It’s been many years since the last collection of free pumpkin carving stencils was posted here. So you’d think it would be a piece of cake to come up with a new batch, right? Wrong! I even tried hitting Google Books to see if I could find any vintage examples. Although the “stencil” I found …
Category: Arts and Crafts
Oct 13 2018
Tricks and Treats IX
If the above lantern strikes your fancy, you can learn how to make one in Volume 14 of School Arts magazine. While we’re on the subject of vintage reading material, let’s check out The Anchora of Delta Gamma to learn about a haunted attraction from 1968 called the “Mystic Mansion.” The October 1985 issue of …
Oct 11 2018
Make Your Own Man-Eating Plant
The term “man-eating plant” is kind of misleading. Pop culture has shown time and time again how these fictional plants are more than happy to eat women. Come to think of it, they often snack on animals much larger than what your standard Venus Flytrap, sundew or pitcher plant could ever hope to digest. I …
Oct 10 2018
Quick Makeup Tips and Costume Ideas IV
The above improvised pumpkin costume by Will Hart (better known as CthulhuWho1 in some circles) shows how one can create a great costume without spending a lot of time or money. Personally, I recommend wearing a green knit hat or headband with a “stem” attached rather than taping one directly onto your head. DIY Halloween …
Oct 07 2018
How To Make A Prop Chainsaw
Do you need a fake chainsaw for Halloween and require something with more heft than a papercraft version? Fear not! The Prop Master’s Handbook has posted a tutorial on YouTube which shows how you can make a fairly realistic one for very little money: This also gave me a great idea for a haunted house …
Jul 13 2018
TGIF13 X: Making a Cardboard Hockey Mask
You might have noticed I didn’t title this “TGIF13 X: Make Your Own Cardboard Hockey Mask.” I chose the title I used because the subject of today’s post is not a tutorial. Instead it’s a time lapse video of someone shaping the iconic mask out of cardboard (and packing paper) and painting it. That doesn’t …
Feb 14 2018
How to Make a Bloody Valentine’s Day Card
Did you wait until the last minute to get a card for Valentine’s Day? Or perhaps you’re waiting to celebrate until sometime later in February to take advantage of all the clearance sales and easier reservations. Whatever the case is, the special horror fan in your life is certain to appreciate a homemade bloody Valentine. …
Oct 12 2017
Quick Makeup Tips and Costume Ideas III
I found this image of a costumed woman while looking through Amazon’s preview images for the 1922 edition of Dennison’s Bogie Book. Crêpe paper costumes like this were popular in those days. Although saying the costume is “crêpe paper” is somewhat misleading, as the image clearly shows a woman wearing the paper portion over regular …
Oct 11 2017
How To Make Fake Crows
I first learned about crow hunting while looking up information about creating crow caws for an upcoming article about making spooky sound effects. More specifically, I learned about it from the suggested videos in the sidebar. Any surprise one may have about people hunting crows for food vanishes upon learning the phrase “eating crow” has …
Oct 04 2017
Tricks and Treats VIII
Want to make your own “Electric Jack O’Lantern” for Halloween? As you can see, it’s all too easy! William J. Le Petomane is offering downloads of “Johann Sebastian Bunsen Burner (in D minor)” and “I Lost My Heart and Soul (at the Monster’s Ball)” on a “Name Your Price” basis. But act quickly, because this …
Oct 03 2017
Unique Pumpkin Decorating Ideas
Those who already checked out my past articles on pumpkin carving tips and pumpkin stencils might find themselves thinking they have exhausted all of the possible ways to decorate their Jack O’ Lanterns for Halloween. As the above image demonstrates, those people would be very wrong. The Pinhead pumpkin is only tip of the iceberg …
Oct 29 2016
Tricks and Treats VII
Wondering what this article’s illustration is supposed to represent? It’s a “Jack-o’-Lantern Lamp Shade” and it’s very easy to make if you want one for yourself. Other fun vintage projects include the “Witch Wheel” (just be sure to use a light source that’s safer than candles) and little decorative pumpkins made from dough. “Cornstarch Play …
Oct 28 2016
Quick Makeup Tips and Costume Ideas II
I want to discuss a few things before I get to the main subject of this article. It turns out my first article on this subject had a lot of broken links. I have since fixed everything and threw in some new material to make up for it. Also, the “Quick” in the title is …
Oct 27 2016
Free Printable Halloween Window Silhouettes II
Has it really been three years since I last shared a collection of spooky silhouettes with you all? Time sure does fly! Let’s start off with the image illustrating this post. You get your choice of the more cleaned up version above and the larger (but less than pristine) original version. You can get several …
Oct 14 2016
How To Build Haunted House Walls
Okay, so you know how to detail haunted house walls. But such knowledge means absolutely nothing without any walls to detail! So I have combed YouTube for the greatest selection of videos on the subject I could find. Although I tried to cover the greatest variety of walls possible, there is bound to be some …
Oct 10 2016
Corpsing
“Corpsing” (sometimes known as “corpsifying”) refers to a technique where a prop skeleton is treated so that it looks like a decayed corpse. The most popular type of skeleton used for this is a human anatomical skeleton. Many tutorials refer to this kind of skeleton as a “Bucky,” due to the website “Bucky’s Boneyard” (now …