| Macabre Mummies! by Rose Smith
From lighthearted to scary to utterly creepy and gross, Halloween decorations can certainly vary in their intensity and scariness. Walking through the neighborhood while dusk settles into the darkness of night on All Hallows Eve, we expect to see the familiar icons of witches, ghosts, vampires, and pumpkins greeting visitors from fog enshrouded lawns or peering out behind cobweb-draped bushes. However, for some of us creative types, what is seen elsewhere just won't do for us. We’re always looking for something unique that makes our outdoor Halloween decorations stand apart from the norm.
Here's a new twist on the eerie graveyard layout for those of us that take morbid pleasure in creating terrifying delights for trick-or-treaters, - recently exhumed macabre mummies guarding the gateway to the afterlife. With time-worn headstones and a few open crypts to complete the haunting scene, this Halloween yard decor is sure to be a hit.
To begin, take the time to plan the layout of your yard on paper. Make a list of what materials you will need so you can gather everything up before you start this project. As a quick rundown, you'll need to make a couple of "crypts," several tombstones, four to five mummies, and various other creatures to enhance the creepiness of twilight terror.
At Rest No More: Making Your Crypts
Create your crypts by spraying painting large boxes with grey-colored specialty stone paints. By adding splotches of brown paint along the edges and across the bottom of the crypt, you'll give it a worn, dirty appearance. If desired, cut out the letters RIP or perhaps use some sort of decorative, ornamental design to provide a 3-D affect to the front of the crypt. Spray paint your cut-outs in the same stone-type paint and glue to the front of the box.
Your crypt will also need a "lid" of sorts. To make it, use 2-inch thick rectangular Styrofoam that's been cut to fit the width and length of the top of the crypt box. Spray paint this the same stone-look grey and secure to the top of the box with nails. For a chilling effect, keep it slightly askew, so it appears as if the crypt as been opened.
Tombstone Terror
If you can afford it, you can usually purchase tombstones of varying heights and designs where Halloween decorations are sold. However, making your own is often cheaper and will allow you to be more creative in your designs.
Using 1 to 2 inch thick sheets of Styrofoam in a variety of heights, draw out the design for the top of each tombstone (curved, with a cross on top, etc.) Be sure to scuff up the tombstones a bit by breaking off pieces here and there, perhaps gouging some spots, and applying "cracks" with a paint brush and regular dark grey paint.
If desired, you can carefully etch an epitaph directly onto the front of the Styrofoam, and then spray paint the entire tombstone with decorative stone spray paint (grey or brown). As an alternative you can add the epitaph afterwards using regular black, brown or dark grey paint and a paint brush.
Menacing Mummies at Large
Use old clothes to make the form of your mummies. Be sure the clothing you use is dispensable; remember these mummies will be outside in the elements and exposed to rain, wind, and possibly snow. Visit second hand outlets where you can easily purchase such items at bargain prices if you don’t have anything that you can use at home.
Stabilize your mummy by putting together a T frame from 2-inch thick boards. The top board should be cut to shoulder width and the other board should equal the height the you want – measured from the ground up to the height of the shoulders.
Slide your used clothing over the frame and stuff with newspapers to fill it out. Use duct tape along the waistline to hold the shirt and pants together. Secure the bottom of your T frame to a 10"x 12" piece of plywood that is 2-inches thick. This will act as the base and keep your mummy from tipping over.
Insert a 10-inch long dowel partway into the neck of the shirt and the other half into a Styrofoam head. (You can also make the head by covering a balloon with paper-maché). Hold in place with duct tape around the neck. Cover your mummy with 2-inch wide torn strips of muslin material. Using spray paints in translucent brown and beige, you can quickly give your mummy an aged appearance.
Creepy Crawly Creatures
Mummies are most often associated with Egypt - as are scarab beetles: the symbols of immortality. Purchase or sculpt your own scarabs using Styrofoam eggs, black paint, black chenille-stems, and enhance their torsos with deep red dimensional paint. Spiders, snakes and scorpions also make great additions to help embellish your chilling landscape.
Showtime: Setting the Scene
Once you have all your items completed, start by placing the two crypts first. Since they are the largest props in your inventory, you'll be using them to help determine where your other items should be placed for best viewing. As a rule of thumb, larger pieces should be at the back of the scene, with smaller items out front. Glue or pin some scarab beetles crawling up into (or coming out of) the crypts for more sinister highlights.
Position your mummies as desired around the yard along with the tombstones. Enhance their look of decay by rubbing and tossing some dirt onto the muslin material of each mummy. A scarab beetle here and there, or perhaps a snake wrapped at the feet of a mummy, will contribute additional gruesomeness to the scene. Place spiders, scorpions, over-turned urns, and other such props as desired.
As a final touch, you may wish to use some low lighting effects along with a fogging machine to promote an eerie, unsettling effect to your exhibit. Then sit back and enjoy the gasps and shudders of Halloween trick-or-treaters as they make their way to your door – if they dare.
Rose Smith owns the popular website Halloween Howl where she invites you to come and explore some great Halloween party themes, chilling decorating suggestions, inspiring costume ideas, along with loads of general Halloween fun for the whole family at www.HalloweenHowl.com
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