Jimmyzdc over at HalloweenForum has posted an awesome tutorial on how to make your own PVC candles.  It’s super simple, and when you pop some battery powered tealight candles on top of them you’ll be free to create and put out as many candles as you want without having to worry about setting your haunt on fire.       Items used to create these include: 1 1/2″ PVC Pipe – Full length 8-10 ft pipes Great Stuff Insulation LED Tea Lights Hot Glue Gun 1 1/2″ Forstner Drill Bit Rustoleum Spray...

Instant Monsters over at HalloweenForum has posted a great tutorial on how to make your own Web Spinner using some easily obtainable items and a drill.  The cobwebs that this thing puts out look amazing and would make most spiders jealous.  They’ll require some serious cleanup, but if you’re looking for a realistic web, look no further.    ...

This prop tutorial is an oldie but a goodie.  I first saw Mr. Chicken’s Madame Leota tutorial when it appeared on HauntForum.  He moved it to the Mr. Chicken’s Yard Haunt blog quite a while ago and it deserves to be featured because of the great job he did on it.  Positioning of the projector on this prop is just as essential and tricky as creating the form inside the globe and will make or break this effect....

The Devil’s Workshop blog has posted an awesome tutorial on how to build what is possibly one of the best looking Cauldron Creeps I’ve ever seen.  Seriously, I wouldn’t have a problem paying them to make this for me because it deserves to be in every haunter’s yard.  This tutorial was for the original Cauldron Creep, constructed in 2009.  The videos are spectacular.     Items needed to create this prop include: 20 ft 1/2″ PVC 8 1/2″ PVC “T”s 4 1/2″ PVC 90° 1 5rpm motor (for head action) 1 Monsterguts Wiper motor 2 ultrabright LEDs Red and Black electrical wire small gauge 2 monsterguts eyball blanks 1 foam skull 1 large “bag of Bones” from biglots Creepy Cloth 1 can Greatstuff 1 can Black spray paint 1″ drywall screws 5′ 2×4 plumbers tape ATX power supply...

Fans of the Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion are no doubt familiar with the ghostly footprints effect that is projected early on in the ride in the M.C. Escher style room with the upside down stairways.  Since approximately 2010 I’ve seen the good folks over at HalloweenForum.com hashing out various ways to achieve this effect, but it appears that VexFX have actually made it a reality.  With the Ghost Steps routine it is now possible for home haunters to project a set of ghostly footprints in a pre-programmed path of their choice that actually dissolve after a few seconds.  You can download the flash based app for offline use, or navigate to their site and create your Ghost Steps on the fly.  You can change the size, color, rotation and style of footprint as well as move and rotate the projection surface to get it completely accurate to the surface you’re projecting onto.  This software is too cool to pass up, and is a visual delight....

The most important part of any Halloween display (and quite frequently the most often overlooked) is the proper lighting of it.    If you’re looking for just the right way to highlight your prop or display you’re going to want to give MiniSpotlight.com a look.  Their Mini Barrel LED Spotlights give just the right amount of light without being a distraction.  They measure in at just about two inches and contain a 5mm ultra bright LED.  They come with 5′ of 24 gauge wire with bare wire leads (power blocks and power supplies are sold separately).  They come in a variety of colors including Red, Green, Yellow, Blue, Aqua, Warm White, Cool White, Natural White, Deep Red, Orange, and of course, Ultra Violet.  They are priced at $12.50 each, but if you purchase 10 or more they drop to $12.00 and if your order totals 25 or more they are further discounted to $11.50 each....

  Last week I was reminded of an album that I overlooked last year, Fairvale Funeral Parlor by Shadow’s Symphony, and the timing of this could not have been any better.  It’s now going on seven days straight with overcast skies and rain where I live, and there’s seven more in the forecast.  I cannot think of a better soundtrack to accompany this miserable stretch than Fairvale Funeral Parlor.  With 21 tracks of ominous and creepy melodies that tell the tale of a deserted funeral parlor, this album is everything you could ever want if you find beauty in the darker side of things.  This eerie offering could easily be incorporated into any home haunt. It’s available via digital download from Amazon and the iTunes store as well as direct from the Shadow’s Symphony Facebook store.  Whether you plan on using this in your haunt, or just listening to it while you sit on the couch watching the rain come down, this album is the perfect soundtrack for any haunter’s life.   [adrotate...

The Midwest Haunters Convention (MHC) is the largest Halloween show of its kind and will be held in Columbus, Ohio on June 7-9th, 2013 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center for its 10th year.  Featuring 60,000 square feet of exhibit space and over 100 vendors, this convention is packed with seminars, workshops and products for the professional and home haunter alike.     Pricing for the event: Pre-Con Bus Tour – $269 – $329 (prices vary by the number of people staying in a hotel room) Workshops – prices vary by class.  See individual workshop pages for pricing Friday Day Tour – $79 Friday Evening Events and Tour – $59 Weekend Seminars – $85, $99 onsite Masquerade Party – $40, $50 onsite Trade Show – $5 Weekend Pass – Includes Friday Evening Events, Seminars, Party, and Trade Show – $179 ($203 on site) – Save...

The 2012 Home Haunter DVD Collection is available for pre-order.  This year’s set offers 4 DVD’s filled with 61 haunts.  The DVD set is priced at $20 if you pre-order now (not sure when this deal will end), and if you were a contributor to the DVD this year you’ll get an additional 25% discount making it just $15.00 (An additional $4.00 will be added to help cover Postage and PayPal costs. International orders are listed at $10 more to cover the higher shipping). Appearing on the 2012 DVD’s: DISK #1 Name Haunt Location Heidi & Donnie Rauber Jr. 2nd Street Cemetery Covington, LA Joe Belinksky 67 Scary Springs Drive Richmond Hill, Ontario Canada Matthew Allen Allen Asylum Florida Greg & Jamie Larkin Ashburn Haunt Ashburn, VA Dave Bates Bates Haunt Utah LadyDracul AKA Corinne BS Crypt Kamloops B.C. Canada Brad Goodspeed The Butcher of Prvincetown Haunted House Scarborough, Ontario, Canada Melissa Watts Camp Slaughter Pensacola, FL Jim Slanker Canyon Trail Cemetery Carol Stream, IL Tamara Gogin CarnEvil Spencer & Debra Carter Casa Fear Broomfield, CO Thomas Chance Chance Haunted Ride Lafayette, LA Robert Gannon Cirque de Samhain Columbia Manor Castro Valley, CA “Creepy” Chris Bartram Creepy Nights on Calamo Sprinfield, VA DISK #2 Name Haunt Location Mike Yazumbek Dark Shadows Orland Hills, IL im and Tina Reuwsaat Darkwing Manor and Morguetorium Medford, OR Jeff & Chris Davis Davis Graveyard Milwaukie, OR Michael Braun Deadwood Cemetery Gurnee, IL P.J. Kerti DemBones Cemetery Hollywood, FL Wayne M LaQuet Diggers Haunted Yard Mascoutah, IL Chris Arnott Dunnett’s Dark Lair Barrie, Ontario Canada Dan Blume Evil On Everest Lombard, IL Gregory Wallace Fear on Firm Stance Loveland, OH David Hurst Grimm-Hurst Manor East Point, GA Halloween Haunt Brampton Ontario Canada Robyn Balabanov Halloween Horror Delta Delta, Canada...

  ImaginEERIEing offers some really cool digital puppetry software that, when done correctly, can add tons of fun to your haunt.  The original iteration of this was the “Mirror” routine was developed in 2004 and they have since increased their lineup of puppets.   The puppets are simply computer programs which display spooky characters on the screen and allow the user to control them with a keyboard, a microphone, or a prerecorded audio routine.  When the the monitor is placed behind the facade of a mirror it allows for quite an impressive illusion.  Add some real time interaction with the crowd and it’s even better!  The original Mirror routine is free to download, while the others are priced at a modest $15 per routine.       – Free       – $15       – $15       – $15       – $15    ...

  Fog machines operate by moving fog juice into a temperature controlled heat exchanger that vaporizes the fluid and produces the fog.  Since heat rises, the fog that is produced usually ends up hanging anywhere from the top of the fog machine to the top of the ceiling.  I’m convinced that anyone who’s ever purchased a fog machine had dreams of an entirely different effect with the fog hanging low to the ground creating that creepy looking mist that Hollywood has spoiled us with. The solution of course (short of utilizing dry ice) is to chill the fog before it is emitted, and Froggy’s Fog has just the solution with their Cold Fusion Vortex Fog Chiller.  This beauty stands just 19″ off the ground and is capable of holding up to 20 pounds of ice.  You WILL need to provide your own fog machine for this to work, then just set it so that the fog emitted enters the opening on the Cold Fusion unit.  The fog will be cooled as it passes through the Cold Fusion unit until it is emitted as chilled fog!  Simple and effective.       Shop These Materials on Amazon 400W Fog Machine with Wireless & Wired Remote FogWorx Extreme High Density Fog Juice Gallon Copper Coil Refrigeration Tubing 1/8" OD x 6.5ft (fog chiller) Affiliate Disclosure: HauntersList.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to...

Shawn and Lynne Mitchell have teamed up to produce one of the most beautiful series of books on how to create wonder Halloween props and decorations for your haunt.  With breathtaking photos and detailed descriptions from start to finish they’ve made prop making easy.   Book One contains 26 haunting tutorials including: creating cemetery fence how to make moss, styrofoam techniques sand casting how to pull spider web Several examples of the Pepper’s Ghost effect And many more! Book Two contains 24 haunting tutorials including: making your own tombstones how to make a spooky chandelier styrofoam techniques part 2 how to make a free-standing wolf creating apothecary jars create your own bubbling cauldron And many more! Book Three contains 27 haunting tutorials including: making the brain bubbler how to make a spooky chandelier styrofoam techniques part 2 how to make a free-standing wolf creating apothecary jars create your own bubbling cauldron And many more!...

  Fangoria over at HalloweeForum.com has a great tutorial on how to make easy, cheap and ultra realistic eyeballs.  Trust me, this one I’ve succeeded in doing, and they turn out fantastic every time.  You’ll need the following supplies: A package of ping pong balls Deep Red blood color gloss paint Yarn the same color as the paint A printout of iris from the web A tweezers A scissors A paintbrush Clear nail polish/Nail hardener – make sure whatever you use that it is glossy, gloss makes them pop!...

      This is a project that I spent a lot of time working on and when you get it right can be a superb effect for your haunt.  I never seemed to get mine working as smoothly as Timothy Ewing seems to have, but with his tutorial you should be able to do better than me.  You’ll need a round steel shaft the length of your books, some aluminum stock, some screw eyes, rubberbands, a small motor (I used a wiper motor), and of course books!     I’m still hatching a plan to do this effect with mini-linear actuators, but until then, go with Tim’s Haunted Bookshelves blueprint.  ...

Hauntcon 2013 is coming to the Sheraton Dallas/Fort Worth Airport Hotel on April 25th – 28th, 2013.  Heavily attended by pro-haunters this three day extravaganza features exhibitors such as Haunted Enterprises, Fright Props, Lights Alive, and Gore Galore as well as many others.  Tours of 15 haunted houses are available  to attendees, and creative sessions offer over 40 hours of Haunt education;  The tentative schedule is literally jam packed.    ...

Loach160 over at HalloweenForum.com has posted a great tutorial on how to make hot burning coals without the heat.  This effect looks great with a witches cauldron above it and is super simple to create (I actually think I might be able to do this one).       Items used to create this effect include: 1 string of 50 orange LED Christmas lights 1 can expanding spray foam 1 12 inch square piece of wood or plastic 1 can black spray paint masking tape assorted plastic bottle tops and/or bottoms box cutter or...

Transworld’s Halloween Extreme is coming to the Rosen Center Hotel in Orlando Florida on May 24th – 26th, 2013.  This Halloween and haunted attraction trade show is open to the public and will feature some heavy hitting vendors from the haunt industry including Distortions Unlimited, Fright Props, Ghost Ride Productions, Halloween FX, and Zagone Studios just to name a few. Seminar topics on the docket include: How to Quickly Create a Witch’s Poison Bottle, How To Create a Flickering Light Circuit for your Haunt How to Upgrade Your Home Haunt Halloween Air Brushing Fog and Special Effects Scare with Air! Introduction to Air Activated Props Use Motors And Linkages To Bring Your Props To Life! How to do Zombie Paintball Events! Designing a Scarecrow Character.   Several Ticket options are available online. SHOW HOURS: Friday: 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm Saturday: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm Sunday: 10:00 am – 5:00 pm...

Trick or Treat Studios recently announced their 2013 lineup and they’ve got some stunning masks in line for this season as well as three Halloween II Michael Myers props.  With official licenses in place from Lugosi Enterprises, Chaney Entertainment, Universal Studios and Full Fathom 5 Productions in addition to some masterfully sculpted originals, 2013’s mask offerings are sure to please.  With mask prices ranging from $24.99 to $64.99, (although the majority are priced at $59.99) Trick or Treat Studios is the go-to producer of high quality, affordable Halloween masks....