# What prop scared them the most?



## Deadna (Oct 19, 2002)

The $20 zombie crawler from Walmart was a huge success. The kids were terrified of it chasing them. My next best scare was not one of my props but a visitor(a cop mind you) who stood at the entrance of my crypt/crankghost and screamed at the poor kids as they were watching her fly. I never try to scare them but that was hilarious...he was so evil...LOL!


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## Redsand187 (Oct 28, 2004)

Hands down, like always, the Air Cannon. I think I got as many parents as I did kids with that thing. I had a talking bucky skull on the path before you get to the porch. Most of the parents would sit and watch that and let their kids go up to the door. Right behind them happened to be the air canon, which I manually trigger watching through a surveillance system. I'd let them get about 30 seconds into bucky's speak, then hit them with the canon. It was gold.


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## cinders (Oct 12, 2003)

The only fairly scary prop I had up is the Rosemary from Spirit. She did do her job! But my favorite and best scare was when a group of about six kids came up the walk and then I appeared at the door in my costume. One little boy took one look at me and turned right around to go back. I had to tell him that I was just a mommy and that I was only wearing scary makeup and a costume. Then he was OK with it.


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## zandiver (Sep 13, 2010)

My zombie crawler from Spirit was by far the best scare. I had kids and older teens alike freaking out. Most of the smaller tots would just start crying. I had one tot who was so scared, he couldn't move. I loved it!!!


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## ezekiel (Nov 4, 2007)

I can imagine how awesome the air cannon must have been. We had success with several scares but I think the drop panel was the most effective scare tonight ... we had one in the haunted house and one out front in the ToT area in the photo-op area.

This picture speaks for itself ...









'twas a good night.


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## Redsand187 (Oct 28, 2004)

ezekiel said:


> I can imagine how awesome the air cannon must have been. We had success with several scares but I think the drop panel was the most effective scare tonight ... we had one in the haunted house and one out front in the ToT area in the photo-op area.
> 
> This picture speaks for itself ...
> 
> ...


One girl actually fell over the air canon scared her so much.


That picture is awesome. You definitely scared them.


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## Ravenfell Manor (Oct 2, 2011)

That would most definitely have to be my ex moving reindeer/werewolf. If they weren't too scared to pass it, they were telling us how much they loved it.


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## rosella_au (Sep 23, 2010)

We have a rattlesnake that strikes when triggered as ToT's opened the screen door to knock on the main door.... ot a few good scares from that.


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## Tannasgach (Nov 1, 2009)

ezekiel said:


> We had success with several scares but I think the drop panel was the most effective scare tonight ... we had one in the haunted house and one out front in the ToT area in the photo-op area.
> 
> This picture speaks for itself ...
> 
> ...


ezekiel, you can tell they're happy scare faces; and the sword wielding guy there looks pretty happy himself lol. 

It's just not in me to scare the little ones. I've worked in childcare too long; I would want to nurture them after I frightened them.  I go more with skeletons and spiders but my best scare was a good old 'haunted hedge' in a man-eating tree by the front door. I don't think there was a kid that didn't jump when it went off.


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## TrickRTreater (Mar 24, 2011)

Me!


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## bl00d (Aug 26, 2010)

lol my frying guy in the electric chair,

mu casket w/ arm that pops out of the cut out cross

attacking hidden snake

and zombie me!!


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## Lil Ghouliette (Nov 5, 2010)

That jumping spider prop from Spirit this season definitely got the most screams. And it made 3 kids cry.


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## larry (Apr 5, 2002)

Yep. My jumping spider scared a lot of people. I put it right by the front door with the footpad.


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## Scatterbrains (Nov 16, 2008)

My scissor prop


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## scarybella (Aug 4, 2010)

our "rocking chair" skeleton granny with the candy bowl on her lap.. some of the little kiddies wouldnt come in at all. some came in after I made her go to sleep (turn the power off) lol.. but over here in the UK the kids dont see anything like this. I had a procession all night long walking around the back garden once word of mouth passed I had a que on the drive with kids mums with prams etc... roll on next year lol


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## dippedstix (Jul 2, 2009)

The Jumping Spider was awesome. I scared so many people (adults) with that thing, it was the best! I had it in the yard out by the street around a bunch of other spiders. Got a lot of screams!! So much fun!


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## propmistress (Oct 22, 2009)

My biggest scare was a prop that wasn't working... it would go off at random times scaring kids who thought it was static or who had already tried to trigger the prop with no success.

However I also got a lecture from the kid next door about my pvc candles... he thought the candles were real and was scared that I was going to start a fire


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## talkingcatblues (Jan 30, 2009)

My display wasn't particularly designed to be scary, but I did have some arachnophobes that wouldn't come near the house, and some who came up but were startled when they saw there was another spider closer to them than they had thought. Some kids didn't spot Ocho up on the awning right away and then their parents would tell them "Look up!" and they got spooked by his being above them. But the thing that was most startling for some people was when they didn't realize that the spider victim skeleton was there until they were standing at the door, even though I had left him showing a little from the street. I heard some very sincere "Yikes!" reactions on that from people of all ages.


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## thatguycraig (Jul 15, 2009)

it was me!!!! I stood still looking like a prop until someone came down the path!!


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## blackfog (Oct 9, 2008)

Hands down my Hubby the grave digger. He is the best and the most important prop I have lol! He also works the fog machine. He ran inside at 6:30 to eat some pizza and a group of kids came to the door and said they made it to the door without that scary guy getting them. This was a Mom telling me this among all the kids lol. The grave digger heard while he was at the kitchen table and was so bummed he missed them, put the pizza down and said he would eat later. He wears this really scary mask that has hair down to the middle of his back and wears jeans and a jean shirt and holds a big shovel that he shakes while he screams at them for crossing the graveyard.......gets them every time, even all the parents.


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

The spider prop. The screams were exquisite


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## creeeepycathy (Jul 12, 2011)

Definitely hubby scared them the most; then the Jumping Spider.  Had a teenager pee her pants on the porch. lol Success!!! LOL


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## James B. (Oct 8, 2009)

Another +1 for the jumping spider. I fenced in my walk up to the house and hid the footpad under a mat and my fog chiller was right there so most of the time there was 2 inches of ground fog covering the foot pad. The spider jumped right up to the edge of the fence line; it scared adults and kids alike and sent a few running.


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## mingle (Oct 7, 2009)

Wow Tera that spider area looks soo creepy!! I bet it did bring some scares


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## mingle (Oct 7, 2009)

The house looked pretty creepy, but my two sons dressed up as zombies were definitely the scariest part. They did a great job and sent quite a few people screaming down the street!! They took it easy on the real little ones though


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## Smithy (Aug 4, 2010)

Nice one Tera. Loving that spider and the fluorescent paint.

This year our clown prop scared quite a few people but the one with the most scares is still our guillotine that we have been using since 2009. The guillotine stands 3 metres tall and spans our garden gate. ToTs usually stand around for a while trying to decide if it's safe to walk under it. When they do they break an IR beam which triggers a very loud sound effect and flashing lights. This prop continues to scare people even when they know what is coming.


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## talkingcatblues (Jan 30, 2009)

creeeepycathy said:


> Definitely hubby scared them the most; then the Jumping Spider.  Had a teenager pee her pants on the porch. lol Success!!! LOL


What a lovely family portrait - it's like an updated American Gothic.


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## Jack Skellington (Oct 25, 2005)

The biggest scares came from my MIB which caught a lot of people by surprise. No one expected it to jump around and make as much noise as it did.

My "home made" jumping spider came in second since it looked pretty static until it popped up.

My biggest scare came from my dog Mookie in the Haunted House. I was going through with my Sister-In-Law and it was right after the MIB got her. She was asking me how the box worked and the dog ran through past us and brushed by her leg. She nearly jumped out of her skin and screamed. LOL!

I love Halloween.


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## talkingcatblues (Jan 30, 2009)

Terra, that spider is gorgeous. And would undoubtedly scare the ha-yell outta me when it suddenly moved.


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## talkingcatblues (Jan 30, 2009)

Scatterbrains said:


> My scissor prop


Scatterbrains, which is the scissor prop (or do you have a pic up yet)? I was looking in your pictures but couldn't find it.


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## tk1055 (Oct 7, 2010)

I have to give it to my ghost projections. Had a few kids not want to come more than halfway up the drive. With the garage light on you could see through the plastic used for a screen and see things inside the garage AND the ghosts talking, dancing, etc. A close second was the talking skull on a platter from Gemmy. A few kids took candy from him and jumped back when he spoke to them... which inadvertently activated two other props a screaming/flapping bat, and another talking skull! As the kids were leaving both skull were singing "I ain't got no body...." Quite funny.


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## Zombastic (Oct 26, 2011)

In our haunt everyone would be paying attention to the guts table and the skull spinning in the microwave and then all of a sudden I'd use the drop door and reach out at them.
It bangs when it drops and this prop really scared everyone.


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## Lurks in the shadows (Mar 12, 2005)

The Dogman popping out of a tomb in the crypt. 
We had roughly 30 kids run right back out and refuse to go back in.
She was the very first scare of the entire haunt. Other people complained that she was scaring too many away before they could get a shot at them!


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## kickassbob (Sep 23, 2009)

Redsand187 said:


> Hands down, like always, the Air Cannon. I think I got as many parents as I did kids with that thing. I had a talking bucky skull on the path before you get to the porch. Most of the parents would sit and watch that and let their kids go up to the door. Right behind them happened to be the air canon, which I manually trigger watching through a surveillance system. I'd let them get about 30 seconds into bucky's speak, then hit them with the canon. It was gold.


Post vid you saved off your cctv of scaring them. I would love to see it.

I scared only 3 kids with my jumping spider but we went tot and just left a bowl of candy out. I do have over a dozen scared on tape. When I get time to edit it. I will post it.


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## LadyRohan (Oct 20, 2010)

My most scariest prop was me. I would sit so still that I was mistaken for a static prop until I moved. Sent a few people running. lol


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## guitarist155 (Sep 25, 2007)

Air cannon was definitely the best for us as well.. had a bunch of teens saying it wasn't scary, only to jump 10 feet when the cannon went off  the jumper was second followed by a static clown that just stood off to the side haha..


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## LurkerNDdark (Sep 9, 2010)

Me. I was sitting on the front porch, thinking about dialing the fog machine down. Some boys came out of the fog, stared at the porch display, then one pointed at me and whispered, "that's the scariest." Then I offered them candy.  I'm not sure, though, if that was a complement or an insult, since I wasn't wearing a costume. 

Most favorite prop was my first paper-mache figure, Slugley:


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## Boo Baby (Oct 7, 2008)

For me it was the jumping spider from Spirit. There were more than a few full out screams with that.


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## Gym Whourlfeld (Jan 22, 2003)

I "Cheat".
I lull them with stories from this house's haunted history as they become comfortable in my front room.....then, when "Things" happen..WOW!
I love to entertain, make them laugh, then either scare them or just make the wonderment escape from their brain and fill the void.


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## chaoscat (Nov 3, 2005)

Hands down, this silly old prop scares the most kids every year. I think it's the sound of the leaf blower going off to inflate it that scares them as much as anything.
You'll have to click on the picture to get to the video. I can't seem to figure out another way.


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## mikepd201 (Sep 1, 2011)

As always our jolt electric chair animatronic got the job done


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

chaoscat said:


> Hands down, this silly old prop scares the most kids every year. I think it's the sound of the leaf blower going off to inflate it that scares them as much as anything.
> You'll have to click on the picture to get to the video. I can't seem to figure out another way.
> 
> http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v.../?action=view&current=VID_20111029_110459.mp4


That is brilliant!!!


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## Ed of the Dead (Oct 11, 2009)

We had a few "props"

a) My niece was in zombie gear and laying in the bed of the truck with arms hanging over the tailgate -- she looked like a prop -- until she snarled at people.

b) My son (as a gravedigger), would use his shovel to make a horrendous scraping noise on the sidewalk when kids would walk by and have their attention taken by my zombie feast in the center of the yard. That got quite a few screaming!


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## hannibal (Oct 19, 2008)

My two Ghost Faces(my husband and daughter). They would point at my daughter and say "That's a real person" and I would tell them none of my props were real(I'm a DAMN good liar..lol) Then they'd go to get the candy which was placed directly in front of my husband(he was mixed in with real props) and he'd do something to scare them. While they were focused on him my daughter would sneak up from behind them and they got scared again..it was so worth standing out in the cold to see this. We saw quite a few debating from 2 houses up whether or not they wanted to come to our house...lol. I give them props though they all "manned up" and came after the treats..lol


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## BeaconSamurai (Nov 5, 2009)

Me dressed up as the graveyard caretaker. I bought and "older" guy mask (one kid told me I was already an "old Guy") and just sttod there. I could see them looking not sure. I made sure not to move. Then I would simply turn my head or reach out for them. I loved doing to those smart asses who made fun of my cemetary not being scary. Their friends busted out everytime when they literally jumped out of thier skin!


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## LittleBlueBMW (Oct 9, 2010)

Shiatsu zombie that went from a grabber to a bushwhacker as the night wore on. He kept loosing parts but his location made him rustle the bush. Ran off some teens.


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## the dogman (Jul 8, 2007)

Lurks in the shadows said:


> The Dogman popping out of a tomb in the crypt.
> We had roughly 30 kids run right back out and refuse to go back in.
> She was the very first scare of the entire haunt. Other people complained that she was scaring too many away before they could get a shot at them!


Lurks sculpted a jaw piece for me that I think was what caused so many to refuse to go any further. After the first few kids didn't want to go, I got a big bag of candy so the people that at least made it up onto the porch got a treat.
Here's a pic of what people were faced with once the crypt door closed:








I had plenty of people asking me if I was a real person or not, which was odd to me because I didn't think I looked or acted like an animatronic.
The funniest scares came people who didn't even notice the door drop. Several times someone wouldn't be paying attention and I would come out of the crypt and almost put my head on their shoulder before they looked at me.  I'm shocked my ears weren't ringing from the number of high pitch screams I endured.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Unfortunately we didn't have animated props for our display this year, so I guess the answer for me would be the pair of large gargoyles that flanked our courtyard entry way to our "vampire" castle. I had them lit up with a red photo gel light to cast an eerie shadow pattern on them and they towered over most of the younger kids. Some small kids paused when they noticed them, some kids told us they liked them that they were scary, and one dad who had his 3 to 4-year old son with him told us laughing that when his son saw them he was afraid to come in. He did with dad's help so for being brave he got extra candy. One 16-month old little girl in a bear costume who was with both of her parents walked through on her own power just looking around at everything. Wasn't even fazed by the vampire bat and she at one point just stood in our courtyard castle turning around looking at everything. She didn't want to leave with her parents. Mom had to carry her out. Kids are so fun to watch at halloween time and so hard to predict how they will react.

We had one grandmother who's granddaughter told her about our castle and so came came up to see it for herself and complimented us on it. She was maybe in her 60s and was a cool lady. She was dressed in a witch costume and had shoes on that clicked on the pavement when she walked. Also had some kids and parents take pics next to our gargoyles. 

Next year our landscaping should be done and can't wait to bring out the animatonics and set up more scenes. I was really tempted to set up the jumping spider but didn't have my adapter yet and didn't want to force little kids to go past it since there was only one way in and out to the candy. Next year hope to have an area where little kids can come to and where old kids can continue on past.

All night long we could hear the girls screaming over at one of our neighbor's houses. He had the chainsaw out again and is within earshot of us. One little boy told him mom everyone wants to go there but I don't. He was almost frantic about insisting they don't go there. Two elementary school girls told us that the sheriff had to go to their house last year to tell him to stop scarying the little kids....now I'm doubtful that happened but was probably something some other kid told them but my husband and I both laughed.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Ravenfell Manor said:


> That would most definitely have to be my ex moving reindeer/werewolf. If they weren't too scared to pass it, they were telling us how much they loved it.
> View attachment 98814
> View attachment 98815


Love your set up! I'll have to remember that.


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

Smithy said:


> Nice one Tera. Loving that spider and the fluorescent paint.
> 
> This year our clown prop scared quite a few people but the one with the most scares is still our guillotine that we have been using since 2009. The guillotine stands 3 metres tall and spans our garden gate. ToTs usually stand around for a while trying to decide if it's safe to walk under it. When they do they break an IR beam which triggers a very loud sound effect and flashing lights. This prop continues to scare people even when they know what is coming.


Smithy, sounds interesting. Any pics of it in action?


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## Ghost of Spookie (Sep 28, 2008)

LurkerNDdark said:


> Me. I was sitting on the front porch, thinking about dialing the fog machine down. Some boys came out of the fog, stared at the porch display, then one pointed at me and whispered, "that's the scariest." Then I offered them candy.  I'm not sure, though, if that was a complement or an insult, since I wasn't wearing a costume.
> 
> Most favorite prop was my first paper-mache figure, Slugley:


Wow, Slugley is so cool. I absolutely love him!!!


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## Penumbra (Jul 28, 2011)

Tekky toys' Jumping Spider scared everyone the most. One kid almost got run over by a car because he ran out into the street!


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## mystic manor (Sep 28, 2009)

Air blast hidden in an overhead light fixture. No one thinks to look up and into a light when walking through a haunt.


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## Rigormortor (Sep 7, 2009)

Our prop was my coffin...... home made. It worked out nice.


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## VirusHaunt (Oct 9, 2011)

buthcer gt em sometimes simple is key


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## Lumpy (Sep 19, 2010)

This.......











A bit of video of it in action....







I shot a little reaction video but havent gotten around to looking at it yet, if its any good I will post it up.


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## VirusHaunt (Oct 9, 2011)




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## dariusobells (Sep 24, 2007)

Haven't found a static nor an animated prop yet that beats Character actors. My oldest Daughter in a crypt as "Lucy" and my youngest (ok she's 19 now) As an overtly creepy angel both get the most screams. Though my hand puppet raven Edgar comes close.. It's amazing how many Kids (and adults) will walk up and ask if he is a puppet and then jump and scream when he tries to nip them.


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## Paul Melniczek (Jun 5, 2009)

The skeleton LED fogger and the BEWARE ROCK, which startled a bunch of kids.


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## Kymmm (Oct 1, 2009)

I love seeing everyone's scares! It gives me great ideas and makes that darned "To Do" list longer and longer. lol

I have to agree with several of you in that the Jumping Spider definitely gets props (pun intended) for the best scares. Adults and children alike were screaming and in some cases running away when it popped up.


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## Shockwave199 (Jan 18, 2007)

The best prop was me- I scared a number of victoms! But the most liked prop was rosemary. It backed people up when it lunged. One group actually applauded after she was done!


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## kittyvibe (Oct 27, 2008)

the jumping spider, one little girl flew about 5ft, lol.


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## Gryphon (Sep 28, 2011)

My coffin jumper was a huge success until it self destructed. After that I had to rely on the extent of my own scariness to get the job done


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## SURT666 (Sep 30, 2008)

I'd have to say it was the Spirit Jumping Spider that took first place, then me with the battery powered deluxe chain saw. That got them running for there life.


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## justrenteredhalloween (Nov 2, 2011)

Depending upon where you live sometimes it can be a very simple thing that causes the most reactions from people since they don't see houses that are decorated for Halloween or go to Halloween events like a lot of us on this board probably do.

Where i live is a very poor neighborhood and since this was my first Halloween to decorate on a limited budget I had very few props. Certainly will add more but the tekky toys hedge monsters got all the reactions from people when I stomped my foot to make them go off.

For ten bucks each they make a lot of noise (sometimes they seem to laugh at the end of their growling routine) and the glowing eyes get people's attention. Don't have very good bushes but if you got the right plants the hedge monsters should make your plants shake a ton and the glowing eyes will shine.


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## Smithy (Aug 4, 2010)

Ghost of Spookie said:


> Smithy, sounds interesting. Any pics of it in action?


We have a few pictures of the clown.

http://images.reaperfx.com/galleries/halloween-2011/P1020284.jpg
http://images.reaperfx.com/galleries/halloween-2011/P1020289.jpg
http://images.reaperfx.com/galleries/halloween-2011/P1020298.jpg

There are videos too but I haven't had chance to upload them yet.


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## icyuod2 (Oct 27, 2009)

The 8.5 modified Stay Puft inflatable was by far our biggest scare tactic.

View My Video


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## Terra (Sep 23, 2007)

icyuod2 said:


> The 8.5 modified Stay Puft inflatable was by far our biggest scare tactic.
> 
> View My Video


Loved that! How did you modify it?


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## icyuod2 (Oct 27, 2009)

Terra said:


> Loved that! How did you modify it?


Was far easier than you think.
Check out the build thread for complete details.

http://www.halloweenforum.com/halloween-props/110062-stuft-stay-puft.html


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## Sauron the Great (Nov 3, 2009)

Our prop that got the most bang for the buck was the Jumping Spider prop from Tekky Toys, that thing got the most screams and jump all night, some was continual jumping back even after they knew it was coming!


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## Nashional (Oct 6, 2010)

A cot with a foam head, fake hand and leg and a wiper motor, all covered to appear like someone was there and was breathing. You had to pass it to get the candy and out the door. Many parents had to pick up their kids to get past it. Scared many adults and teens too.


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## Houston Haunter (Apr 26, 2011)

the monster in the bushes from target....it got everyone


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## uncletor (Dec 6, 2007)

I have a bucky with flesh on it in a hanging cage I made...the kids gape and think it's neat...


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## ranman1973 (Nov 4, 2010)

*John Doe*










The John Doe prop from spirit did a good job of scaring people. We he would rise up in the blood room it would freak people out.


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## SmartisSexy (Oct 14, 2009)

For some reason my Grandma Rocker in the rocking chair gets them every year ...


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## joossa (Sep 4, 2010)

Me...... or my new butcher for this year.....


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## kimber1 (Jun 12, 2011)

The jumping spider jumping out of the dark was a big hit. Every person gasped and screamed a little!! The most successful was my husband in his Creature Reacher costume. He stood in our courtyard as stiff as a statue, as soon the people got candy and turned around he moved and followed them out screaming!


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## kimber1 (Jun 12, 2011)

Last year I bought Uncle Charlie for a very big discount because his voice did not work. We decided to put him behind our glass french door looking out full body. His head still moves and my hubby had to put new lights in his eyes. They actually turned out better than what he had because they are green and slowly fade on and off. We uplit him and he freaked quite a few seeing his head turning back and forth with glowing green eyes. Next year I will light his face better so you can see his teeth and get a better scare.


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## kimber1 (Jun 12, 2011)

Not such a great pic of Uncle Charlie


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## cbonz2002 (Jun 23, 2009)

Thanks for sharing your giving me ideas for next year.


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