GRIM REAPER
What Halloween graveyard or yard haunt would be complete without the
Grim Reaper himself menacing your trick or treaters? Dress the
skeleton in a black hooded robe. These costumes are plentiful during
the Halloween season and can be bought for as little as $10.00. We
actually used a child's size so that the feet and part of the legs
showed. While its possible
for one person to dress a skeleton, it's a lot easier with two
people. Attach a
plastic scythe to his right hand and foot using twist ties. There
you have it, a realistic looking Grim Reaper prop for your Halloween
festivities!
VAMPIRE SKELETON
Dress the skeleton in a Halloween vampire costume. We found
a costume that
included a black cape with a red collar, vest, red cummerbund,
medallion and a tie. For a vampiress skeleton, just add an
inexpensive wig and replace the vest with a small red teddy. Lay the skeleton
into a Halloween coffin. Place the wooden stake between the ribs.
Position the skeletons hands around the stake, as though he or she
were trying to pull the stake out prior to dying. You can make a wooden stake from a piece of
wood dowel, a survey marker or even a thick stick.
HANGMAN'S NOOSE
The
sight of a skeleton hanging from a tree in your front yard or from a beam
on your front porch from a hangman's noose is a very creepy sight indeed.
We hang one up by our front gate Halloween night to great our trick
or treaters. When tying your
hangman's noose remember that they
require a lot more rope than you might think. We prefer to use 1/2"
or 5/8" thick rope, that is at least sixteen feet long. This will give you a
noose and end piece of rope about six feet long. Thick, hemp type rope
is sold by the foot and can usually be
bought at your local hardware store. The
Fright Catalog sells a fake rubber noose that can be used instead of a real noose.
SKELETON
IN COFFIN
Lay a skeleton in a coffin, casket or home-made crypt for a really
creepy Halloween display. In addition to conventional caskets, the
Halloween Connection sells a classic toe-pincher style coffin.
This is like those used during the Old West and everywhere else for that matter,
and is made from rough wood. It is approximately 6 foot long and is available lined
or unlined. For more information on and using coffins for your Halloween
haunt
visit HalloweenCoffins.com
CROW'S CAGE
A
Crow's Cage was a medieval torture device where the victim was
locked inside an all metal cage and left to die - Crow's would land
on the cage to feast on the carrion. This makes for a very ghoulish
Halloween prop when a skeleton is placed inside the crow's cage and
it is hung it from a tree branch, your front porch, or even a large
pole buried next to your front gate. The
Halloween Connection sells an all metal, full size Crow's Cage that is very
realistic. Be sure to order early as they only stock a small supply
of these high quality props.
SKULL CANDY DISHES
Adult
size skulls with the
calvarium's (skull cap) removed are a fun and sinister way to serve up
your Halloween treats! We like to set a half dozen of these skulls in a row with
different candy in each for our visitors to choose from. You can
also fit about three small
candy or caramel covered apples in the top of skull - If your treats
are homemade, be sure to wrap
them in plastic wrap or waxed paper before placing them in the top of the skull.
Since these were not designed to hold food, you should not place
unwrapped edibles in it. The Budget Life-Size
Skull works great for this.
GRAVEYARD
SKELETON
Prop up a skeleton
sitting or leaning against a tombstone. You can remove the lower
portion of the skeleton from the pelvis down and sit the skeleton in
front of a tombstone as though it is still half underground. Just in
front of the tombstone, dig a small hole big enough for the end of
the spine to set in. Set the skeleton down on the ground with the
spine in the hole and leaning with its back against the tombstone.
Fill in the rest of the hole with dirt and add some leaves and/or
fake moss around the tombstone and skeleton. For more information on
Halloween tombstones visit
HalloweenTombstones.com
ROCKING SKELETON
Another
great prop is to sit a Bucky skeleton in an old chair or
rocking chair to welcome your trick-or-treaters. You can even set a
large bowl or plastic cauldron filled with candy in his lap. Add an
artificial crow or vulture on his shoulder and play a sound effect
of it cawing. We also like
to place a skeleton in an old easy chair with a television set
playing a scary movie in front of him as a party prop during our
annual Halloween party. We Velcro the TV remote control
in one hand and a spooky Halloween themed glass or goblet in the other. This is also a great
decoration for a Halloween party!
SKELETON IN
SPIDER WEB
Suspend
a giant spider web between trees or your house and place a skeleton
in it as though someone was caught by a giant spider and devoured.
We like to add a finishing touch by giving the skeleton a heavy coat
of spray-on cob webs. You can use white colored twist-ties or
plastic cable ties to secure the skeleton to the giant web. Because
of the skeletons weight, make sure to secure the spider web well. The
Halloween Connection
sells a giant rope spider
web that measures twenty-five feet on its diagonal and has three
anchor points allowing it to be hung at many angles.
SKELETON STOCKADE
Put
a skeleton in a torture device such as a stockade. A stockade, also
called a stock, was a medieval punishment device used to break
and humiliate a person. Dress the skeleton in an old pair of worn
out pants and shirt, dirty them up a bit. Add a long haired ratted
wig sprayed with gray and dark brown hair spray paint and it
will look like he's been there a long time. The
Fright Catalog sells a weathered wooden looking stocks. It is
made from hard foam and measures 56" tall and 31" wide.
SKELETON SCARECROW
Make a large cross using one
4'x2"x2" and one 8'x2"x2" boards. Bolt the two boards together with
the four foot board about a 1-1/2 foot down from the top of the
eight foot board. We use bolts instead of nails or screws so we can
disassemble it for storage. Dig a two foot deep hole in the ground and bury the long end of the cross.
Refill the hole and tamp the dirt firmly. Dress the skeleton in old
and tattered clothes so that you can see most of
the skeleton's bones. Now, attach the skeleton to the cross using
thick rope, plastic chain or fake barbed-wire at the shoulders, wrists, spine and legs.
DRIVING SKELETON
Park your car so that your trick or treaters will have to pass by it
when approaching your house. Now, place a skeleton in the drivers
seat behind the steering wheel, so that when visitors pass by they
will think he's the driver. Use twist-ties to secure his hands to
the steering wheel. You can even buy a chauffeur's cap for him to
wear. We
place a "Artificial
Candle Pumpkin Light" from
PumpkinLights.com on the floor of
the car to give the interior a flicker light effect. Obviously the car should not be running
or have the keys in it!
FRONT GATE
GREETER
A wonderful way to greet your trick or treaters is to secure a Bucky skeleton
to your front gate holding a spooky Halloween sign between his boney
hands.
Depending on the type of gate you have, you can use twist-ties,
plastic cable ties or nails to securely attach the skeleton to the gate.
Since the Bucky skeleton is fairly heavy at seventeen pounds, you'll want to
make sure that you secure it to the gate well. Once you have him
attached to the gate, secure a Halloween sign between his hands. Be sure to add either
our glowing or flickering eyes effect for that very special touch.
SHALLOW GRAVE
If you plan on building a graveyard for your Halloween haunt, dig a
shallow grave directly in front of one or more of the tombstones and lay a skeleton
down in it face up. Add some dirt over and around the
skeleton until he is about fifty to seventy percent exposed. Now,
scatter some dried leaves around the grave. This will give the
impression that time has worn away the dirt covering the grave
exposing the skeleton. You
can add a
couple of green light sticks under the leaves and in the skeleton to
create an eerie glow effect.
SKELETON IN THE CLOSET
We
like to hang a Bucky skeleton up in our closet year round! You can either
add a very solid hook through the wall and into a stud or hang him from the closet rod,
as long as it can take the weight of the skeleton. We leave a short
noose around his neck to hang him from a wall hook inside the coat
closet by the front door. It's a great gag to pull on guests, watch
them open the door to hang up coats and see him hanging there! You
can truthfully tell people you have at least one skeleton in your closet!
