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Every good haunted house has to have good props! The props can range from simple and inexpensive dummies, to the more professional looking and more expensively purchased props. This "how-to" guide for making your own props will focus on one type of prop, which can easily and fairly inexpensively be made - a classic "dummy" and your very own spider victim.
For a classic dummy, you will need a long-sleeved shirt, a shirt or jacket or coat, a mask, a pair of shoes, a pair of gloves, and some type of fasteners, such as safety pins. You will also need lots and lots of material to use for "stuffing" your dummy. Newspapers work really well for this.
To get started, stuff your shirt, jacket or coat with the stuffing material. Carefully close off the armholes and collar of the clothing, so that the stuffing will stay intact. Then, set this aside - carefully, so the stuffing material will not fall out. For the time being, leave the bottom of the shirt/jacket open, until you are ready to attach the bottom half of your prop.
Repeat the stuffing procedure with the pair of pants, filling with stuffing material and then fastening them closed. Attach the shoes to the bottom of the pants, so that they will stay securely. Very carefully, then, attach the top and bottom halves of your dummy, fastening the top and bottom to one another, finally enclosing all of your stuffing material securely.
Now, you're ready to attach the gloves to each "hand" of your dummy. The gloves should be filled with stuffing, or you may even wish to enclose a wire hand-form inside the gloves. (You can make one of these in a jiffy with a piece of wire!) If you prefer, you could even just let the gloves rest limply beside the dummy, with nothing stuffed inside.
For a head, either use a standard head form, like ones used for wigs or hats, or create one of your own. You just need something with substance, so that you will have something on which to place your mask. Put the head on top of the dummy's shoulders and find a way to hold it in place, then attach your mask. If the head is still showing, you might want to add some type of hood or hat to cover the head form, itself, to add to the realism of your prop.
Now your dummy prop is ready to go. Just treat it with care, so that all of your hard work doesn't fall apart in your hands!
For a variation of the classical dummy, you can create a nifty spider victim that is sure to scare the socks off of anyone who comes upon him unsuspectingly. Take the dummy you just made in the earlier instructions, and wrap plastic wrap tightly around the body. Using clear tape to hold the wrap in place, wind the wrap horizontally, from top to bottom or from bottom to top. Just start at one end and work your way to the other. This gives you a more even and believable looking creation. If you want to hang the spider victim from a wall or other place, simply attach a hanger or other piece of wire to the back.
For greater effect, simply add your own version of spider webs, "spiders," or anything else you can think of to make your prop more believable and downright scary.
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