[BoogieMan]

Well , seeing as to how its dead .
That one in the picture would make a PERFECT scarecrow .
Pop on a scarey looking pumpkin head with an oversized floppy tattered , worn out hat and an old black long trench coat , and use those limbs for arms/hands sticking out the trench coat and wha-la
nasty , scarey looking scarecrow ( and the right height too , I might add )
Make 2 of them , and them your entrance " greeters" for your TOT'ers , one on each side .

 

[Frankie's Girl]

If it's really, truly dead, I'd would spraypaint it black and then use really tattered cheesecloth that has been soaked in a weak paint solution to make it grayish and wrap the trunk and up the branches for a mummy-tree (it can be loose on the branches and hang in tatters).

But the crows and some tiny purple twinkly lights on it would be pretty nice too.

 

[alucard]

OR... you could hang some spider sacs from the limbs and put a hugh spider on it. Then get some of those cheap spider rings and place them all over the spider sacs like they are coming out of it. Then just place a blue or green flood pointed at the tree for a more creepy scene.

 

[Baron Samedi]

A dead tree doesn't need much to make it look good, just some well placed lighting to create those atmospheric shadows and highlights. Maybe a couple of Blair Witch style "stickmen" if your haunt theme lends itself..

I agree with Boogieman that it would also make an awesome scarecrow.

 

[marsham]

Wow, some great ideas. Love the scarecrow idea BoogieMan. Baron Samedi also has a good idea to just use lighting effects. I have other dead trees with lights and crows and moss, and I love those also, but a mummy tree, hmmm, another great idea. Thanks guys.

 

[Ghost of Spookie]

Love the look of the tree. Looks perfect for halloween. Since to me it looks kind of weepy, I would consider taking long strips of thin black plastic sheeting, pulling them to stretch them a bit to make them less precise and more ragged and tie them onto the tree to create a weeping willow tree. Maybe add some purple lights or very subtle lighting (maybe uplighting?). If you could rig a motion sensor device with sound and/or lightning to the area, it could end up being kind of dramatic for the kids as they approached your door (I believe in your post under General Halloween you mentioned you were thinking of using them near your doorway). If not thunder to go with the lightning, a sound track of a weeping voice would be nice and lend to a spooky atmosphere.

BTW to me the branches don't look that thick and I would be careful of overweighing them with anything, whatever way you go. It would be a shame to loose any branches to breaking. If the tree has been dead for a while and has really dried out, I would think that could be a possibility. Great idea of your friend to use the trees as a halloween prop however.

 

[bones jones]

Last September Hurricane Ike knocked a ton of branches out of my trees here. I took a bunch of them and spray painted them a metallic silver color and a few of them black and stood them up to look like old creepy trees. a stobe light added the perfect effect. Simple and very dramatic. Highly recommend the silver spray paint.

 

[spooky little girl]

I like painting my dead trees black. If you want to go fancy add some purple sparkle or silver glitter. With a nice owl on top.