Bub rose from the lifeless ashes of foam and chicken wire shortly before Halloween 2005. I had very much got to the stage when I wanted to make another puppet. Nowadays, due to the lack of space at home and the time and effort involved in making them, I do not get to create something new that often. When I do, it has to be special, and this time I wanted to do something very different to before - something gory, yet still very muppet-like. Being a big fan of George A Romero's zombie movies gave me the inspiration needed for the character and after a lot of hard graft Bub was 'unborn'. As a nod to Romero, Bub obtained his name after a zombie in the film Day of the Dead. A fitting tribute, I think.

As usual, Bub is a combination of hand and rod puppet and much of his construction is very similar to that of Sebastian, Zak and Isla. There are, however, some very noticeable differences - namely gore. He has many injuries, including a huge gash in his side where his ribs poke out through a tattered shirt, a portion of skull showing through a bald patch on his head, and an almost served arm - plus many smaller cuts and splatters of blood. In addition, either of his eyeballs can be popped out to hang by a bloody thread onto his cheek.

Bub was the first puppet for which I had a decent budget, and for the first time I could buy the best materials possible rather than having to make do. As a result, Bub is a stronger made puppet, without losing any of the character and style. The extra money, coupled by the fact that it was coming up to Halloween so there were many cheap deals, made the gory effects far easier to produce. The clothes this time were bought from Debenhams' children's department. Blood gel from a costume shop was very effective as dried-on blood, and ribs were made from the talons of a Halloween glove. The eyes are again made of ping-pong balls, but this time they are held on by a piece of cord that is painted crimson. It is simple, but looks surprising effective as a bloody thread and optic nerve. The almost severed arm was a great deal harder to produce, but a Halloween prop of a severed hand came to my aid. Using a craft knife, I was able to strip away the fake bone from this prop, and incorporate it into the puppet's arm. The result is the look of a protruding bloody bone out of a gaping hole in Bub's shirt sleeve. Finally, Bub's shoes had holes cut in them. Toes made of foam covered in fur fabric were made to stick out of these holes, with added blood for full effect. 

I can't help thinking that I have to keep Bub away from my other puppets, in case he gets peckish and eats them.