When I was a kid there was a guy in our neighborhood that used to jump out of the bushes in a gorilla suit and scare the bejeezus out of us. It was one of my fondest memories of halloween. Last year I decided to be that guy.
Unfortunately, I don't have any bushes. An alternative would be to build a trash barrel disguise. I built the disguise below and then sat in it right on the front lawn. Not one single kid realized that It wasn't a trash can and I scared so many of them that I lost count.
Here are some lessons I learned:
1. Kids don't want to be half-scared. After scaring the pants off of about 20 kids from 10-12 years old a group of 8 year olds came up. They were right in front of me but I didn't have the heart to scare them too much. I stood up and gave them a half-hearted "boo.". I will never forget the look on the kids face. I will describe it as bored/annoyed. He just looked at me and said "you're not scary. YOU ARE A TRASHCAN".
2. Parents like you to scare their kids. In fact, they think it is the funniest thing they have ever seen.
3. The more heartily you scare one group of kids the more likely they will be to wait on the next door neighbors lawn to see you scare the next group.
4. You should wait until after the kids get the candy to scare them. If you try to scare them when they are running for the porch they won't even see you. They have a lazer focus on the free candy.
5. Kids that are all wired up on candy have no memory. You can scare them then cross the street and scare them when they come to your neighbors yard.
6. I scared about 90 kids, only one cried (a small child in her mother's laughing arms) and one fell over backward. Here is the story of how I made a trashcan costume and how you can too. All it takes is a trash can with lid, a few screws and a saw. I picked up the parts and brought them to art class.
For the rest of the story along with photos, visit: http://www.extremepumpkins.com/trascancos.html
Click on photo to enlarge.
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