Body Parts for a Halloween Party

Buying Body Parts for a Halloween Party

Check out the following sources for all of your fake body part needs:

• The Nightmare Factory offers every limb imaginable. They even sell full-body props, such as the Jon Doe Autopsy figure. The Meat Market line of products features body parts, from hearts to hands, packaged on foam trays as if they were for sale from a cannibal butcher. Place Severed Finger Food, five severed fingers, next to the carrots and celery sticks on your veggie tray as a fun shock for the guests.
• HalloweenExpress.com sells a skinned head, cut off fingers and toes, and a bloody eyeball among many other macabre creations.
• Full Moon Masks provides all the important bloody bits and pieces. Intestines, a torn-off nose, a chunk of shoulder and more allow you to decorate your celebration with carnage. If you really want to turn heads, try on a pair of severed ear earrings.
• If you like to browse the gory selection in person, visit party stores in September and October to take advantage of seasonal products. Halloween USA is one company that opens temporary stores in the months leading up to the holiday.

Make Your Own Body Parts

Gelatin Molds

If you'd like to add some horror to the buffet table, consider body part gelatin molds. Anatomical Chart Company sells brain and heart molds. YankeeHalloween.com offers hands, eyeballs, and faces. Most molds come with recipes and preparation tips for highly authentic, yet edible, organs.

Latex Gloves

Fake hands are truly multi-purpose body parts for a Halloween party, and latex gloves provide a quick and easy way to create them. Fill a glove with water, tie off the end, and freeze. Peel away the glove, and enjoy a floating hand in the punch bowl. Use a glove as a mold, and fill it with plaster of Paris. Paint your plaster hands and leave them in unexpected places around the party room. If you like your fake body parts to be a little less stiff, experiment with fillings, such as sand or pudding, for stuffing the latex glove to give it weight and texture while remaining flexible.

Food-Based Options

Sometimes all you need is the power of suggestion to create an aura of fear at your Halloween party. Place "body parts" in bowls, and in a darkened room, ask party guests to stick their hands in and feel the contents. Some popular choices include:

• Eyeballs – peeled grapes
• Ears – dried apricots or other dried fruit of a similar size and shape
• Toe or finger – cocktail wiener
• Teeth – popcorn kernels
• Hair – cornsilk
• Intestines or worms eating a corpse – cold, cooked spaghetti

You may want to start by telling a ghost story, and then introduce each bowl in relation to the story, such as, "Here are the eyeballs that failed to see danger coming" or "And now in his coffin, only the worms remain."

A Word of Caution

Many of the body parts for a Halloween party sold at costume shops and party supply stores are highly realistic and are not for the squeamish. Keep in mind that not everyone will enjoy being greeted by a severed head or bloody intestines. If you're unsure, choose cute or campy over gross. Parents should especially use caution before using body parts at a Halloween party for kids. In addition, never make guests participate in activities that make them uncomfortable. If someone doesn't want to stick his hand in a bowl full of "eyeballs" or your daughter won't eat a jiggly slice of "brain", don't force the issue. Fake body parts should be a source of fun thrills, not true fear and disgust.