Category Archives: Halloween

Creepy Crafts, DIY Horror, Halloween, Props

Reaper Madness: How to Make an Easy Floating Ghost

October 12, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

Nothing dresses up a yard at Halloween time more than a floating ghost. Stores carry these guys plus floating zombies, monsters, and clowns, but they can get pretty pricey for some reason. Luckily for you, these are crazy easy to make. Please follow along, class.

First, as with all projects, you need to gather your materials.

For your floating ghost, you will need the following:

A plastic skull
Creepy cloth
String
A wire hanger
Foam pipe cover
Pliers
Box cutter (not pictured)
Outdoor duct tape (not pictured)

You can buy a skull and creepy cloth from Dollar Tree, so this project is not only easy; it’s insanely cheap. The foam pipe cover is pretty inexpensive, too. You can get a package at any hardware store for a couple of bucks. They actually sell white foam cover, too, but for this project I went with the dark gray.

After you’ve gathered your items, it’s time to start the assembly.

First, you need to make holes in the top and bottom of your skull. Cut a small hole in the top and one that’s a little larger in the bottom. You won’t be able to see them when you’re finished, so don’t worry about being exactly even.

Next up, it’s time to make the shoulders (yes, your ghost will have shoulders) and attach it to the head. My wire hanger was one with the cardboard middles, so I’d recommend using the same kind. If you only have a full wire hanger, you’ll need to untwist the hanger and shape it so you have a hook in the middle or just use a wire cutter to cut the middle of the bottom hanger bar.

Straighten out the sides of your hanger to make the shoulders of your ghost.

Add the foam pipe to the shoulders on each side and secure in the middle with duct tape. Use outdoor duct tape for the best results. That stuff works miracles.

Tie your string together to make a circle, and thread it through the bottom of your head up through the top hole or vice versa. Take the hook of the hanger and thread it through the string from the bottom hole.

After you hook the string, pull it through to secure your ghost. Add a few small pieces of duct tape to the top hole to keep the string from dropping through. When you’re finished, it will look like this:

Your last step is adding the creepy cloth. Just drape it over the ghost’s shoulders and head, threading the string through a hole in the cloth to secure it. You can add as much or as little as you want depending on how transparent you want your ghost to be.

Tada!!! Your ghost is finished!

Doesn’t he look cool? It was so easy that I plan on making a few more.

So there you go. You just made a cool decoration for your yard. And the beauty of this little project is that you can change it up quite easily. You can do all sorts of variations to make different kinds of ghosts or other types of monsters.

Paint the head with glow paint.
Use white foam cover and cheesecloth to create a classic ghost.
Use a foam head with a mask.
Add lights along the shoulders or draped down under the cloth.
Add hands with extra wire and duct tape.
Use longer, stronger wire to make a gigantic creature.

There are so many possibilities. Not to go self-help on you, but the only thing limiting yourself is you.

I hope you enjoyed this quick and easy tutorial. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment or shoot me a message through the contact page. Happy Haunting!

Creepy Crafts, DIY Horror, Halloween, Props

Corpsing A Skeleton: An Easy Guide

October 10, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

I just discovered my favorite Halloween DIY project today: corpsing a skeleton. I’d been hesitant to try it before because I’d only seen tutorials that used sticky adhesive or latex, and I’m cheap enough to not want to “mess up” one of my skeletons. But after finding a tutorial online that only involved plastic sheeting, a heat gun, and some stain and realizing that I can pick up a new skeleton any time I need, I decided to try it out.

It’s way simpler than I thought it would be, and I love the results. If you have a skull or skeleton or even just a bone lying around, you should seriously think about giving corpsing a try.

First off, let’s talk supplies.

To corpse a skeleton or skeleton part, you need the following:

Skeleton/skull/bone
Plastic drop cloth
Heat gun
Spray adhesive (optional)
Varnish (assorted colors)
Box cutter/scissors
Rubber gloves

Speaking of heat guns, just look at this beauty I picked up this weekend, care of a well-timed gift card to Lowe’s from my husband. He’s a good man.

I’m going to go through this step-by-step as if you’re doing a full skeleton, but you can use the technique for whatever part your corpsing.

If you opt to use spray adhesive (and I highly recommend that you do), lightly spray the torso of your skeleton. Cut a section of drop cloth to the length of the torso, and start wrapping. You can wrap the full plastic around the torso at one time, or you can wrap in sections.

After you’ve wrapped the torso of your skeleton, it’s time to break out the heat gun. Focus the heat gun on the plastic, making sure not to stay in one area too long (you don’t want to melt your skeleton). You should also focus the heat on different sections of your plastic to melt holes strategically around your skeleton. Corpses don’t rot neatly (I should know), and you don’t want your nasty guy looking too Martha Stewart perfect. Play around with it. If you don’t like what you see, add more plastic, and melt it again.

Repeat on each section of the skeleton. I recommend going in the following order:

Torso
Arms
Legs
Pelvis (overlapping the legs)
Shoulders (overlapping the torso and arms)
Neck
Skull

This is what your skeleton should look like after torso and arms wrapped and shrunk.

For the hands and feet, you need to use your box cutter or scissors to cut the plastic around the fingers and toes. Then, shrink the cut plastic around the smaller bones.

When adding plastic to your skull, it’s much harder to wrap like the other areas, so this is where the spray adhesive really comes in handy. Take smaller squares of the plastic and spray lightly with the adhesive. Smash the sprayed plastic on the skull without keeping it straight. It looks best when it isn’t perfectly flat. Add heat, and when it looks right to you, you’re finished.

Next is my favorite part of any project: making it pretty!

Using a foam brush, dab whatever color of stain you’re using to the plastic on your skeleton. You can use any combo of colors you want. I went with a red and dark brown combo because I wanted my corpse to have that human-jerky look.

After dabbing color on a section, use a paper towel to smear and spread the stain around to hide any brush marks and blend your colors. When you’re finished and the stain is dry, dry-brush the full skeleton to highlight the sinewy effect of the melted plastic. I used a moss green here, and I really liked the result.

These are some other color combos you can use:

Bloody corpse: red stain with a little black stain added; bright red dry-brushing
Toxic corpse: green, gray, and black stains; lime green dry-brushing
Buried corpse: light tan and brown stains; black dry-brushing
Burnt corpse: dark brown and black stains with red highlights; orange dry-brushing
Moldy corpse: green, brown, and tan stains; light green/blue dry-brushing

Play around with it. There are so many different kinds of paints and stains out there that you can get any look you want.

And here’s a close-up of my guy. The pic really doesn’t do him justice. He’s much better in person, and I’ve already gotten quite a few compliments.

I really hope my newfound corpsing enthusiasm takes some of the trepidation out of corpsing your own props. I also had a little fun corpsing a Dollar Tree skull, but I’m saving that for another post. Let me know in the comments if you have any questions or just send me a pic of your project!

And if you’re interested in some other fun things you can make for Halloween, please check out my other tutorials below!

Creepy Crafts, DIY Horror, Halloween, Props

How to Make a Giant Spiderweb

October 6, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

We’re now 6 days into October, so I hope everyone’s Halloween decorating is going well. I had a full Saturday putting out all of my yard decs, and I feel a little more complete now. Halloween-time just does that to me.

I’m sure there are some of you out there that feel like you need a little more oomph to your yard, so I thought I’d give a quick tutorial for a simple project that makes a big impact: a DIY giant spiderweb.

Surprised? You shouldn’t be. That’s the post title. Keep up.

So for this little project, all you need are a few simple items.

As you see in the pic above, you need a good length of clothesline, a few yard stakes, and scissors. They’re not pictured, but you also need some nails to attach the cobweb to your house.

You basically want to make a six-pointed star with your nails and stakes, with the nails for the top three points and the stakes for the bottom three. If you’d rather use hooks to attach the web base to your house, that would work, too.

The bottom side point stakes should be positioned a little behind and several feet away from the bottom point stake to ensure you get a good shape to your web. If you position it too closely, your cobweb could turn out looking a little square.

Optional: If you feel so inclined and your circumstances allow it, you can make an eight-pointed star by using an extra string of clothesline and a few more nails/stakes. I think a six-pointed star is sufficient, but you can do this if you want.

After you have your nails and stakes positioned, take an end of the clothesline and tie it to your first nail. String the clothesline to the stake, tie it off, and repeat it with the side points, crossing over the center string.

To make the rest of the web, start with the center ring. Tie an end of the clothesline to the center line. Then, you’ll just wind your rope around each line until you get back to the center line. See the pic below:

Doesn’t look to hard, does it?

And that’s really all you have to do. Rinse and repeat until you get the size of web that you want. If you want to make sure your strings don’t sag, you can put a drop of glue where you wind the clothesline around itself, but I’ve never had a problem without it.

To make it even better, add a skeleton or body to the center of your web. My mother-in-law had a few large spiders on hand when I made this web for her last year, so it really made an impact.

There you have it. It’s such an easy project to do, and as you can tell, it gives you a big bang for your buck. I hope you try it out. Let me know what you think in the comments!

Halloween, Product Review

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Walmart

October 4, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

Anyone else out there have a love/hate relationship with Walmart? It sucks you in with the promise of low prices and everything in one place. I go in for one thing and come out with 20. Every. Damn. Time.

I live in Walmart country very close to the main office, so I have about 3 dozen or so of these stores within driving distance. That’s a lot. And that means it’s way easy for me to go any time I need something, including Halloween supplies.

They, of course, have a lot to choose from with dozens of options for lighting, hanging creatures, tombstones, skulls, pumpkins, etc…

And, might I add, their inflatable game is particularly on point this year. This threatening tree is pretty cool. There’s a witch with a cauldron, and if you look really closely, you’ll notice a Halloween Minion (God, why won’t those things die?) and Frankenstein’s monster in the back.

And you had to have notice good ol’ Jack, the Pumpkin King himself.

I really liked their spider’s web display. That pirate skeleton is toast. Not sure how much nutrition the spider’s going to get out of him, though.

They had many, many more inflatable decorations, including tombstones, ghouls, a cat that moves it’s head, and a skeleton in camo holding a skeletonized fish.

Walmart even got in on the IDK DIY crafty market with “homemade” wreaths you can buy yourself. I’ve seen these mainly at craft stores, so I was a little surprised to see them here.

Like everyone and their mom this year, Walmart also had a selection of skeleton animals. Their display is a lacking, but they’ve got vultures and dogs for a good price.

And what yard is complete without a cool, tacky skeleton-flamingo?

Their food decorating section is quite extensive, and their prices aren’t bad for this kind of stuff. BUT you might want to just catch these kinds of things on sale at Joann or Michaels to get them cheaper.

The costume selection is pretty good this year. The pic below is of the children’s costume aisle, so they have even more to choose from than what is shown.

I’m loving these masks. I believe I’ll pick up a few this year on sale for a new round of easy props next year.

So is Walmart the best Halloween store? It really depends on what you’re looking for. I think you can piece together a pretty decent and cheap costume with Walmart’s supplies, and their decorations, although not totally original, are classic and can meet most of your Halloween needs.

If you’re looking for animatronics and larger props, Walmart has those, but you’ll have to look and buy them on their website. I don’t know about you, but I like to examine stuff before I buy it, especially expensive items like animatronics. So I’ll probably hold off on buying any of those unless they go on huge clearance.

As of right now, Walmart is where I’ll go to make my costume this year, and I’m sure I’ll be visiting at least one or two of my local stores the day after the big day to score some deals. I suggest you do the same.

Halloween, Music

Halloween Music: Get in the Mood

September 30, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

October 1! It’s tomorrow! Halloween month! Yes!

As you can see, I’m very excited that my favorite month is almost here. So close I can taste it. There’s a hint of pumpkin spice. I’m kidding. There’s a lot of pumpkin spice.

Since I’m always in the Halloween spirit, I don’t need a lot of anything to get in the mood for the month. But I do love music. And what’s better at setting the mood than music?

Lighting, you say? Don’t be a smartass.

So because all I want in life is to help others find the spirit of Halloween (Hint: It’s been inside you all along), I thought I’d list 13 songs that embody what Halloween is all about. Here they are in no particular order.

1. Feed My Frankenstein – Alice Cooper

So yeah, this song is basically a metaphor for sex, but it has the name ‘Frankenstein’ in it and begins with Mr. Cooper promising to feed his “monster.” I enjoy it.

2. Living Dead Girl – Rob Zombie

I should have listed this one first even though I’m not really ranking these. This song is one of my all-time faves. It’s kinda my anthem.

3. Season of the Witch – Donovan

This song has a bit of a creepy, mellow vibe to it. And of course, witches are quite prominent at Halloween (go figure, right?).

4. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) – Marilyn Manson

Yeah. I love the original by Eurythmics as much as the next person, but Manson’s version adds a little fright to the mix. Plus, this song was the background for the best scene in the movie Trick or Treat, so it has that going for it.

5. Thriller – Michael Jackson

This has almost become the official theme of Halloween. I hear it on the radio about a million times every October, so it’s easy to see why this one belongs here.

6. Trick or Treat – Otis Redding

I was fortunate enough to be introduced to this song just last year. It’s a love song with a lot of soul, and it’s perfect for the holiday. It’s also a nice change from the creepier songs on the list.

7. Werewolves of London – Warren Zevon

Werewolves. A song about werewolves has to be on the list. I love this one for its quirkiness.

8. Who Do You Voodoo, Bitch? – Sam B (Dead Island)

If you don’t play video games, you might not be familiar with this one. It’s the theme of Dead Island, one of my favorite zombie games, and it’s so freakin’ catchy. Seriously. Learn it, and you’ll be singing it all the time. Just don’t do it at church or, like, in front of your boss or mom or anything.

9. Somebody’s Watching Me – Rockwell

Paranoia! Do you feel eyes on you? Is someone following you? Did you hear that noise? Rockwell’s song is paranoia with musical notes.

10. Superstition – Stevie Wonder

Magic and superstitions make the month. Wonder’s classic song is perfect for a funky celebration.

11. Bad Moon Rising – Credence Clearwater Revival

Lots of monsters and magic relate to the moon, so it has to make the cut. It’s also been featured on a ton of scary/supernatural movies and tv shows, including An American Werewolf in London.

12. Disturbia – Rihanna

This song isn’t all obvious about its Halloween-relatedness like the others on the list, but I think it belongs here. It’s a metaphor for the dangers of fame consuming you (I think), but if you stretch your imagination, it also sounds a little like possession with a hint of the demonic in it.

13. Walk Like a Zombie – HorrorPops

When I first heard this song, I wasn’t too big of a fan. It’s very peppy. After repeated listenings though (it kept playing on the Halloween Pandora channel), I grew to kinda love it. Give it a listen. It’s spunky and fun and about zombies.

I already have a playlist with these songs and more, and I suggest you do the same. Start your celebration! Halloween will be here before you know it.

Halloween, Product Review

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Dollar Tree

September 28, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

Oh, Dollar Tree, what would I do without you?

If you’re looking to decorate your whole house for Halloween and throw a party from scratch, I beg you to go to Dollar Tree to check out their awesome merchandise. As the name implies, everything is $1, and you would be amazed at how good their Halloween selection is.

Just check out this awesomeness:

They’ve got tombstones, cemetery fences, signs, holographic pictures, candy dishes, party plates, costumes, door hangers, napkins, treats, props, and so much more.

If you’re looking for some fun party favors or treat bags, go here first.

They have some great skeleton and skull merchandise. No, they don’t have a full-size skeleton prop like some of the bigger stores, but they do have skulls, bone hands, and other items. C’mon. It’s all $1.

Also, if you need to get creepy cloth, they have different colors to choose from. It’s usually $3-$5 at most stores, so it’s definitely a deal here.

I was also pretty impressed by their spider, rat, and bat selection this year. Quite lovely.

I’ll end my short review of my favorite cheap store by talking a little bit about the tongs below. I bought a pair of these last year. Target was selling something similar for $15, so these are a damn good deal. Buy them. Buy five.

If you didn’t get it already, I’m kinda in love with Dollar Tree’s Halloween stuff. Another cool thing about this store is that the items can be dressed up or repurposed in Halloween crafts or other props since everything is so cheap. I’ll even be doing a few posts about using Dollar Tree stuff in your Halloween decor.

So if you’re wondering where to go to start your decorating, run to Dollar Tree as fast as your little legs can take you.

Halloween, Product Review

2016 Halloween Merchadise Review: Gordman’s

September 26, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

Gordman’s has never been a big draw for me for Halloween merchandise because it usually only has the cutesier items just for decoration. If you’re looking for just home decor items, you should check them out because they have a pretty good selection. I was pleasantly surprised that they had an actual prop this year – even if it was a little overpriced.

It seems like there was more of a limited selection this year than for previous Halloweens, but they still had a pretty good mix of items:

They had some pretty cool pumpkins and jack o’ lanterns for general fall decorating. I especially liked the black/white and gold variety two pics below:

A few items were less cute and more scary. Check out these zombie and ghoul stand ups in the pic below. They stood about 2 feet tall each, so they wouldn’t be considered a real prop, but they’re pretty cool.

As always, skeleton and skull items get my attention faster than anything else, so you can imagine that I kinda fell in love with this little guy. I might catch him when I do my post-Halloween discount shopping.

Although I don’t like cute Halloween items as a general rule, I do love me a good countdown clock. This one was pretty cool:

And as I said before, they actually had a full-size prop this year. Check out this bad boy:

I got up close and personal with him to get a good pic of his face. I really like the detail.

With the exception of the prop, everything was reasonably priced. I’d compare the prices to TJ Maxx and Home Goods. The prop itself was priced at a little over $200, which for a prop that only lights up and doesn’t move, is a little too much.

Halloween, Product Review

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Big Lots

September 22, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

Big Lots is one of my favorite places for budget Halloween merchandise. They always have a few things that I just love for a great price. Just check out this witch:

I also love their small home decor items. They’re kinda going with a royal golden crown thing this year. Note the kingly crows and skulls on the top shelf. There were also some dapper skeletons sporting cool little top hats. Who doesn’t like a skeleton in a top hat?

They also have a wide variety of lighting, including rope lights, strobes, pathway markers, and various bulbs:

This guy was one of my favorites. He’s like one of your basic butler greeter, but he has a ton to say. I recorded him for a full minute, and he never repeated himself. Check out the video on Facebook.

And I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but everyone this year has hopped on board the animal skeleton train. Check out all these awesome guys. These are extra special because they’re all animated. I’ll upload a pic and video or two on Facebook, too.

I hope everyone’s Halloween shopping is going well. Mine’s on a bit of a hiatus because of a few home improvement projects in the works, but I’m almost finished. I’m way past due to focus on my favorite holiday.

Dark Comedy, Halloween, Songs

Frightful Comedy: Stephen Lynch’s Halloween

September 20, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

I love scary things. If you’ve been reading the blog, I’m sure you already know that. But I like to laugh, too. A lot. So mixing creepy with funny almost always makes me happy.

I stumbled across this little gem a few days ago. I’m already a fan of Stephen Lynch’s comedy (his song, “Beelz,” is one of my favorites), so I was surprised I hadn’t already heard it before. And since I hadn’t heard of it, I’m sure there are people like me who would also like to check it out.

Stephen Lynch – Halloween

Thinking of all the cool creatures
That I will meet… on this night.
Ghosts and goblins and witches,
Roaming the streets… in moonlight.

Bowls of candy and goodies,
Delicious and waiting… in store.
The sound of cute little footsteps
As they approach…my front door.

Letting the children inside to drink beers,
Razorblades hidden in Three Musketeers,
Screams from the basement of kids begging to be set free,
That’s what Halloween means to me.

Tightening the clamps that are holding
Their little heads… so tight.
Putting my lips to their ears
As I whisper, “Please… don’t fight.”

I promise I’ll let you go home
If you swear not to tell… a soul!
Well, I’ll just untie these—I’m kidding.
Now, where is my chainsaw? Let’s rock and roll!

A pinch of your brother, a teaspoon of you,
With the head of your sister, would make a good stew.
I’d give you a taste, but your tongue’s in the stew. Irony!
That’s what Halloween means to me.

Trick-or-treat, smell my feet,
Give me something good to eat.
Trick-or-treat, smell my feet,
Give me someone… good to eaaaat!

Halloween, Product Review

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Home Goods

September 12, 2016 thefrightowl Leave a comment

Home Goods always has a great Halloween selection, and they didn’t disappoint this year. If you’re not familiar with Home Goods, it’s basically a bigger, fancier home section of TJ Maxx. They even carry some of the same stuff, which makes sense because they have the same parent company. And like TJ Maxx, their prices are pretty sweet.

When I first walked in, I was greeted by this cool display:

I especially loved this tall grim reaper figure. Most of their items are more decorative in nature, so they don’t have many things that could be used as props in a haunted house or yard. But this handsome guy here would look right at home in any cemetery scene.

As you can see in the pic below, they had a wide variety of decorations, from the cool and creepy to the glam and cute.

These skulls were also some of my favorites. Yeah. I know. Surprise, surprise. I liked the skulls.

Of course, they had pumpkins of all types and colors for those that want to steer their decorating to the fall side of things.

One thing I thought was really cool at Home Goods was the types of decorative skulls they had (again with the skulls!). Just look at some of the different kinds in the photos below:

There was also one that was copper instead of silver and one that was completely jewel encrusted. I tried taking a picture of the jeweled skull, but my camera turned it into a sparkly blob.

And this little guy with his Burton-esque vibe had me almost getting out my debit card…but I stayed strong. I can’t go spending all my Halloween moneys this early in the game.

I would definitely check out Home Goods for your Halloween decorating needs, especially if you’re looking for more decorative items instead of actual props. They had quite a few unique items that I truly liked.

Plus, if you’re throwing a Halloween party and want to stay away from paper goods, they have a ton of plates, cups, and food serving items to choose from. Just check out the selection in the pics below:

I’m pretty sure I’ll end up with that cheese plate at some point.

Make sure to check out my other Halloween merchandise reviews to know exactly where to shop to fulfill your needs. Also, make sure to follow me on Facebook for blog updates and additional pictures of Halloween products.

The Fright Owl

Category Archives: Halloween

Reaper Madness: How to Make an Easy Floating Ghost

Corpsing A Skeleton: An Easy Guide

How to Make a Giant Spiderweb

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Walmart

Halloween Music: Get in the Mood

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Dollar Tree

2016 Halloween Merchadise Review: Gordman’s

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Big Lots

Frightful Comedy: Stephen Lynch’s Halloween

2016 Halloween Merchandise Review: Home Goods

For those who prefer a little fright in their day