Make A Fake Dead Body for Halloween In 5 Dead-Easy Steps

Looking to make your own dead body Halloween decoration to scare your friends?

As certified dead body specialists (fake dead bodies, that is!), we’re here to help. While we’ve got high end dead body versions and making our own custom severed limbs, we’ve also experimented with making DIY dead bodies.

While you can go all out and spend thousands of pounds creating the ultimate fake dead body, there are many alternatives available that are much more budget-friendly and will yield similar results. Here are three ways to make a fake dead body for Halloween. 

The Bin Bag Body

Starting off with the easiest and most budget-friendly alternative on the list, there’s the bin bag body, which can be crafted with items that most people have in their households. All you need is a few black bin bags, old clothes, newspapers or any other kind of cheap stuffing, duct tape, and gloves. 

The steps are fairly simple:

1. Stuff newspaper or smaller plastic bags into the larger bin bags to start shaping the torso, the arms, and the legs. You can use duct tape as you go to help you keep the arms a bit more narrow and the legs broader. 
2. Once you have two arms, two legs and one torso, use more duct tape to secure the limbs to the rest of the body. 
3. Then, fit the old clothes over the body you built and make it look as natural as possible. 
4. To form the head, you’ll need to stuff another plastic bag and shape it like a ball, securing the open end with more duct tape when you’re done. Then, secure it to the torso. 
5. Use more bin bags to cover the entire body to make it look like a concealed corpse. For added realism, you can cut slits into the outer bag to reveal the clothing inside. You can also splash some fake blood on top of the fake dead body to make the scene more gruesome. 

You can also leave the body without an external plastic bag covering, but since there are limited resources for building the head, it looks more realistic when the body is partially concealed. 

The Skeleton Body

This method is a bit more complex and will take a little longer than the bin bag method, but the resulting fake dead body will be much more structurally stable and better overall. You’ll need to buy one plastic skeleton from a store, some old clothes, pillow stuffing or rages, and wire hangers or duct tape. 

Here’s what you have to do:

1. Lay the skeleton on the ground and adjust it to the position you want it to be in. 
2. Use duct tape and wire to secure the skeleton in complex positions. 
3. Dress the skeleton with your old clothes and use the rags or pillow stuffing to put some meat on those bones. 
4. Make sure the stuffing looks natural. 
5. Once you’re happy with both the position and the shape of your fake dead body, add fake blood, cobwebs, and dirt to give it a more rugged appearance. 

The Chicken Wire Dummy

Lastly, there’s this fake dead body creation method, which involves a little more money, skill, and effort, but it’s well worth it. You’ll need chicken wire, pliers, paper mache, old clothes, and if you want, some paint as well. 

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Cut and shape the chicken wire to form the outline of a human body. We recommend you use pliers and gloves to stay safe, prevent cuts, and shape the wire much more easily. 
2. Once you have an outline you’re happy with, and it’s properly secured from all angles, you can start covering the entire structure with paper mache mix (flour, water, newspaper strips). 
3. Apply several layers to the chicken wire structure to make it as durable as possible. Remember, this is a decoration that you’ll hopefully be using for many years. 
4. After the arduous process of covering the entire chicken wire structure in paper mache mix, wait for it to dry.  
5. Apply paint to give the fake dead body the texture and consistency you want. You can use warmer skin tones to represent a fresh fake dead body, or greenish, grey tones for a more zombie-like appearance. Add fake blood and any finishing touches you want. 

Going the Extra Mile With Fake Limbs

If you’re committed to creating the most realistic fake dead body any of your friends or neighbours have ever seen, then check out our proprietary fake body parts. 

We have hands and arms, feet and legs, and even organs! You can also choose between regular fake body parts and versions of them with stitched wrists or dirtied shoes. They look so real, that if you’re not careful, you’ll have your neighbours calling the police this Halloween!

Ready to Make Your Fake Dead Body?

Halloween decorations are essential to turning what is normally a lovely home between January and September, into a haunted house of horrors in the month of October. 

There are many different ways to make a fake dead body, with alternatives ranging from cheap bin bags and old clothes, to more complex methods involving chicken wire, pliers, and a ton of time and patience.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to personal decision. If you want a decoration that you can put together in a couple of minutes and disassemble come November, go simple. And if you want a decoration that will last years and save you a lot of money in the long run, putting more elbow grease into the process advised. 

Here at Mad About Horror, we have everything you need to decorate your house and dress as your favourite character for Halloween. Make sure to visit our Homepage to explore our offerings. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us. 

We’re open Monday to Friday from 9 am to 5 pm.