself and Alterian have received nothing. I'd rather be in my position though. I can live with a clear conscience.”
Since the news of the lawsuit broke, I’ve been following the discussions across various horror communities and YouTube channels. To be honest, the wave of negative sentiment toward Alterian has been strange to see. I think a lot of comments are maybe from those who aren't familiar with the complicated history—and haven’t even seen how identical the Alterian "Ghost Maker" designs are to Fun World’s "Fantastic Faces" ghosts. A common question I'm seeing is, “Why now?”
According to the complaint filed by Alterian’s lawyer, Brian Wheeler, Gardner was long ago legally ill-advised to believe he had no simple legal recourse and felt his company didn't have the resources or finances to take on powerful corporate entities. I am personally wishing Alterian good luck with the legal proceedings and hope they at least get a fair shot at some form of credit going forward and/or compensation. Regardless of what ends up legally happening, at the very least Alterian's story is more out there than ever.
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." — Arthur Schopenhauer
Tony Gardner remembers The Alterian Ghost Factory as “a labor of love that was completely self-financed by my wife Cindy and I, with employees like Loren Gitthens and Chet Zar and more, who shared our same passion for Halloween and all things spooky. So the years that the Ghost Factory existed were a real joy. The fact that our designs were so well liked made the experience all the more enjoyable, and if the artists at Alterian that were involved can get acknowledgement for their creativity and all of the time and hard work that went into launching our business, that would be the most rewarding aspect of all, especially with a design that's become so iconic at this point.”
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| Tony Gardner and Doug Jones on the set of Hocus Pocus (1993). |
Sources
Tara Stapleton, "Halloween Mask Is A Real Scream," Newsday, October 30, 1997.
Sarah Kendzior, "The Face of Scream," Fangoria #189, 2000.
Chet Zar, "Wailing Foul," Fangoria #194, July 2000.
Brigitte Sleiertin-Linden, Interview conducted by Zachary Cook, 2011.
Emmet McDermott, "MTV's Terrifying Mistake? Wes Craven Explains Why the Original Scream Mask Was Too Perfect to Use," The Hollywood Reporter, 2015.
Brian Murphy, "Rozier Beats Copyright Claim Brought By Owner of Ghostface Mask from Horror Movie SCREAM," Frankfurt Kurnit Klein + Selz Law Updates, May 21, 2015.
Ryan Hills, "25 Years of Scream: Exclusive Interview with Marianne Maddalena," 2021.
Ryan Hills, "Loren’s Ghost: The Haunted History of the Scream Mask," Fangoria, February 16, 2023.
Tony Gardner, Interview conducted by Ryan Hills, 2023.