Halloween Propmaker’s Handbook

With some corn syrup, drink mix powder and water, you can make a splendid concoction of stage blood—without spending an arm and a leg. From budget-friendly frights to sophisticated props, this book offers dozens of imaginative ways to haunt a house for Halloween. Readers will find generously illustrated step-by-step instructions for creating a barbecued skull, devil eyes, bonehead tableware, a magic bottle, a glowing brain and other projects. The book details ways to enhance an eerie ambiance with effects like blacklights and music. Props use many common household items and tools. Where specialty items are required, the author tells where they can be found at a reasonable cost. Projects take anywhere from a few hours to several days to complete.
The chapters ooze with tips on topics like creating apprehension and surprise, using design to guide guests, creatively using plastic skulls, and making papier-mâché masks and molded hands. There are recipes for fake blood and vomit and ideas for using them, and other creative and adaptable ideas. Appendices include “Merry Halloween,” which advises, “One of the best times to look for bargains on Halloween prop-building materials is right after Christmas”; an alphabetical listing of props and supplies and where they can be found; a list of specialty suppliers; and an “epitaph” inviting comments.

Ken Pitek lives in Marseilles, Illinois. His work has been published in Haunted Attraction Magazine and other publications.

Ken Pitek
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 264
Bibliographic Info: 445 photos, appendix, index
Copyright Date: 2006
pISBN: 978-0-7864-2463-4
eISBN: 978-0-7864-8665-6
Imprint: McFarland

Preface: Welcome to My Crypt      1

How to Use This Handbook      3

I. Techniques

Scareology 101      7

Working with Black Light      19

Skull Painting 101      28

Put a Light in It      34

Two-Way Mirrors      59

Papier-Mâché, or, What I Learned in Third Grade      74

II. Projects

Terror Eye Skull      97

Twinkle Eye Skull      99

Unearthed Skull Method One      107

Unearthed Skull Method Two      110

Aged Skull      113

Barbecued Skull      119

Sushi Skull      132

Skull Light Skull Bright      139

Devil Eyes      143

Demon Eyes      145

Magic Bottle      155

Bonehead Flatware      159

Bonehead Napkin Ring      163

Bonehead Salt and Pepper Shakers      167

Skull Flowers      171

Bonehead Vase and Candy Dish      178

Glowing Brain      182

Partially Eaten Hand      188

X-Ray Hand      199

Spider Drop      203

Bucky’s Home Remodeling      207

Blood, Worms, and All the Rest: Miscellaneous Ramblings from a Disturbed Mind      225

III. References

Where Can I Find…?      239

Suppliers      244

Appendix: Merry Halloween      251

Epitaph      255

Index      257

“ongoing recommendation”—Midwest Book Review.