This is one of the classics of horror. I remember when I finally saw the original film with Boris Karloff, Dwight Frye, and Colin Clive. It was one of the most incredible films of its day. This version we are doing in the Haunted House is a little bit more intense than the movie was.

You have a lab setup with all types of equipment. We used cardboard boxes sprayed black or gray, with Christmas lights, knobs, and thread spools attached. The more junk, though, you pile on them, the less realistic they are going to look. If you have a sound actuated light fixture, (not a Clapper, but like the old disco color organs where the lights flash with sound percussion) you can use it along with a sound effects tape to simulate electrical charges or lightning outside the window.

Cover all this with cobwebs and dust. Tables of equipment as well as jars and tubes of colored liquid add to the atmosphere. An aquarium aerator can create bubbles in the jars. You can fashion a brain out of clay and submerge it in one of the jars. The Jacob’s Ladder, explained in the special FX chapter, will also add to the atmosphere. Noise and lights are imperative to the success of this scene, as well as a really good Monster’s mask.

I saw a brain shaped Jello mold in a catalog the other day. I thought it was a really neat and useful item. Mold the aforementioned clay brain using this mold and sink it in a jar of water in your lab. Or make one out of Jello and offer pieces of it to your guests. Remember , there’s always room for Jello.

The Effect

The Monster is strapped to a table, and brought to life using the aforementioned machinery. He escapes from the table, by dramatically pulling loose the straps, and rushes toward the audience. The Mad Doctor tries to stop him and puts himself between him and the crows. The monster struggles with the doctor briefly, then grabs his arm and wrenches it out of the socket. He then proceeds to beat the doctor with his own severed arm. The guide hurriedly escorts them from the room, as if he needs to.

I cannot express how incredibly effective this is. This might be one that you want to tone down if you have a lot of small kids in the house. Below on this page in Fig. #1, you will see how to rig the fake arm (yes, it’s really a fake).

P.S. In Mary Shelly’s novel, the doctor’s name was Frankenstein. It really bugs me to hear the monster referred to as such. He was Dr. Frankenstein’s monster.