Easy to Make Haunted House Props

Haunted house props that move or spring out at your guests add terrific scares, but they're tough to add if you're on a budget. Professionally made animatronics can cost thousands of dollars. Doing it yourself is a real challenge unless you've got some mechanical and electrical know-how. Fortunately, there are some simple ways to turn common houshold items into frightening surprises.

The Vanishing Ghost
You'll need a ceiling fan for this effect, and you'll need to keep it out of the path of your guests so that nobody trips on it. This effect works best in a completely dark room.

Take a black bedsheet and attach it to the blades of the ceiling fan so that it forms a curtain. Leave one side open. Hang a bed-sheet ghost or a plastic skeleton draped in sheets from the center of the fan, so that it won't move. When you turn the fan on, the outer bedsheet rotates, giving your guests a quick glimpse of the ghost in the center. You can make this effect more dramatic by using a strobe light, or by replacing the light bulbs in the ceiling fan with blacklights.

Grabbing Hands
This is a variation of an effect seen in A Nightmare on Elm Street. You'll need to set up this effect in a deep bookcase, an alcove or through a doorway.

First, securely attach a piece of Spandex to a frame that will fit the space. You can use black, white to match walls or brown to replace a doorway. Be sure to use Spandex; other types of fabric won't work.

Next, take two tabletop fans with a low-speed setting and remove the protective grilles. Be sure that nobody can come in contact with the exposed fan blades. Attach a fake hand to each of the four blades on each fan. Use rigid, plastic hands rather than latex or rubber.

Tape the fans together, back to back, and place them behind your Spandex screen. When the fans are turned on, it will appear as if hands are clawing out of the wall. For an intermittent effect, you can attach hands to fewer blades.

The Inflating Ghost
This last effect includes a power switch that must be turned on and off. You can have someone do this as guests walk by, or use a motion sensor from the hardware store to trigger the effect. You'll also need a small cannister vacuum cleaner with an exhaust and a white kitchen trash bag.

Paint a scary face on a kitchen trash bag. Securely attach the trash bag to the exhaust port of the vacuum cleaner with duct tape. The seal must be almost airtight. Place the vacuum on the floor with the exhaust port pointing up. When guests walk by, turn on the vacuum to inflate the ghost.