Thread: How to Hack a Totally Ghoul Flying Ghost?

Tweet

I've seen these things in stores, and they look pretty lame, and the least bit scary. I've heard some people talk about how they've hacked theirs, and I've searched the forum, but couldn't find an actual thread explaining the hacks. So, help me here, how do you guys hack/"spookify" these things?

If you don't know what ghost i'm referring to, here's a link: http://s.shld.net/is/image/Sears/009...0&op_sharpen=1

How about snipping the speaker wire, so it doesn't make that horribly un-scary "moo-ing" noise. Toss the white sheet in the trash can, paint the device flat black, add dyed black cheesecloth, or super thin ( transparent, even) black fabric.

You will get a basic silent moving shadow. With the right placement and lighting, it could be quite spooky.

It moos? Oh I may have to buy it just for that!!

It's supposed to be a moan but, well, you know

Moo! sorry, I had to... The first idea sounds pretty good.

The ones I've seen had a foam skull glued to the face and cheesecloth added. You can't really add more due to keeping it lightweight.

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! Does anybody have, or know where to find, a picture of one that's hacked?

I hacked one several years ago. I added a painted up blucky skull with red LED ping-pong ball eyes. I also added some bridal veil material and cheesecloth. It worked great!

So I hacked mine the other week (snipped and bypassed the mic wire). Went to put it up today and now it only flies for about a minute and then shut off and can not be restarted (by turning it off and on) for about 5 minutes. I was anticipating it would run continuously - did I do something wrong when snipping/by passing the mic wire?

Originally Posted by AndyK

So I hacked mine the other week (snipped and bypassed the mic wire). Went to put it up today and now it only flies for about a minute and then shut off and can not be restarted (by turning it off and on) for about 5 minutes. I was anticipating it would run continuously - did I do something wrong when snipping/by passing the mic wire?

Yes. The mic provides a small charge to the circuit that triggers the ghost. The problem being that mic outputs, are typically in millivolts. So substituting a > 250 mv charge to trigger the effect is necessary. I'd imagine that it could be done, but it is unknown whether the signal would need to be pulsed from a timer circuit (in which case a 555 timer circuit could do the trick), or if a constant voltage signal would work. Depends on the circuit design.

Point being, there are to many unknown factors to say, without seeing the schematic.