Last updated: August 1, 2026·🔄 Guide reviewed and refreshed ahead of Halloween 2026.· By Ozan Bayraktar

Halloween Costume Idea For Men

Petyr Halloween Costume Guide

8,000 years old and still hasn’t said a single word. Honestly, respect.
bald menClawsscaryVampireVillain
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Quick Answer: Petyr is a silent, 8,000-year-old vampire built entirely around a Nosferatu-style transformation, no dialogue required.
  • Face and Body Paint (essential)
  • Undead Creepy Claws (essential)
  • Bald Cap
  • Fake Ears
  • Tunic Hooded Uniform

Petyr spends most of What We Do in the Shadows asleep in a stone coffin in the basement, and he never speaks a single line in the whole film. The pale gray body paint and long claws do the actual work of the costume, since a bald cap and cloak alone just look like a monk who skipped the gym. Petyr is a supporting, non-speaking character from a 2014 mockumentary, so recognition is niche outside the fandom, though the character’s Nosferatu-inspired design and the franchise’s later FX television series, which ran six seasons through 2024 (Wikipedia), have kept the show’s name in circulation for years.

Items Total8 Items
DifficultyModerate
VibeSilent, Feral, 8,000 Years Old
Cost$100-$220

Petyr Halloween Costume Items

Petyr from What We Do in the Shadows Halloween costume infographic showing bald cap, gray body paint, claws, and hooded tunic

Petyr Costume Items

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Petyr What We Do in the Shadows Vampire Nosferatu
  • 1 Bald CapPetyr has no hair at all, so this needs to sit smooth and seamless at the edges. A wrinkled or visibly-edged cap breaks the illusion fast under any decent lighting.
    See on Amazon
  • 2 Face and Body Paint (essential)The pale gray skin is what actually sells the transformation. Cover your neck and hands too, not just your face, a normal skin-toned neck under a gray face looks like a makeup mistake, not a costume choice.
    See on Amazon
  • 3 Fake EarsThe pointed, bat-like ears add to the Nosferatu silhouette. A cheap pair that doesn’t sit flush against your head will peel off by midnight, budget for a decent adhesive.
    See on Amazon
  • 4 Evil Teeth Dental VeneerLarge, pointed teeth for the mouth. These make talking and drinking harder, which honestly fits, since Petyr doesn’t do either.
    See on Amazon
  • 5 Vampire Black & White Sclera EyesFull black-and-white contacts for the deep, hollow eye look. Only buy contacts labeled safe for eye wear, and never share them with anyone else at the party.
    See on Amazon
  • 6 Undead Creepy Claws (essential)Long, pointed fingers are one of the most photographed details of this character’s design. Cheap claws that don’t bend with your hand will make it hard to hold a drink or a phone all night, so check the reviews before buying.
    See on Amazon
  • 7 Stand-Up Vampire Halloween CostumeThe base body layer under the cloak, thin and skeletal is the correct shape here, not bulky.
    See on Amazon
  • 8 Tunic Hooded UniformWorn over the base layer as the long black cloak. Any dark, worn-looking hooded robe you already own works as a substitute.
    See on Amazon
Petyr from What We Do in the Shadows cosplay costume showing pale gray skin, claws, and hooded cloak

How to Style the Petyr Halloween Costume

The gray paint and claws are what people notice first, since the cloak and bald cap alone could pass for a generic monk costume in bad lighting. Petyr ambushes people from total stillness rather than chasing them, so standing motionless in a doorway or corner for a while does more for this costume than walking around the party. If the paint job is patchy or stops at your jawline, the whole thing reads as a bald guy in a robe instead of an ancient monster, that’s the actual gap between this costume working and not.

He willingly agrees not to attack someone’s friend the one time he’s asked directly, which is the closest thing he gets to a personality moment in the whole film. Otherwise he sleeps, and then he doesn’t. Committing to total silence and stillness, then moving suddenly and only once, gets the character right in a way that constant lurking around the room never will.

Practice eating and drinking with the teeth in before the party

Dental veneers change how your mouth closes, and finding that out for the first time at the snack table is a bad look. Do a test run at home with a drink and some food.

Warn one person that you’re not talking all night

Staying fully silent is the whole bit, but it also means you can’t explain the costume to anyone. Tell one friend in advance so they can explain it for you when people ask.

Petyr Group Halloween Costume Ideas

Couples Idea

Petyr & Viago

Strong pairing, and it’s not romantic, it’s the fussy, well-dressed flatmate against the silent monster he quietly takes care of by bringing him live chickens. The visual contrast between Viago’s dandy 18th-century look and Petyr’s feral Nosferatu design reads clearly on its own, no explanation needed.

Petyr Viago

Duo Idea

Petyr & Deacon

Strong duo with actual narrative weight, since Petyr is the one who turned Deacon into a vampire back in the nineteenth century. Deacon’s more human, put-together look next to Petyr’s ancient monster design gives the pair a clear creator-and-creation dynamic that reads even without knowing the backstory.

Petyr Deacon

Group Idea: What We Do in the Shadows Flatmates

Petyr, Viago, Deacon, Guillermo de la Cruz & Nadja

Excellent group for anyone who actually watches the show, since the full flat has five wildly different vampire designs living under one roof. Guillermo’s familiar-turned-vampire arc and Nadja’s fiery presence round out the cast, and the range from silent monster to chatty roommates makes for one of the more varied ensemble costumes on the site.

Petyr Viago Deacon Guillermo de la Cruz Nadja

Group Idea: Iconic Classic & Ancient Vampires

Petyr, Count Dracula, Lestat de Lioncourt, Dracula Nosferatu & Marceline

Excellent group spanning nearly a century of vampire pop culture, from silent-film horror to gothic romance to a cartoon vampire queen. Count Dracula and Nosferatu are cultural touchstones everyone recognizes, Lestat brings the gothic-romance crowd, and Marceline widens the group’s appeal well past horror fans. Petyr fits right in as the group’s silent, feral outlier.

Petyr Count Dracula Lestat de Lioncourt Dracula Nosferatu Marceline
Petyr from What We Do in the Shadows Halloween costume styled with hooded cloak and gray skin

Petyr Halloween Costume DIY Tips

Building the Look

This is one of the cheaper builds on the site, mostly makeup and small SFX pieces rather than a full costume.

  • Bald cap: buy this one, it’s hard to fake convincingly with anything homemade.
  • Face and body paint: buy a real costume-grade product, craft paint dries out and cracks by hour two.
  • Ears and teeth: both cheap and worth buying rather than skipping, they’re a big part of what sells the design.
  • Sclera contacts: only buy from a real costume retailer with proper safety labeling, this is not a place to cut corners.
  • Claws: buy these, gloves with painted nails don’t read the same at any distance.
  • Cloak: check your closet first, any long dark hooded robe works.

Playing Petyr at the Party

This is the easiest character on the site to play in-character, mostly because the character has no lines to remember.

  • Say nothing, all night, no exceptions. That’s the entire performance.
  • Stand still in one spot for long stretches, then move once, suddenly.
  • If someone offers you food, stare at it like it personally offended you.
  • Don’t hiss or growl for attention, Petyr doesn’t perform, he just exists ominously.

Petyr Halloween Costume: FAQ

Cover your hair with the bald cap, then build the Nosferatu look with pale gray face and body paint, fake pointed ears, evil teeth, and dark sclera contacts. Add the claws and hooded tunic last, and don’t say a word all night.

Niche. Petyr is a silent supporting character from a 2014 mockumentary, so most people at a general party will read the costume as a generic Nosferatu-style vampire rather than specifically him. The FX television spinoff ran six seasons through 2024, which kept the franchise’s name in circulation, but Petyr himself barely appears outside the original film.

Petyr never speaks in the film. The most quoted line is actually about him, from his flatmate Viago: “Petyr is 8,000 years old. We’re not going to get Petyr to change.”

Over 8,000 years old, making him by far the oldest vampire in the Wellington flat.

Deacon, back in the nineteenth century, making Petyr his creator. He later turns Nick as well after ambushing him in the basement.

A vampire hunter accidentally exposes his basement chamber to daylight, and Petyr catches fire. Later television lore suggests vampires can sometimes survive severe burns if fed blood afterward, so his actual fate is left open.

Yes. His entire design is a direct homage to Count Orlok from the 1922 silent film Nosferatu.

Which flatmate does Petyr turn into a vampire in the nineteenth century?

Who regularly feeds Petyr live chickens?

Which silent-film character is Petyr’s design a direct homage to?