Cosplay attendee in his Twisty the Clown costume from Amercan Horror Story.
Twisty is a disgraced clown who uses increasingly twisted methods to regain his position as an entertainer of children. He is a character in American Horror Story, and wears a makeshift prosthetic mask nearly as terrifying as the disfigured face beneath.
Twisty wore a frightful grinning mask which served as a prosthesis over his missing jaw and a filthy clown suit, and carried a sack that held his juggling pins. He is a kidnapper and a serial killer.
Cosplay, a contraction of the words costume play, is a performance art in which participants called cosplayers wear costumes and fashion accessories to represent a specific character.
Cosplayers often interact to create a subculture and a broader use of the term "cosplay" applies to any costumed role-playing in venues apart from the stage. Any entity that lends itself to dramatic interpretation may be taken up as a subject and it is not unusual to see genders switched.
Favorite sources include manga and anime, comic books and cartoons, video games, and live-action films and television series.