The most striking thing about Gladys, ultimately, her look — frankly, we can all probably expect to see a whole bunch of Gladyses at Halloween from now on. In an article on Deadline, the artisans behind Zach Cregger’s film discussed how they even came up with her distinctive costumes, her wild red lipstick, and what they were hoping to achieve with her visage.

As makeup department head Leo Satkovich told the outlet, “I can’t really put into words just how I feel about how she’s being perceived,” referring to the affectionate Gladys memes populating the internet. “It’s something that’s so surreal to me that I feel like I’m still processing … We knew that we were creating a very special character. I personally just do not feel I was prepared for just how much of a chokehold the world was going to be in.” Ultimately, though, special makeup effects designer Jason Collins said he wanted Gladys to be scary but approachable, like she “could be somebody’s crazy aunt … somebody’s stepmother, where [you’re] like, ‘Listen, man, you’re gonna meet this lady and you’re gonna get freaked out a little bit.'”

Satkovich agreed. “It was really important to us that she felt rooted in reality,” he added. “It’s very important that she didn’t feel like some sort of supernatural ghoul, or she didn’t feel like some sort of supernatural being. We wanted Aunt Gladys to look like maybe someone that we can all identify with at some point in our lives, someone that you look at and you’re like, ‘Something is just not right about them; something is off.'” Throughout the process, the “Weapons” team found the joy in creating Gladys, weirdly enough. “I think the fun part, once we realized whatever our natural inclination was as artists when creating a horror villain, was to do the exact opposite, I think it really opened that creativity door,” Satkovich said.

It was Collins’ turn to agree here. “We don’t want to do the tropes, right? We don’t want to do the big witch, haggard sort of makeup and the rotted teeth and that kind of thing,” he mused. “You want to kind of go the opposite way, where you want to get just enough detail, where it’s left of center, and it really, really jars the audience, but not enough to take them out.”

What the “Weapons” artists achieved with Gladys is genuinely stunning, and there’s no question that she’s officially in the horror villains hall of fame thanks to her unique appearance alone. If you want to experience Gladys’ full glory, “Weapons” is available to rent or buy on major streaming platforms now.