ATLANTA - Bruce Truland and his family are the world's biggest fans
of the rock band KISS - they not only own every CD the group has ever
put out, they also wear garish greasepaint makeup just like their idols.
Bruce, his wife Karen, 10-year-old daughter Wendy and 6-year-old
daughter Kelly wear the way-out makeup 24 hours a day - to work, school,
on family picnics and outings to the movies - even in church!
"Some people think we're crazy, but for us it's just a way of doing
something fun together as a family," says Karen, 38.
Bruce, 41, has been a fanatical devotee of the '70s shock-rock band
ever since he was a junior in high school and says he considers singer-
bassist Gene Simmons "a bona fide genius." He started dressing up in KISS
regalia to attend concerts, then started showing up at house parties and
school in the bizarre makeup.
"It was my way of paying tribute to them," he explains.
When Karen first met Bruce at a dinner party, she thought he was "a
little weird," she admits. "But as we talked, he made me understand how
passionate he is about KISS."
Bruce, a design engineer, wears the oddball makeup on the job, as
does Karen, who works at a daycare center.
"The little kids love it," she says. "They don't really know who
KISS is, but they think I look much cooler than the other staffers."
And her own children enjoy getting to wear attention-grabbing makeup
all the time.
"It's like every day is Halloween," Wendy said with a beaming smile.