The most exciting new creature I got to hear about is an entity known as "The Ferryman." I'm sure you're familiar with the legend: he's the ghostly figure, sometimes called Charon, who brings lost souls across the River Styx in the Underworld. Historically, many lost loved ones were burned or buried with coins on their eyes; these were meant to pay for passage across the river. And if you didn't have coins? Well, maybe you'd be lost forever.
The Ferryman in Annabelle Comes Home is a lot like the Crooked Man in The Conjuring 2. He's not based on a Warren case file, and he's more like the manifestation of an unknown evil or another kind of demon.
During my visit, I got to see the incredibly detailed cloak that was used as a costume for the character. I met with costume designer Leah Butler, who showed me her meticulous and impressive work. First of all, the Ferryman will stand over seven feet tall because the actor playing him will be wearing impossibly high platform boots. The Ferryman has a a huge, voluminous cloak of gauzy blacks and browns; think of something Gandalf or Dumbledore might wear, but much darker and drearier. He has an epic hood, a staff (or an oar perhaps?) with a lantern on it, and a terrifying face. The mask looked withered and inhuman, with coins over the eyes.
"Gary and I were just sort of talking about ideas and he said, 'I have this Ferryman. It'd be great if he was in a cloak but not really a cloak.' So I got inspired by him and who he is," Butler said. "In the River Styx, there's a lot of marshland and mud so kind of is an inspiration with all this muddiness and kind of very from the earth and organic sort of feel to it." And so, she showed me small details: dark feathers and cheesecloth and more, all used to create a never-before-seen and otherworldly texture.