My Favorite Halloween Trick: Haunted Cauldron

One of the great delights of Halloween is scaring the dickens out of innocent children. Another is giving them the best candy in the neighborhood so you become known as THE house to go to on that chocolate-laden holiday.

What could be better, then, than a method of candy distribution that does both?

Making The Haunted Cauldron

You'll need the following equipment:

* A large plastic cauldron, at least knee-high
* A knife sharp enough to cut through the side of the cauldron
* Two large pieces of cardboard wider and longer than the cauldron's diameter
* Two pairs of long-wristed hideous green-hand costume gloves
* A small fog machine
* Your costume -- something that goes with the gloves and cauldron theme, like a witch
* A long spoon or piece of wood to use for "stirring" your cauldron

You'll end up with a large plastic cauldron that looks to be filled with eerie smoke and full-size candies (AKA, the Good Stuff) that you, the witch or monster, is stirring with the ladle or stick.

Since it's expensive and ultimately very fattening to really fill the whole thing up, your first step is to cut two pieces of strong (preferably corrugated) cardboard to roughly the diameter of the cauldron's widest point. Fold the cardboard in half just so you can get it inside the cauldron, then open it back up so that it gives your caultron a false bottom. Paint the other cardboard black on one side (even colored with black marker is fine), then fold it and slip it in on top of the other, oriented so that it crosses the corrugation line of the first cardboard for extra strength.

Next, you'll put your fog machine into the cauldron. Cut a hole in one side just large enough to thread the electric cord of the machine through, and put the machine inside the cauldron snugly against the side of the cauldron. Test the machine and make sure it generates enough fog in ten minutes to fill the cauldron; you may have to put a little piece of plastic wrap around the cord to seal up the hole. The fog should be at least dense enough to obscure the cardboard. Inadequate fog can ruin the effect.

Cut another hole near the fog machine, perhaps 4-6" away. This hole should be large enough to fit your hand inside comfortably, but not too large. Slip one glove into this hole so that the hand part is inside the cauldron; glue or staple the ends of the glove to the outside of the cauldron, and paint or color this part black so that it blends reasonably well with the black cauldron. You should have an apparent disembodied hand in the cauldron that you can easily slip your own hand inside of.

Your Costume

You'll need to make some adjustments to your costume. One sleeve, the one on the side of the disembodied hand, needs to be stuffed and the appropriate-side glove attached to it, also stuffed. It might also be convenient to slip some wire inside so you can easily bend the fingers and thumbs, as you will next be wrapping the hand around the ladle or stirring stick so that it appears to be "held" by the hand.

Now cut a hole below the sleeve so that you can stick your arm through, at least up to the elbow. You will need to disguise your real arm with a black drape or something similar so that it is relatively invisible in the dim light you'll probably have outside. To ensure it's completely obscured, wear long black sleeves beneath your costume (I have shoulder-length black costume gloves for this).

Putting Cauldron and Costume Together

Rehearse a little prior to Halloween so that you know everything's put together properly. You will need to be able to sit or stand in such a way that the cauldron hand-hole is level with your elbows.

Put your costume on, and slip your hand into the glove. You'll need to practice stirring with your other hand, so that one real hand and one fake hand are working the ladle. The stick doesn't need to really stir anything; just hovering over the candy and stirring fog should be plenty.

When you're comfortable with the movement necessary, dump in enough candy to cover the cauldron glove with your hand inside, and turn on the fog machine. Ideally, your fog should mostly obscure the candy, with the thickest fog close to your glove. This hides your hand -- until it starts moving.

Now ask someone to reach in and grab some candy so you can try to grab their hand with the hidden hand in the cauldron. You may find a few other things out -- like a need to anchor the cauldron. Practice this until you're comfortable with the motions involved.

Halloween Night and the Haunted Cauldron

When the trick-or-treaters come, let them choose whether they want to take their own candy from the cauldron (giving you the opportunity to scare the dickens out of them) or have you give them smaller candies from a bowl nearby. You may find it's easier to have an assistant with you to help coordinate things.

Remember, the haunted cauldron may be too scary for the smallest children, so use good judgment. Happy haunting!