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Animatronic zombie

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Animatronic zombie

Its creator calls this a “groundbreaker” zombie, and since he obviously knows way more about Halloween gadgetry than I do, I should probably bow to his usage. But I have to say I feel like “groundbreaker” should be reserved for props that actually, you know, appear to break out of the ground.

Semantics aside, this animatronic zombie is so well done I was tempted, for a moment, to believe it was a fake–like, a person in a costume half-buried in a hole. Found it in this thread at Haunt Forum. Well done, Dr. Morbius!

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan2
Señores y señoras…El Sr. Bones y los Gourditos!

Señores y señoras…El Sr. Bones y los Gourditos!

It looks like Mr. Bones does not actually have a singing part in this delightful orchestration of Danny Elfman’s “This is Halloween” from The Nightmare Before Christmas by YouTuber HalloweenJared. He just bobs his head and taps his foot. The anorexic front man for the Gourditos does, however, show off his famous vocal chops in their cover of Bobby Pickett’s “Monster Mash,” and also here in a smoking duet version of the elder Ross Bagdasarian’s “Witch Doctor.” There’s some how-to info here.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan
How-To: Corpsification of a skeleton

How-To: Corpsification of a skeleton

OK, I admit it: I was pretty excited about getting to use the word “corpsification” in any context. But that doesn’t mean this tutorial from the folks at Yard Haunt about how to make a clean, sterile, white plastic skeleton into a nasty, rotting, reeking bag o’ bones is any less cool. In case you’re wondering, the “Bucky” skeleton referred to in this and many other haunt prop tutorials is a brand name of Anatomical Chart Company, which sells serious anatomical models to educational institutions but also does a tidy trade in “4th quality” seconds on the Halloween market.

Continue Reading Sean Michael Ragan6