Scare Tactics

Motion-triggered monster heads, a witches´ brew of liquid nitrogen, a projector rigged for fright, and more. Here, our favorite high-tech haunting tricks made easy

By Theodore Gray and Paul Wallich Posted 09.26.2006 at 1:00 am 0 Comments

The Evil-Eyed Monster: Skinned-Alive Robotic Chimp

Cost: $190
WowWee Robotics Chimp ALIVE! ($160)
LEGO Bionicle Voice Changer Helmet ($20)
2 pairs of black pantyhose ($10)
4 hours, Moderately difficult

Looking for that little something extra for your Halloween party this year? Don´t just carve another boring pumpkin. Instead, try skinning a WowWee Robotics Chimp ALIVE! for a Terminator-style head that screeches and cackles and follows you with its eyes (click here for a video). Here´s how:

Remove the fright-wig â€skinâ€ from the outside of the chimp.

Insert the microphone from the voice-changer helmet into the chimp´s mouth.

Embed the LED clusters from the helmet in front of the chimp´s eyeballs.

Fix everything in place with cable ties.

Pull two pairs of black pantyhose over the chimp´s head.

Make your little monster mobile by mounting it to an iRobot Roomba. Specifically, you´ll want a Roomba equipped with Mind Control. Mind Control (elementdirect.com) is a little device that plugs into the Roomba Open Interface and enables you to write your own Roomba-control program, giving you complete access to Roomba´s sensors, motors and speaker.

Can't see this? Download Flash, or get the video in Quicktime format here.

The Wailing Corpse

Morph a flimsy fake skeleton into a mass of hideous rotting flesh with the Corpsification Kit ($35; goregalore.com) from Gore Galore. Then soup up your dead guy with Chips International's Halloween Howler/ Superseller ($50; chips-international.com), a wallet-size gadget that lets you record up to 20 seconds of creaks and moans and then plays them back when triggered by a motion sensor. End result: perfectly timed sounds and petrified visitors.

The battery- or AC-adapter-operated Superseller comes with a line-in jack and onboard mike for recording, a line-out for amplification, and a reset timer to keep the shrieks from getting repetitive during high-traffic times. Sound effects can be retained indefinitely without power, and a swivel-type mounting bracket makes temporary installation easy. Ready for fright night?