Place for getting props?

Thrift store for clothes, shiatsu's, dolls, glass.
Home Depot for nuts, bolts, PVC, paint, Great Stuff, chicken wire.
Craigs List for pallet wood, steel drums or other lucky finds.
Party City/Spirit/Target/Walmart/Big Lots for end of season sales for next year. I rarely spend full price for a prop if I can wait to get it at discount later.

Don't forget Curby's - people have found useful items sitting at the curb on trash/recycling pickup days in their neighborhoods.

I get pallets and very heavy cardboard for free from Lowe's. I buy all of my paint as Oops paint from Lowe's and Home Depot for $5 a gallon. I let all of my friends know not to throw anything away without checking with me. Keep an eye out for Curby's, and then go to Goodwill. Props are important but you need to make the setting right also, and that's where a lot of the "free" stuff can help. If you're just getting started, hold some cash back for the after-Halloween sales.

Don't forget yard sales & flea markets.

I just picked up some styrofoam slabs for tombstones from outside a house (bulk refuse collection time)

My husband does construction, so we're blessed with lots of leftovers, if you know any one in construction, you could ask them to save you stuff. Maybe stop at sites where things are being torn out or down and see what they might let you take.
Appliance and furniture stores always have foam scraps to spare.
Eventually, you start to see potential props in every object you lay eyes on!

Eventually, you start to see potential props in every object you lay eyes on!


When you get to this stage there is no turning back from being a haunter.

I go everywhere. As I have just started making my own this year, I tend to go to Lowes, Home Depot, A.C. Moore, and Micheals for the stuff I need. But in years past I have bought at those places, the Party Store, Fright Store, K. Mart (typically has some nice stuff), Walmart, Target, Ebay, and various online outlets. I seriously shop around.

Bone Dancer said:

Eventually, you start to see potential props in every object you lay eyes on!

When you get to this stage there is no turning back from being a haunter.

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Oh don't I know it! My time in full scale haunts came to an end last year, and I decided to spend that time concentrating on my yard instead. I'm already out of control. Have to keep that salsa jar! Tree dies in the front yard? Automatic prop! You got a new fence? Well I'll just take this old fence off your hands. I can see my wife's eyes rolling already!

Ah, the dead tree! We've imported the dead trees of others' into our yard! I also wait to cut back my garden plants until after Halloween. It may not be the best gardening practice, but the dead growth adds so much atmosphere!

getting a little off topic, but actually that's not at all a bad gardening practice. My mom is a master gardner and she has always told me to deadhead everything, but then leave it alone all winter and do big cleanup first thing in the spring.
Getting back on topic, I work in the plumbing & HVAC industry so I am able to get lots of free scrap materials from construction sites. Friends and realitives are awesome for keeping an eye out for me at thift shops, garage sales, etc.

ok thanks all of you! now if only i could find a goodwill nearby!!! they all moved away!!! and the closest salvation army is like 50 miles away!

Check the neighborhood for any house with a construction dumpster in front. There may be slabs of insulation foam and lots of wood scraps... those pieces of 2X10 make awesome bases for props... 5-gallon buckets, maybe even old light fixtures and accent hardware. Ask a member of the construction crew, or the homeowner, if you can do a quick D-dive.

Revenant said:

Check the neighborhood for any house with a construction dumpster in front. There may be slabs of insulation foam and lots of wood scraps... those pieces of 2X10 make awesome bases for props... 5-gallon buckets, maybe even old light fixtures and accent hardware. Ask a member of the construction crew, or the homeowner, if you can do a quick D-dive.

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well my bro works at a local shop that sells lumber and pvc so ill see if i can get any scraps from him and while i wait finish up on my drop panel project

It is not beneath me to root through the neighbors trash on pickup day.
They all know my haunt ,so they are always asking ,"Do you need this for Halloween".
I nod, drool a bit over it, then sneak it back home to the garage.

Wyatt Furr said:

It is not beneath me to root through the neighbors trash on pickup day.
They all know my haunt ,so they are always asking ,"Do you need this for Halloween".
I nod, drool a bit over it, then sneak it back home to the garage.

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hahaha if i actually get my haunt big enough im sure my neighbors would do the same XD

Tree dies in the front yard? Automatic prop! -

That's funny! We had a tree in the back, right where my cemetary will go, that finally kicked the bucket last month. It's gonna look awesome.

waldiddy said:

Tree dies in the front yard? Automatic prop! -

That's funny! We had a tree in the back, right where my cemetary will go, that finally kicked the bucket last month. It's gonna look awesome.

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dont have any trees in my yard where the haunt is XD

Ollies clearance store and marcs discounts in Pa & OH also walgreens and gabriel bros