Clinic creates human masks meant to depict horrors of smoking

Actors wearing specially commissioned Halloween style masks representing the damaging effects caused by smoking, approach members of the public in London, to promote a stop smoking campaign this October by online clinic HealthExpress. (David Parry/PA Wire)

371b7b79-Actors wearing specially commissioned Halloween style masks representing the damaging effects caused by smoking, approach members of the public in London, to promote a stop smoking campaign this October by online clinic HealthExpress. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Issue date: Monday September 30, 2013. HealthExpress, who designed the masks, offer a free online consultation to help find a suitable stop-smoking treatment. Photo credit should read: David Parry/PA Wire

Looking for a scary Halloween costume this year? One health clinic has a very spooky – and realistic – idea.

British online clinic HealthExpress has created masks meant to mimic real human faces ravaged by smoking. One mask depicts a woman whose teeth and gums are rotten, while another shows a man who has a large hole in his throat from a tracheotomy. One man even has a large throat-cancer tumor protruding from his neck.

Actors hired by the clinic will wear the masks while walking the streets of Britain this month. The move is part of the U.K. National Health Service’s “Stoptober” anti-smoking campaign.

“At HealthExpress we are trying a different approach to drive home the health issues that smokers experience,” the clinic explained on its website. “…The masks demonstrate the impact that a smoking related condition can have on your appearance, your health and your life.”

The HealthExpress site also providers smokers with information on how to quit, as well as treatment plans people should consider.

For more information, visit HealthExpress.co.uk.