Picture Post of the Week »The Scary Pumpkin
Halloween 2006 Report (Better late than never!)
My goal this year was to buy 5 giant bags of candy and scare away enough of the bigger kids to make that last all night. Our neighborhood is a van drop off destination for trick-or-treaters and more than half of them are old enough to drive, so why not?
First up this year, I added a small networked IP video camera to the front corner of the garage out of sight and set it up to trigger a loud godzilla roar in the garage. Coming up the driveway would trigger the camera and play the mp3 in a loop, surprisingly it scared some of the older grade school kids away. The others would walk around and trigger it repeatedly and couldn't figure out where it came from.
Next up, just around the corner I placed the new concussive air canon hidden behind a tombstone. This is a 60 PSI air chamber hooked up to a standard 1" sprinkler head and powered by a small air compressor. When the older kids walked by a small pushbutton inside the house set off a very loud blast of harmless air. I didn't want to automate this one as we don't want to ruin Halloween for the little kids.
If that didn't scare them, then on final approach to the door was a small wooden pumpkin. This has a standard (yard security) motion sensor in test mode, hooked up to power a strobe and speakers of a MP3 screeching sound playing in a loop.
Finally, there's the Scary Pumpkin I put on the front of the house for Halloween. It's a leftover piece of 5/8 " ACX from the bathroom remodel with some spray paint. I put some foam 3/4" pipe insulation on the bottom edge to prevent head injuries, and while not easily visible in the picture it's hinged and opens out.
We then sat back in the living room and watched the video coming off the IP camera on the TV and waiting for trick-or-treaters to arrive. We can a great time, the trick-or-treaters had a good time and no little children were scared. We ended up with 2 giant bags left over, aww shucks. My co-workers thanked me though. :-)
Can't wait for October, this year will have to include something new...
Search
