[Lord Homicide]

I bought a 6-light chandelier identical to below at an estate sale $15. I've been wanting to turn it creepy for awhile now...

What would YOU do to it if you had one of these?

For reference:

 

[HalloweenRick]

Paint in black and break out the cobweb gun!

 

[corey872]

Bend the arms so they aren't perfectly straight and the candlesticks have a more used/abused look.

Paint it black or 'rust it up'

Option 1:
sponge paint / age the white candlesticks
apply drippy red craft paint so it looks like they are dripping blood from inside
replace bulbs with orange flickering neon lights
Drip blood red candle wax off the 'holders' so it looks a bit more authentic
'Web it up'!
Run off 120VAC

Option 2:
Rip off candlesticks and remove electric wires
roll up paper 'shades'
run a bead of hot glue around the top to add a 3D look
cover that with blood red craft paint
insert a flickering LED in each candle (or build one of my high power flickering LEDs for each
drip blood red wax again
Run off 3VDC
web it up

 

[fontgeek]

The change of candle heights, the addition of cobwebs, and maybe some color would help. But would this be a regular feature/get normal use in your home off season?
If so, you could still do the cobwebs, maybe make some alternate candles (PVC and a hot glue gun can do wonders), and maybe give it a sponge bath with some tinted dishwashing liquid. That way you could give it a bath and change it back as needed/wanted. Adding flickering bulbs would help too. You can put spiders in with the cobwebs, and depending upon the scene you use it in, your cobwebs could run down to a table, and or have some captured creatures caught in the webs.
You may find that having only one or two of the candles "lit" would help in the "creepy factor", so much depends upon how and where you would use this in your haunt.

 

[Doc Doom]

I'd remove the fake candle stick parts and lower the bulbs to right on top of the brass bases, paint the whole thing plack, cut a hole in the bottom and cut out the eyes of six hollow plastic skulls and slide over the light bulbs, effectively using the skulls as globes. Add some webbing, and rewire it to flicker. I'd also try to find something (like a shrunken head) to replace the round ball on the bottom.

 

[corey872]

... having only one or two of the candles "lit" would help in the "creepy factor"...

I like that idea. To me, the more random it looks the creepier...some lights bright, some dim, odd angles, a couple of bent arms, etc. Maybe even replace one candle with a mini tesla coil so it would just shoot sparks!

 

[Lord Homicide]

Nice ideas!

@Doc Doom: I've thought about rewiring it to flicker - each bulb to flicker independently. Will have to do some research to get the bright/dim variance not as obvious as on/off but subtle (does that make sense?).

@All: Some of the arms, as well as bobeches, are bent. My light is around 40 years old so it's worn but not worn out. I'll try to get a picture of the actual light and replace with above.

 

[Todd]

I have a similar style one that I "fixed" a few years ago. I wired the bulbs into pairs and then utilized fluorescent tube starters to create the flicker effect for each pair.
Sprayed adhesive over the whole thing from above and shook grout powder over the surface to create layer of dust. This was followed up with a glue stick web shooter. Hung over the kitchen table for our party.

 

[Liam]

I haunted up my friend's old chandelier, and actually used it as a swinging chandelier in my haunt. I shot it with the cobweb gun, then attached the chain to a 1" throw pneumatic cylinder. I used a Prop-1 to randomize the shaking, and it worked out pretty awesome.