Heidi Klum has once again raised the bar for Halloween, leaving fans stunned with a gruesome costume that transformed her into a giant, bloody severed hand.
The former “America’s Got Talent” judge unveiled the unusual look at her 25th annual Halloween party at Cathédrale Restaurant in New York City on Oct. 31.
But while the finished costume was a shock to partygoers, Klum revealed that the inspiration came from something surprisingly ordinary: her own hand.
Klum Reveals the Inspiration for the Costume
“Literally, my left hand inspired me,” Klum exclusively told E! News on the red carpet. “I looked at my hand and I was thinking, ‘How can I fit my body into this hand?’ There must be a way… Two legs could fit into fingers and the body in my palm, and it did work.”
The result was a detailed, larger-than-life recreation of a hand, complete with gruesome effects that made the costume look like something straight out of a horror movie.
Creating the elaborate look required plenty of preparation. Klum said it took her six hours to get ready on Halloween, while her team spent months developing the prosthetics needed to bring the idea to life.
She even had a pun ready to describe the work behind the costume, joking, “Many hands doing this hand.”
The design also included personal details that made the costume more than just a creepy Halloween spectacle. The replica featured the same green stone wedding ring Klum wears on her real left hand, along with a tattoo of the name “Tom” on her finger in honor of her husband, musician Tom Kaulitz.
As Klum explained, “I got it on our wedding day.”
The 53-year-old had given fans a preview of the costume on Instagram a week before the party, sharing a glimpse of the look on Oct. 24.
Even with that early tease, the full transformation left many followers surprised by just how unusual the final result was.
Fans Loved the Look
Fans flooded social media with reactions, praising Klum’s creativity and calling the costume one of her most unexpected Halloween looks yet.
“wtf I knew it was flesh but never thought it would be a whole hand Imaoo,” one person wrote.
“Never in a million years would I have guessed this even with the clues,” another commented.
A third fan admitted, “Took me a second to realize this isn’t just a picture of a hand but a person.”
Others were even more emphatic in their praise. “BY FAR THE MOST UNEXPECTED GRUESOME HALLOWEEN COSTUME EVER THE QUEEN OF HALLOWEEN DOES IT AGAIN 2026,” one commenter declared.
“I’m going to need 15 business days to recover from this,” another joked.
“The queen of Halloween! Sorry, mortals, but nobody does it better,” a fan added.
Klum has built a reputation for elaborate Halloween transformations, making her annual party a highly anticipated event for fans of celebrity costumes.
This year’s severed-hand creation showed that she is still willing to take unusual ideas and turn them into intricate works of makeup and prosthetics.
See Heidi Klum’s Shocking Halloween Costume