Introduction: How to Cage Your Killer Zombie This Halloween

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About: I am new to writing "instructables" and just started my own blog at terrorhousehaunt.com. Each year I hold an annual Terror House “haunt party” at Cottonwood Corner Terror House. The first year I pr…

I'm new to writing tutorials on my props but I recently started a blog at Terror House Haunt and wanted to share one of my favorite props. One of my "Cottonwood Corner Terror House" haunt themes this year is going to be a “Zombie Land” theme. In the hope of avoiding liability issues with my zombie this year I wanted to build a cage to keep him contained and as a result hopefully he won’t attack any guests! With this in mind, my boyfriend Chris and I worked on this project together (since it involved power tools-most notably a saw).

Supplies

• Saw (YIKES)!

• 1" x 3" wood or whatever scrap wood you have

• Tongue and groove facia board (or plywood/scrap wood)

• Brad nailer

• Power drill

• Screws

• Drill bit

• 1/2" PVC pipe

• PVC pipe cutter

• 1/2" PVC conduit clamps

• Black spray paint

• Sand

• Black acrylic paint

• Brown acrylic paint

• Red acrylic paint

• Orange acrylic paint

• Paint brushes

• Antique maple gel stain

• Satin urethane spray sealant

Step 1: Roof of Cage

First, Chris used a saw to cut four pieces of 1″ x 3″ wood for me. Then he nailed the pieces together to form an outside frame that was 22″ square.

After the frame was complete, he added the top of the roof using tongue and groove facia board since he had scrap pieces laying around. However, any thin board or plywood would work. As can be seen in the picture, he nailed the first board to the outer edge of the top of the frame in order to make the roof.

Next, he slid the groove of the next board into the tongue of the first and nailed this to the frame. He continued adding the boards in the same fashion, until the top of the frame was covered.

Obviously, he cut off the excess facia board on the side and this completed the roof of the cage.

I want to point out that he placed the grooves of the boards on the bottom side so they would not be seen.

Step 2: Jail Bars

Given that my zombie is 60″ tall and I wanted to have a little overhead space, I first measured out 65″ of 12 – 1/2″ PVC pipes and cut it using a PVC pipe cutter.

Meanwhile, Chris was just dying to get started adding the “bars”! Once I’d finished cutting them, he began screwing the PVC pipe to the underside of the roof starting with the four corner bars. He drilled holes through the wood and pipe and as a result, this allowed the screws to go through more easily.

Following this, he measured and marked the wood to indicate where to place the remaining middle bars.

Next, Chris screwed in the remaining bars in the same fashion as he did the four corner bars.

Step 3: Base of Cage

Next, Chris used the saw again to cut the wood for the base of the cage, making the frame identical in size to the roof (22″ square). Because we wanted to simply place the cage over the zombie, we left the bottom open. (In retrospect, I found it easier to just put the zombie together inside the cage so at some point we do plan to make a floor in a similar manner as we did the roof).

While making the base frame, Chris added braces to each corner as shown below by clamping the brace and then nailing it in.

As seen in the photo, Chris placed the top structure of the cage into the base frame aligning the bars on the inside of the frame.

Step 4:

Next, he screwed PVC conduit clamps into the wood where the bars were located securing them to the base frame.


At this point we placed the zombie inside to ensure it fit. Even I fit (I don't always look this fabulous! Ha ha!).

Step 5: Painting

At last, I painted the entire cage black using cheap spray paint. In fact, I would highly recommend investing in a Grip Spray Accessory that can be attached to the can. Overall, it made life so much easier, and I’ve used this making tons of Halloween props!

As soon as the spray paint dried, I mixed some black acrylic paint with sand for the purpose of giving the cage some additional texture.

Step 6: Aging the Cage

By the time the painted sand dried, I was beyond excited to get this cage looking old and crusty! To do so, I first dry brushed the brown, red, and orange acrylic paint on in various areas. In order to make it realistic, this was especially added wherever the bars were connected at the base.

After the acrylic paint had dried, I used the antique maple stain especially over the dry brushed areas. Equally important is wearing gloves for this! I forgot to do this and as a result I was sticky all over the rest of the day. Despite this, the stain coupled with the acrylic paint gave the cage a rusted, aged, appearance that looked amazing!

Finally, I sprayed sealant over the entire cage therefore ensuring it was waterproof and the cage was ready to keep my killer zombie contained!

I would love to hear from you in the comments and see how your cage turned out! Additionally, you can also check out my other tutorials on my Blog page at Terror House Haunt.