Most people loved to be scared silly. This prank came from a Halloween video. Take a real or cardboard coffin and open the left side. Put a really silly or dumb-looking monster mask with a portion of the body going into the right side of the coffin. The right side of the coffin will have a person in it so you'll need to prop the mask onto a box to allow the person's feet to slide under it.
The top of the coffin on the right side can be decorated with props like rats and flowers which are glued on with hot glue. I have also screwed on a candelabra with flickering lights so that it looks like the right side cannot open. When someone walks by to look at the silly-looking mask and are disappointed at the sorry looking prop, the person inside flings open the right side of the coffin and scares the beegeebees out of them! I always use a spotter, who kneels behind the coffin (who stares at the guests) and taps it to signal when they should come out. (Make sure the person in the coffin is small enough to fit in the coffin and is in good shape because they'll be doing situps all night long!)
My sister Ada and niece, Laurie, carry the coffin to it's resting place.
My neighbor, Mandy, flips open the top of the coffin to scare the neighborhood kids.
Here is Mandy's sister, Veronica. She is working as a spotter, who kneels behind the coffin and stares at the people who walk by. They tap on the coffin as a signal for the person inside the coffin to jump up. Most people are startled and scream.
"I've done enough situps for the night. Go away!"
It's a good idea to have an alternate coffin jumper because you can get pretty tired, thirsty and sweaty throughout the night. (I live in Florida and it can be really hot and humid on Halloween!)
I keep sip-up drinks inside the coffin for myself and sometimes throw candy at the trick or treaters when they come by.
