Wausau resident Kent Miller isn't hard to spot during Halloween parties, even among all the others wearing elaborate costumes.

Miller, 43, towers above all of them when he puts on his holiday disguises, all of which are custom-made and look like something out of a horror movie -- monsters, devils or trolls.

Miller has been making elaborate Halloween costumes since high school, and he gets a thrill every time people stare or ask to take pictures with him when he's wearing them.

"I wasn't expecting something as elaborate and well done," said Savannah Hanson of Mosinee, who accompanied Miller two years ago when he wore his gargoyle outfit. "I think it's neat."

Miller's costumes are expensive and time-consuming to make. Over the years, he has spent between $500 and $1,000 gathering the materials needed to create his costumes, he said.

Those materials come from almost everywhere. For last year's devil costume, for example, Miller rounded up bed foam, tubing, duct tape, plywood, old work boots, Plexiglas and fabric among other supplies.

Miller can spend four hours or more a day for at least two months working on a costume. For his devil outfit, which consists of nine pieces, Miller constructed the tail out of tubing and duct tape; the wings out of wood, tubing and fabric; and the feet out of plywood and spray foam, he said. The feet alone weigh about 40 pounds each.

"I have to pick places that have high ceilings when I go to contests," Miller said.

Suiting up in his costumes, which he paints himself, also is a chore. Miller has to put on his costumes in a parking lot, and then, once he enters a bar or other contest site, he needs someone to remove his costume's extensions, such as wings. Then, he has to crouch down to get through the door.

On top of that, Miller can't drink or use the bathroom when he's in an outfit, he said. Sometimes, he stays in the costume for five hours at a time. But it's all worth it to see the looks on people's faces when he walks into a room, and when he wins a contest.

"When I crouch down ... and then stand back up, I'm just looking down on everybody and they are just shocked," he said. "It gives me a rush to see that."