# My super-cheap chopping room (1 pic)



## Toktorill (Sep 15, 2007)

Hello again! During our 2006 haunt a very effective room design was the "chopping room": a delightfully gory little corner.

We bought some thin clear polyurethane from our local hardware store, along with the cheapest "blood" paint we could find. Then a few of the builders donned latex gloves, laid out the poly, and had a fingerpainting party. Besides the usual hand prints, splatter, and streaks they also wrote a few playful messages along the lines of "help", "mom 555-1234" and such.

(Note: after we were done with the latex gloves we turned them inside out, stuffed them with newspaper, and used them as props too!)​
The "Chopping block" was a piece of cardboard taped to the top of one of our haunt storage containers, with some cheap plastic tablecloth from the dollar store around the front. I made the axe out of a few layers of cardboard pressed together, trimmed with a knife into an axehead shape, then covered with duct tape. The end of the axe was left as only a tab to stick into a matching slot in the top of the chopping block. I left a small end on the bottom of the head to stick into a paper tube which was then taped to the head (more duct tape), and covered with woodgrain vinyl shelf covering from the dollar store. Some black and silver spray paint really brought the axe to life. I used a small splattering of blood and a severed arm for finishing touches.








In the pic you'll notice some "blood" on the floor- this is paint that flecked off the walls during the course of the haunt. It was a bit of a pain during cleanup (it really got ground into the tile grout underfoot!). We had to scrub with soapy water to get it out! I would suggest investing in some painter's cloth or other such covering, to save yourself some time.

Between the poly, paint, tape and shelf covering, this room cost us $20-30. The zombie was a remote controlled prop belonging to one of our haunter's- it crawled towards the patrons making moaning noises when they came into the room. We lit the room with a cheap spinning dance light and a strobe.


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## abrcrombe (Sep 18, 2007)

Looks very effective and the axe looks great.


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## pennywise (Aug 5, 2008)

That is awesome! Could you elaborate a little on the cardboard axe? I have been trying to make one out of cardboard and so far had 3 failed attempts. Thanks.


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## Lilly (Jun 13, 2006)

looks good ..do you have a night shot so to speak?
nice axe


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## Toktorill (Sep 15, 2007)

Whoa, 2007 post, back from the dead!!!

pennywise: Sorry, haven't been at the site in awhile to check my messages. Check your PM for some more axe info.

Lilly: Thanks for the comments, and sorry- I had a pretty cheap digital camera back then so I was limited in my lighting, and most of the pics from this haunt seem to be lost to the ages- perhaps the victims of a hard drive crash.


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