Wild Little Monsters
Trick or Treat in the Wilderness
🌙 Something Strange Is Stirring
The moon is shining, the jackals are howling, and five very small monsters have appeared beside the watering hole: a lion cub in a vampire cape, a baby elephant wrapped in bandages, a giraffe wearing a striped jumper, a masked zebra and a leopard cub with bright orange hair.
Fortunately, they are not real monsters. They are the Wild Little Monsters, celebrating Halloween with ridiculous costumes, overflowing treat buckets and very little adult supervision.
Meet a new costumed animal, discover the famous horror character behind the outfit and learn a surprising fact about its wild South African star.
🧛 Count Leo and the Midnight Snack
A Lion Cub Dressed as Dracula
Leo the lion cub has a black cape, two tiny fangs and berry juice around his mouth. He believes this makes him the most terrifying vampire in the bushveld.
Unfortunately, nobody is frightened. The meerkats straighten his cape, the baboons laugh at his upside-down fang, and Ellie asks whether the Prince of Darkness would like a biscuit.
Leo soon discovers that looking adorable is much more useful than looking scary. By midnight, his pumpkin bucket is overflowing—and he has not needed to bite anyone.
🍬 Count Leo may rule the night, but treats are his true weakness.
🎬 Behind the Costume
Leo is dressed as Count Dracula, the legendary vampire from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel Dracula. The mysterious count later became one of horror cinema's most recognisable characters.
🦁 Wild Fact: Lions spend much of the day resting and often become more active during the cooler evening and nighttime hours. Unlike Dracula, Leo prefers berry juice and beetle biscuits.
🧻 Ellie the Unravelling Mummy
A Baby Elephant Dressed as The Mummy
Ellie wants to become the oldest and most mysterious mummy in Africa. She wraps herself from trunk to tail in white strips and begins shuffling dramatically through the wilderness.
There is only one problem: she used toilet paper. Her costume catches on thorn bushes, tangles around Gerry's legs and provides several weaver birds with excellent nest-building material.
By the time Ellie reaches the party, only one strip remains around her ear. But when the wind lifts the missing bandages into the moonlight, the other animals mistake them for ghosts and run away screaming.
🏆 The mummy has unravelled—but somehow still wins the scare contest.
🎬 Behind the Costume
Ellie's outfit is inspired by The Mummy, one of cinema's classic monsters. The 1932 film The Mummy helped make the bandage-wrapped figure a horror icon.
🐘 Wild Fact: Elephants are famous for their powerful long-term memories. They can remember other elephants, important routes and seasonal water sources for many years. Ellie remembers everything—except where she left half her costume.
🌳 A Nightmare on Acacia Street
A Giraffe Calf Dressed as Freddy Krueger
Gerry arrives wearing a striped jumper and battered brown hat. With his long legs and even longer neck, he is impossible to miss.
He practises appearing mysteriously between acacia branches. Unfortunately, his hat becomes stuck on a twig, and he proves far better at collecting leaves than creating nightmares.
When Gerry whispers, “Welcome to your nightmare,” the others scatter—until a flock of hadedas begins shouting above. Gerry gallops away faster than everyone else, with his hat, three branches and a bird's nest attached to his head.
🐦 The monster of Acacia Street is apparently afraid of noisy birds.
🎬 Behind the Costume
Gerry is dressed as Freddy Krueger, the dream-stalking villain introduced in the 1984 film A Nightmare on Elm Street. His striped jumper and brown hat made him instantly recognisable.
🦒 Wild Fact: A newborn giraffe can already stand approximately 1.8 metres tall, helping it keep up with its mother and the herd. Gerry may be young, but he is certainly not a little monster.
🎭 The Mask at the Watering Hole
A Zebra Foal Dressed as Michael Myers
Ziggy chooses the simplest costume: dark overalls and a smooth white mask. For now, the mask hangs around his chest so everyone can still see his sweet zebra face.
Whenever his friends look away, Ziggy quietly moves closer. When they turn around, he is simply there—silent, motionless and staring at them.
His serious performance works brilliantly until a gust of wind spins the hanging mask around and startles him. This time, Ziggy screams louder than everyone else.
😱 Some masks are scarier when you forget you are wearing them.
🎬 Behind the Costume
Ziggy's costume is inspired by Michael Myers, the silent masked figure from the 1978 horror classic Halloween. His pale mask, slow movements and unexpected appearances turned him into a horror legend.
🦓 Wild Fact: Every zebra has a completely unique stripe pattern. A moving mass of stripes may also make it harder to distinguish one animal from another. Ziggy needs no mask to stand out—but it certainly helps him frighten his friends.
🧸 Chucky Goes Wild
A Leopard Cub Dressed as Chucky
Lulu wears blue overalls, a colourful striped shirt and a wild orange wig. She completes her look with an innocent smile that nobody entirely trusts.
She plans to sneak past the baboons and claim the first slice of Halloween cake. Lulu climbs silently into the baobab and lowers herself towards the table—then her orange wig falls directly onto Leo's head.
“My mane is on fire!” he cries. Ellie sprays him with water, Gerry trips over his jumper, and Ziggy's mask lands in the punch bowl. While everyone is distracted, Lulu reaches the cake—but decides to share it with her chaotic crew.
🍰 Even wild little monsters know the best treats are shared with friends.
🎬 Behind the Costume
Lulu is dressed as Chucky, the red-haired doll from the 1988 horror film Child's Play. His colourful, toy-like appearance makes the character both memorable and unsettling.
🐆 Wild Fact: Leopard cubs are playful, curious and remarkably talented climbers. Their spotted coats offer excellent camouflage among branches, leaves and patches of light.
🎃 Meet the Wild Little Monsters
🦁 Leo the lion cub as Dracula
🐘 Ellie the baby elephant as The Mummy
🦒 Gerry the giraffe calf as Freddy Krueger
🦓 Ziggy the zebra foal as Michael Myers
🐆 Lulu the leopard cub as Chucky
🍬 Come for the Frights. Stay for the Treats.
Follow the Wild Little Monsters through the moonlit South African wilderness as they celebrate famous horror movies and discover that Halloween is much more fun when you have friends to frighten.
Five little monsters. Five famous costumes. One wildly entertaining Halloween!