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+Nothing says Halloween like a head wound. A fake head wound that is. But head wounds, or any other wounds for that matter, necessitate a lot of fake blood. If you head to the local costume shop you might be in for a shock -- fake blood isn't cheap. Since the economy probably vaporized your retirement, there's no need to waste any more of it on fake blood. To make matters worse, most of the commercial blood doesn't look very realistic anyway.

But fear not my DIY friends, we've raided the back lots of hollywood to bring you some simple recipes to concoct your own fake blood using common household ingredients.

== The non-toxic variety ==

Halloween tends to mean children will be around and children + antifreeze = bad. So we'll start with the non-toxic variety of fake blood. It may not be the choice of indie horror film directors, but it'll get the job done for Halloween.

Here's the recipe:

# White corn syrup
# Red food coloring
# Water
# blue or green food coloring
# Arrowroot powder or Corn Starch

Start with about 1 tablespoon of Arrowroot powder or Corn Starch in a large bowl. Either one of these will do, though Arrowroot powder is better for avoiding lumps. Now add about a cup of White Corn Syrup and mix it up with the powder. The results will be rather thick, so once you have it mixed, start thinning it down with water until you get something close to the consistency of blood -- about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water should do the trick.

Now that you have a base, it's time to add the dye. Start with the red and add a few drops at a time, mixing thoroughly until you have a nice red color. But of course everyone knows that blood isn't bright red. That's where the blue and green dye comes in. Add a couple of drops of either color until it looks more like actual blood.

Once it looks like blood, set your mixture aside and let it thicken a bit before applying it to your costume. If you're looking for something a bit more edible, add a couple drops of peppermint extract -- mmm minty blood.

A word of warning: this mixture will stain your clothes and might temporarily discolor your skin as well.

== The semi-toxic, I-made-it-in-hollywood variety ==

It won't leech lead into your skin or do anything else truly frightening, but you definitely don't want to eat this fake blood.

Here's the recipe:

Pour alcohol-free, water-soluble hair gel in a bowl. We're going to add some other liquids so you only need to use about three-quarters of what you want the total amount of blood to be. Now add some water-soluble lubricant (a hem, astroglide works well here). You want the lubricant to thin the hair gel down so that it's just slightly thicker than water -- start with a small amount and add more if you need it.

Now it's time to color the mixture. As with the non-toxic version, start with red dye and then add blue or green to shift the color to something more blood like. Chocolate syrup can also be used to create a bit more maroon color.

The advantage of this blood is that it's not sticky and, if you experiment a little bit you'll find that flinging it around creates very realistic splatters.

But, as with the other, use caution since this mixture will stain just about everything it touches.

== Bonus points ==

Fake blood is all good and well, but what's even cooler is using the fake blood in some live action stunts. The secret is what Hollywood calls a "squib." Technically a squib is actually the explosive part of the equation, but the idea is to fill a plastic bag with fake blood and hide under you clothes. In the Hollywood version a very small charge then blows open the bag. We strongly suggest avoiding the pyrotechnics. When you get "shot" or "stabbed" just clutch the affected area and pop the bag, letting the blood pour out.

The simplest way to make a squib is to spoon a little blood into a small, cheap plastic baggie and then mash it against yourself to make the blood leak out. For a little more sophistication you can tape the bag under your clothes and then smash it so it seems out through your clothes.

If you want to really go for the realism, use the bag as above, but super glue some thin wire to the back of it (which will be a little tricky, but is possible) and then pull the wire to start the bleeding without anything so dramatic as clutching your chest.

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