# ideas for scaring trick-or-treaters?



## gryffin13 (Oct 25, 2006)

Anybody have things they do or have seen that are clever ways to scare children this Halloween? The classic faux scarecrow is always good. But I'm looking for some new things these kids might not see coming. Love to hear your methods.


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## kloey74 (Sep 7, 2008)

The funniest thing my husband did was buy 2 (he's a big guy) of those garbage bag pumpkin men that you stuff with leaves. Except he put himself in it and then skimped over with some other pumpkin trash bag men right next to our display. No one ever realized it was him. We even had multiple kids ask where that guy was who always jumped out as they were standing right next to him. As soon as they'd walk away, he'd get up to follow them. They flipped out!!


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## Zing! (Jul 28, 2012)

You have to be brave to get candy from me!


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## Berserker (Sep 4, 2012)

I decorate my house a different theme every year. I then dress up in my costume that fits the theme. From that point on, it is random how I scare people; hide, play dead, pretend I'm a prop, just stand and stare then jump out, chainsaw ....it all works. It is important to build the ambiance for the full effect.


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## wilbret (Oct 8, 2004)

My new toy this past season was:
-a toolbox
-hi intensity off road lamp
-truck horn
-2 6v lantern batteries
-push button horn switch

I wired this to just sit beside me. The kids are used to me jumping out and scaring them, so I was out in the open. They get close and I let the horn/light rip. Some didn't even get their candy, it was a hoot.

I typically wear my ghillie suit, which is also an excellent way to scare the crap out of kids LOL.


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## Palladino (Aug 29, 2013)

I always have one of the haunters follow the kids around. They pick a kid and follow (not too closely) as the TOT roams the haunt. It usually takes the TOT a little while to even realize they are being followed. The haunter is completely silent but relentless. Believe me, it creeps the TOTs out!


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## The Red Hallows (Sep 21, 2009)




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## Jenn&MattFromPA (Sep 4, 2013)

Oh my gosh, that pumpkin eating the kiddo is hysterical! 
We don't scare too much - we don't want to turn anyone against Halloween & we tend to show kids how things work or we'll go up to something & squeeze it to show that it's not real if they seem hesitant to come up. We do dress a few dummies around the yard, and one or two of them are real people since my BIL and my Dad like to dress up and be still. It's more of a creepy thing than a big RRAHH! scare. If we get a group of older kids without little ones nearby, my Dad will act creepier and might try to follow them or startle them. 

Also, the jumping spider from Spirit is in our yard along with a demon who pops up from behind a grave, and they both startle people regularly when they go off. 

That unexpected horn sound would DEFINITELY scare me!


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## psox16 (Jun 6, 2009)

We get a lot of woodpeckers at our house, so to stop them from pecking at our house with a cedar front, my husband bought these spiders that fall on a drawstring when there's a loud noise, then creep back up the string. They work to scare the woodpeckers away. These spiders have about an 8 inch diameter (including legs) and they're big, black, and ugly. I honestly hate having them on the front of my house. However, last year for Halloween we put one of those at the front door. Funniest night of my life. Most of the younger ToT's were interested, not very scared. The best was a group of older, teenage boys who thought they were tough. They screamed their heads off and practically fell inside my house. I was giving them giant handfuls of candy, while laughing, saying "Happy Halloween and please don't egg me."


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## Skeletoncrew (Oct 10, 2013)

Hope the child eating pumpkin comes with a side of therapy!


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## Countess No (Sep 20, 2014)

I would scream, too.


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## zombieprincess (Nov 1, 2013)

I second the silent 'monster' scare. Last year my then 9 yr old daughter dressed in a plain white dress, black shoes, full on 'dead girl' makeup and a long black wig. She stood in our cemetery in broad daylight and was so still that people thought she was a prop. A group of teen boys got their candy and proceeded down the driveway and began to debate on whether she was real or not. She cocked her head to the side and looked right at them. Pretty sure she pointed at them or something too. Anyway, they screamed like the girls from a horror movie and ran the rest of the way to the street. It was awesome.


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## Kev730 (Feb 25, 2012)

I always hide behind the car in my driveway and once the kids get their candy from the porch I run out at them with a chainsaw. Later in the night is the best because the blocks around you here the chainsaw and they are expecting you to come out and even challenge you sometimes but still get very scared. 

2011 Costume (Fonzo the clown)








2012 Costume (Possessed Pumpkin)








2013 Costume (Evil Corn)


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## gryffin13 (Oct 25, 2006)

Awesome. Those sound like a lot of good ideas. Thanks! I'll try one or two out this year.


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## Blarghity (Sep 2, 2012)

I'm taking a side table and bolting a plastic picnic plate down to it, then hot gluing some candy to it. On the plate in fake blood, I will also write "THIS CANDY IS NOT FOR YOU." I'll finish it with some small Halloween decorations, including a tabletop jumping spider. If they ignore the table, nothing happens. If they try to take the candy, they get jumped by the spider.


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## Pumpkinhead625 (Oct 12, 2009)

I have two words for you.....


Ghillie Suit



















Wearing this, you'll blend into almost any landscape, especially at night. I recommend the pants/shirt style (not the poncho). I also recommend one made from synthetic materials (commonly used for paintball); they're fire resistant, lighter, and cooler than those made from jute. You can probably get one on ebay for less than $50.00.


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## SPOOKMART (Dec 27, 2012)

Depend on the age. Very young might just stare at you with a blank expression. For the average age ones a lot will depend upon who is with them. 2 years ago a neighbor brought her niece around despite being scared. Last year despite seeing me earlier was too frightened to go up because she was with her mother who did not instill a lot of confidence. She didn't say come on let's go. She said you don't have to go up there. So my point here is to observe who they're with and size them up. Who is taking them out trick or treating? You don't have a lot of time to decide what to do but like another mentioned do not talk. You humanize yourself that way. Do stare. If you have one really scared and the mother for example pleads with you just stare at here. After they leave and are off a ways silently change your position and stop cold as if you were always there, still staring. Change the angle as they get farther away. 

Another thing I found out before is it helps to keep company with like minded people. Don't allow people from your own household to be standing right next to you in street clothes asking you what you want on your sandwich. Never grab a kid. For one thing you're asking for trouble but more importantly you don't want them to think you're human. You always want to keep what you could do to them a secret. Never let one of the parents try to convince the child you are fake. This happened to me last year because my brother started talking with the people and even grabbing some of them. She grabbed my knife to show the kid it was foam. This cannot happen. You must maintain control. 

You have to look at your own situation for specific ideas. Do you have help? It's usually a good idea to structure things. Direct the children where to go silently. by this I mean make clear paths to the candy. Use lighting. You want them to come up as if it was routine. if you got them walking everywhere they could discover something or expose something. If some one else is handing out the candy why not make a coffin and lay in it and reach out your hand as they approach? If you're really ambitious you could dig a hole and rise up dressed as a zombie.


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## boo who? (Feb 28, 2005)

One year, I did the classic jump scare and scared even more adults than children. I dressed as an veiled old woman in an old fashioned wooden wheelchair. But I made an effort to look as "fake" as possible. Two mannequin arms were duct taped to the chair arms in the most obvious fashion, crumpled newspaper peeked out at the bodice, a set of super-fake feet on the foot rests, etc. Even as fake as it looked, the kids were wary of it. But adults paid no mind... _*until I jumped!*_


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## scareme (Jan 18, 2009)

Palladino said:


> I always have one of the haunters follow the kids around. They pick a kid and follow (not too closely) as the TOT roams the haunt. It usually takes the TOT a little while to even realize they are being followed. The haunter is completely silent but relentless. Believe me, it creeps the TOTs out!


I've been on the receiving end of this and it really works well. The girl was very young and creepy, and at one point I even offered her twenty bucks to leave me alone. She never broke character.


You could show them the receipts of what you spent on the holiday. It always scares the crap out of my husband.


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