DIY Zombie/Walking Dead Halloween Decor
I love zombies and The Walking Dead, so this zombie Halloween decoration display was a must-try for me and I had a perfect place in my yard for the setup! Depending on where you live, wood pallets are either incredibly easy to find or damn near impossible. Living in Los Angeles, it’s closer to the latter. In some areas, you may be able to go to a local grocery or hardware store and see if they have any extras or keep an eye on their dumpster area to see if any are sitting around. Make sure to always ask before just taking them, some stores turn them back in for reuse!
In Los Angeles, almost every store won’t just give them out. I was able to find mine by watching street curbs, especially on trash pick-up days. Try to scout out areas where construction is happening (luckily, there is a lot in my neighborhood) and if you live in a busier part of a big city, try venturing out to different communities. If you really can’t find any, some stores will sell them. The wood pallets I got were a little further apart than the ones in the example and a bit cleaner too for this zombie Halloween decoration display!
Step-by-step
- Always start with paint. I used some brown acrylic paint to “dirty up” the boards and give them some texture. I used watered-down red acrylic paint for the blood.
- Diluting the paint with water will really help with the splattering and smearing of the handprints.
- Since the pallets were further apart, I was worried that there was too much room to see through, so instead of just adding hands, I chose to use old shirts and glued the hands to the sleeves. This way, it gives the effect that there is also a body behind the wood.
- I used some older Halloween decorations. Some with faces and a masked yard skeleton for the crawling zombie.
- You can use any chain! Chain is relatively inexpensive at Lowe’s or Home Depot. I just used another chain Halloween decoration I had in my stash.
- Then, I used scrap plywood for the “Keep Out” and “Dead Inside” signs and lightly nailed them in.
- I still felt it to be a bit see-through, so I lined the back of the pallets with some black garbage bags.
- For bonus effects, I also used two color-changing solar lights to illuminate the scene. They are great because they charge during the day and automatically come on at dusk. Since they are color-changing, I made sure to set both to red, then placed one back behind the board and one directly in front. That way, people can still see it at night, and the red gives it a real creepy vibe.
I hope you enjoy this simple and yet inexpensive and yet really effective zombie breakout display. Happy Halloween!
More from Married to Horror!
Take a look at our Halloween content in the Seasonal section! You can also find more general Married to Horror selections in our recommendations and List Section! Also, take a peek at our Master Watch List where you can find an array of horror films sorted by title, platform, rating, and more!
Do you have a favorite video that we missed? Comment below or email us at contact@marriedtohorror.com! You can also follow our Facebook group Married to Horror and follow us on Twitter and Instagram @marriedtohorror.
