Every haunt needs some bats flying around, and if you’ve got some skills with a paint brush and some patience you can make as many as you want following Born2haunt’s method, because Bats Are Easy.  These bats do seem pretty easy to make when you consider that they’re made using a styrofoam body with wire poking through it for the wing bones. The wire is then wrapped in cotton and paper towels are applied as skin.  The entire bat is then generously coated with liquid latex and painted to suit.  The great part about this prop build is that you can customize it to your heart’s content.  Sure, it’s probably easier to go out and buy some bats, but they won’t look nearly as realistic as these will.   Items needed to complete this include: Styrofoam Wire Cotton balls Liquid latex Paper Towels Acrylic paint Hot...

Many years ago I had to create a scene where an actor’s stomach was sliced open allowing their intestines to spill out.  My solution was to buy a long link of Italian sausage, which was boiled and soaked in a Karo syrup blood solution.  This allowed the intestines to be eaten by the actor as the neighborhood kids passed through creating quite a memorable scene (it was pretty dark, and they were pretty young, so we could get away with sausage guts). So if you need to make some fake intestines for your haunt, my advice to you is remember my method fondly, and DO NOT USE IT.  No matter what you do, sausage guts do not make good intestines, besides that, Sonya and Caid from Outback Gorehouse have a better solution. Their method utilizes paper towels that are wrapped in a mixture of liquid latex and paint.  The latex is spread on a flat glass surface for a total of eight layers before it’s wrapped around the towels.  The resulting intestines are pretty good looking and you can make a ton of these for hardly any cost, but whatever you do, DO NOT eat them!...

Have you ever seen the knife throwers that tie a person to a spinning wheel and then proceed to throw knives at them as they’re spinning around?  Ever wonder what happens when they’re not very accurate throwers? The Wheel of Death prop created for The Haunted Driveway is a six foot diameter wheel that spins around with a skeleton, or whatever else you decide to tie to it.  If you make it heavy duty enough you can even strap an actor to it (warning: DO NOT throw knives at people!).  It’s an eye catching prop that will take a little bit of effort to create, but it has a gruesome potential that is limited only by your imagination.     Items needed to complete this include: Two full size sheets of 1/2 inch plywood (6) 2 X 4 boards that are eight feet long (1) 8 X 6 board that is 8 feet long (6) 3/8 X 4 inch Carriage bolts (6) 3/8 inch nuts to fit the Carriage bolts 6 inch lazy susan (2) Ball bearings that fit a 5/8 inch rod and they should have tabs so you can attach them to the  face of the wood 5/8 inch rod 16 inches long (1) 6 inch diameter V-belt wheel that fits a 5/8 shaft (1) 2 inch diameter V-belt wheel that fits a 5/8 shaft (this will fit on to the motor if the motor has a 5/8 shaft, if not get a different size that will fit) V-belt around a foot long (4) 1/4 inch bolts that are 2 inches long and washer and locking nuts for the blots A gear motor around 35 RPM and 1/8 hp will do the trick    ...

If you’re feeling extra industrious this year, and the notion that your efforts could result in an epic failure don’t frighten you, you might want to attempt to build a vortex tunnel for your haunt.  Scary Terry has laid out a tutorial on how he built his, and while it doesn’t contain a complete supplies list, it should be more than enough to get you started.   The tunnel has a frame that consists of three 10′ diameter “hoops” that are attached to each other, and it’s the precision required to get the plywood cut accurately that will ultimately determine your success with this project.  The hoops are spun around by three pairs of bicycle wheels, five of which are free spinning with the sixth being driven by a motor.  It’s the sixth wheel that actually rotates the tunnel itself.  You’ll need to build a bridge for people to walk on, and the hoops will actually fit around the bridge, rotating around it.  Once the frame is complete it’s just a matter of attaching fabric around the inside of the hoops and painting a sufficiently nauseating pattern on it.   Building a vortex tunnel is a pretty serious undertaking that requires skill and accuracy.  I’ve always said that confidence is a great asset, but knowing when you’re in over your head is a better one.  I know that I would be in over my head with this build, but if you’ve got the skill to get it done, it will be a crowd pleaser.  Good luck storing it, though!...

I’m truly amazed at some of the great looking props that people are able to build that cost next to nothing, and the creative ways they go about accomplishing it.  Sytnathotep is one such prop builder with his 1/2 zombie build, which looks great and probably didn’t cost a whole lot.  The spine of the zombie is crafted using three three foot sections of 12/2 electrical wire that are braided together to give it some extra rigidity.  Since this is a 1/2 zombie it doesn’t have to support any real weight (no legs). The shoulders are 3/4″ pvc connected via a cross fit connection that slides over the spine while the collar bones are more 12/2 electrical wire, and the scapulas are styrofoam insulation.  With a wire clothes hanger ribcage and hands made out of wire with plastic pen tube fingers this project is not exactly breaking the bank.  Once the skull slides onto the electrical wire all that’s left to do is corpse and paint this bad boy! What I really like about Sytnathotep’s zombie is his corpsing technique.  He used the melted plastic method as a base, but then stretched cheesecloth and spider web dipped in a 50/50 mixture of black latex house paint and elmers glue all over the zombie.   It really does give the appearance of rotting flesh and is well worth the effort and the mess that it creates. Items needed to complete this include: 12′ – 12/2 electrical wire Skull 6 wire clothes hangers 1 pvc cross fit connector Scrap styrofoam 10 Plastic pen tubes Duct tape Plastic for corpsing Cheesecloth / Spider webbing Latex paint Elmers...

When does your passion for home haunting become an obsession?  When you have to file a building permit to construct a temporary Mausoleum in your yard.  Which is good, because I don’t think that Raven Manor had to file for a permit, but the passion for their yard haunt is second to none.  The Mausoleum is a perfect fit in their front yard cemetery, but it’s real purpose is to house their flying crank ghost, Eleanor.  That’s right, they built it for their flying crank ghost, how awesome is that! The Mausoleum stands 9′ tall by 10′ deep by 8′ wide and was framed in sections that are connected by carriage bolts.  It looks superb and is the perfect house for Eleanor.  While there really isn’t a step by step tutorial for this build, they do have the plans used to construct the Mausoleum as well as some general information about the framing of it, which should be more than enough to get your creative juices...

The Crawlspace Haunter has created one of the coolest and creepiest looking props that I’ve laid my eyes on.  It’s based on a creature from the film The Unborn.  It turned out great and its the kind of prop that is guaranteed to give people nightmares.  Its made with a pvc frame that’s laid out as if you were building an animals skeleton.   The pvc that makes up the backbone was heated up to give it a bit of a curve.  The rest is a mixture of cardboard, tissue, and paper mache to give it some body.   Items needed to complete this include: 1/2″ or 3/4″ PVC (amount to be determined by your build size) 4 – 90 degree pvc 4 – 45 degree pvc 1 – cross connector pvc fitting 1 – pvc T fitting Skull Cardboard Tissue Paper mache Foam pipe insulation Wire I’m honestly not sure which photo creeps me out more, the night shot, or the daytime...

If you’ve got a coffin that’s looking for a little something extra then consider adding a slow rotating wiper motor to it.  Eerie Acres Cemetery has a video tutorial on how he built his and it turned out great.  The wiper motor spins at the perfect speed so that it doesn’t look obnoxious and you don’t even notice the wooden wheel that’s lifting the coffin lid.  This is a great effect, and there’s really not much needed to get it done.  In fact, building the coffin takes more skill than animating it does....

High voltage is not something you want to be messing around with unless you really know what you’re doing.  Luckily, Terra from HalloweenForum really knows what she’s doing, and she’s created a video tutorial on how to make authentic looking electrical transformers.  They’re created with trash cans, pool noodles, pvc and rope, but you can make them as intricate as you’d like.  When you put a strobe light under the trash can it really gives the appearance that the transformer is arcing, which, coupled with some high intensity audio will scare the heck out of anybody!     Items needed to complete this include: Two trash cans in a good transformer shape One pool noodle 14″ thick manila twisted rope Four 18″ lengths of 3/4″ PVC pipe Two 12″ lengths of 1/2″ PVC pipe Two 1/2″ PVC elbow connectors Two 19″ lengths of plastic plumber’s tape Two scraps of 1 1/2″ foam (6 1/2″ long, 3″ wide) Two 12″ metal strappings Four car model wheels or something similar 220 volt sticker Bullet hole stickers Portable strobe light Hot glue sticks Gray latex Drylok...

A styrofoam tombstone is about the simplest prop you can make for your haunt assuming you don’t make it overly intricate, but sometimes even the simplest of props can take on a whole new life by adding a motor. Just ask Christoper, of Chris’ Crypt who has a really simple tutorial on how to turn your Styrofoam tombstone into a rocking tombstone.  You’ll need to build a wooden base to hold the tombstone on one end (pivot point) and the motor on the opposite side.  When you connect the cam to the tombstone the slow rotation of the motor will get your tombstone rocking back and forth.   Items needed to complete this include: Styrofoam tombstone Motor Wood for base 1/2″ piece...

When the guys over at the Kingwood Asylum set out to build some scarecrows they had two real objectives in mind.  The first was to make something wickedly evil looking, while the second was not to spend a lot of money completing objective number one.  I would say their objectives were met with success.  These scarecrows are amazing looking, and judging from their parts list, didn’t cost too much per unit.  As creepy as it looks in the photos below, just imagine how amazing they’ll look at night with a little bit of creative lighting.   Items needed to complete this include: Elmers Wood Glue (1 large bucket) 10 metal coat hangers 2 rolls masking tape 1 marker Oodles of newspaper 2 pieces of pvc pipe 1 metal rod to go in the pvc pipe Wig Spray...

In New Orleans the dead are buried above ground to avoid the graves filling with water and forcing the coffins floating to the surface, but did you know that heavy rains will still occasionally dislodge coffins in areas well above the water table?  And if you have any carpentry skills then DaveintheGrave’s tutorial on building a slim-line groundbreaker coffin will help you create this effect. This prop gives the freshly dislodged coffin look without having to build or bury a full coffin to get the effect (not to mention saving the storage space).   Items needed to complete this include: 1/2 or 1/4″ Plywood (About 4 square ft.) 1 X 2″ wood (About 5 ft.) 1″ Wood Screws (2) “L” Brackets Small wood screws Decorative Moulding (Optional) Flat Moulding (Optional) Stain or...

If you’ve constructed a mausoleum for your haunt or are just looking for something different for your cemetery you might want to give a look at the Spyderwood Crypt tutorial.   It’s a little bit more detailed of a build than the coffin that Spyderwood created, but it doesn’t seem significantly more difficult to build and shouldn’t prove to be much heavier than the coffin.     Items needed to create this include: 3 sheets of pink insulation foam 8 to 10 – 1 x 2″ lumber staples hotglue paint decorations hinges finishing...

The monster in a box prop has been done a million times, and it seems like each one is done just a little bit differently than the last one.  That’s ok, though, because they all operate using the same principle in which a spinning motor pushes a rod up forcing the top of the box to pop up and down creating the unsettling and startling effect.  Add a couple of eerie lights inside the box and possibly some fog and you’ve got a winner, and that’s exactly what CycloneJackHH did when he made his monster in a box tutorial....

If you’re a fan of Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, and quite frankly, who isn’t, then you’re going to love the tutorial that KAM3152 penned for her blog DIY Nightmare Before Christmas Halloween Props.  The prop seems pretty simple to build, although I’m not sure I could successfully clothe a full size Jack Skellington quite as well as KAM3152 did.     Jack’s body is built using 1/2″ PVC frame while his head is crafted out of a foam floral ball.  The arms are a pair of prop skeleton arms from a party supply store, but if you don’t feel like purchasing hands for this build you can create your own Clay Skeletal Hands.  This prop ultimately comes down to the clothing, and if you can give Jack a proper looking suit, you’re going to have a great looking prop on your hands.   Items needed to complete this include but are not limited to: 18′ – 1/2″ PVC (approximately) 1 PVC T joint 1 PVC Cross Joint 2 – 45 degree or 90 degree PVC joints for shoulders/elbows Skeletal Hands Round floral ball Material for...

The Breathing Grave tutorial we posted a while back is a favorite of many home haunters that visit us here at Haunters List, so the opportunity to post a video tutorial on this prop is not going to be missed.  The HollywoodHaunter made the aforementioned video tutorial for his incredible looking breathing grave prop (seriously, forget about the breathing part, I’d be happy if I could make a grave look as good as his).   The footage of this breathing grave in action is spectacular and should be considered a staple in any home haunters yard....

About five years ago Mr. Chicken created a Madame Leota prop for his yard haunt.  It turned out fantastic and I’ve wanted to build my own ever since (yeah, I know, I’m a procrastinator).  Well, things have just gotten a little bit easier for me because Mr. Chicken has just taken care of a big portion of it for me, and boy does it look good.     Sybil the Clairvoyant is a new video projection effect kit offered by Mr. Chicken that includes the video as well as the head form you’ll need to get started.  The dvd includes two versions of the video projection, one which is just the head, the other includes the head and some eerie ghosts floating above Sybil for added effect.  The kits cost $55.00 plus $10.00 for shipping. I must admit, when I checked it out I figured I wouldn’t like it because, let’s face it, Madame Leota is a pretty tough benchmark to beat, but boy was I wrong.  Mr. Chicken has done a great job here, this video looks and sounds great, but what really makes it work is that it’s completely fresh content. Nobody’s ever seen Sybil before and I can guarantee you it’ll be more than just a head turner at your haunt.  Don’t get me wrong, I still plan on making a Madame Leota (one of these days), but until then, it’s really nice to have Sybil the Clairvoyant as an...

There’s nothing better than a good Pepper’s Ghost effect, and there’s few things harder to find than a good Pepper’s Ghost tutorial.  I’ve watched several really shoddy videos describing the effect, but the one that Robert Schuch created provides a pretty straightforward explanation even though it’s designed for use with miniatures.  It’s a really simple effect to create, but doing it on a large scale can prove to be tricky due to the need for the large reflective surface.     For a little additional insight, take a look at the video below of Rolly Crump explaining the Pepper’s Ghost effect courtesy of the Walt Disney Family Museum, it’s definitely worth a watch.  ...