4 Ways To Scare People

If you know your target well, you can exploit their biggest fear by dressing up as whatever will scare that person the most, whether it’s the dentist, a giant spider, or a ghost. Though the quick scare will still be effective if you just look like your regular self, you will frighten your victim at a whole new level if you dress up as someone scary. For more specific costume suggestions, skip to the next section for tips.

Text your friend to meet you somewhere at a specific time, but have your creepy surprise waiting for them instead. This will give you the chance to set up beforehand. Wait until you know your friend or sibling will be alone and distracted. Alone in their room playing video games, or focusing hard on homework? Perfect. If you want to scare your sibling, set up your frightening scene while they’re asleep and let them wake up to it. Super terrifying.

Under beds Behind doors Behind trees or cars Under staircases In the dark basement In the attic In plain sight, but in the dark In the closet

Fake snakes, wetted with Vaseline to look really creepy Rusty knives Fake blood Raw meat Worms or cockroaches Static noise on television or radio Broken baby dolls

Alternatively, you can also leave a recording of creepy noises to startle your friend instead. Set up an old boombox to play a recording of you coughing and wheezing creepily, timed to set off when they walk in. When your victim is thoroughly frightened, it’s a good idea to start backing off. You don’t want to freak them out too much, or risk getting the cops called. Once they scream once, you got your fun, and now know when to call it quits.

Wash your face thoroughly, then apply some really pale foundation make up all over your face. You could also use some baby powder to dust your face gently and make it appear paler. The pallor of death. Use dark blue or black eye shadow under your eyes to give them that sunken, fresh out of the grave look. Blend it gently to make it look more natural. Nice. Make up some fake blood using food coloring and corn syrup, then draw a fake “wound” on your body somewhere visible with marker and bloody it up with the fake blood. [3] X Research source

You can even go all out and get some surgical equipment to make it as realistic as possible, or at least your dad’s power drill from the garage. Unplug it, of course. Splatter some ketchup or fake blood all over your scrubs and carry a knife and fork. You’ll look super creepy.

Look to famous horror-movie characters like Michael Myers, Jason, Freddy Krueger, or Ghost Face from Scream," and see if you can get your hands on a realistic looking mask. Wearing a mask over your regular clothes can look somewhat creepy, but if you’re wearing what you wore to school that day, it’ll probably be a quick tip that it’s you.

Just sit in a dark room with the TV blasting static, rocking back and forth, mumbling the sentence, “They told me this would happen. . . " over and over. When your friend starts looking concerned, scream at the top of your lungs. Walk into your sibling’s room in the middle of the night and just stand over their bed with your mouth open, drooling fake blood and breathing raggedly. Stand facing the corner in a dark room. Do nothing. When you turn around, have fake blood all over your face.

A house or structure with scary elements—like narrow hallways, squeaky steps or dark basements—is a good place to start. Make a map for yourself. Make sure people can easily move from room to room without difficulty.

Abandoned insane asylum Torture chamber Vampire’s lair Zombie invasion Evil scientist’s lab

You can station some guests on the porch, having them “play dead” until the guests get close enough. Then, they can jump out at your guests, scaring them before they even set foot in the house.

Station a volunteer in each room to help create the spooky environment and direct the guests. Each room can have differently creepy effects, such as a bowl of cold noodles meant to be worms, or a jar of peeled grapes that are supposed to be eyeballs. Create “specimen jars” by placing broken toys or bent utensils in cloudy water that is dyed green.

Have your volunteers scamper from one side of an empty room to the other, wearing heavy boots. Place a few coins in an empty soda can and tie it to a string. Have your volunteers shake the can to create a “rattling” sound. Play a recording of spooky sounds in every room, from the sound of a woman screaming, wind wildly blowing, or the sounds of chainsaw. Make the most of silence. Make the house absolutely silent from time to time so the fear factor goes up during the next spooky sound.

Designate a hallway where the guests have to wear blindfolds – just make sure they’re comfortable with this. Light a spotlight under fake creepy insects or a spiderweb to create a spooky shadow on the wall. Drape black plastic bags around the furniture to catch a little bit of eerie light.

Later, when the guests tell you they had a great time at your haunted house, act like you have no idea what they’re talking about.

Don’t just create your story on the spot. Though you can surely improvise, it’s important to have your story set before you begin. If you hesitate while you’re telling the story, then you will lose your audience.

You can even tell people that it’s so secret that you can’t even read about it online. Say you read about it on microfilm at the local library. Tell people they can do the same to confirm that the story is true – obviously, no one would do that, but it’ll lend more credibility to your tale. Before you jump into the story, you can ask, “Are you sure you want to hear this?” Act like the story is so scary that you don’t know if you should proceed.

Keep your readers on their toes by saying things like, “But that’s nothing compared to what happened later. " Or, “She thought that was the worst pain in the world, but that was only the beginning. " Talk slowly and carefully. Don’t just rush to the scariest parts of the story. Make every word count.

The fake blood-stained clothes of the victim are also a nice touch. You can even use something ordinary, like the baseball card collection of a little boy who disappeared.

You can also crumple a plastic bag, which creates a great rustling effect.

For example, a man whose hand was severed is scary enough, but a man with a severed hand whose veins leave a trail of blood wherever he walks is even more frightening. Ground the story in history. If it was before World War II, casually mention who the president was, or bring up a detail from that period to make the story sound more realistic.

The spookiest endings are unresolved. Don’t solve the mystery. Leave your audience to wonder if the ghost or scary person in question is still alive – maybe even wandering in the woods nearby. When the story’s over, go absolutely silent, like you were so overwhelmed by the ending that you can’t possibly go on.