Top 10 Scariest Halloween Pranks

When sci-fi classic “Alien” first hit screens in 1979, nobody was prepared for the moment when the chestburster exploded out of John Hurt. In fact, even the other members of the cast weren’t told all the details, so that their reactions of horror would be even more genuine. It’s this same principle that YouTuber MagicofRahat used to terrify innocent workers at a fast food drive-thru. Using a bloody shirt with a hole cut in it, he created a chestburster glove to wear and, along with a fake arm, punches his hand out of his front right by the window. Many of the late-night workers are understandably horrified.

Elevators can often be much scarier than they appear. Being trapped in an enclosed space for as little as a few minutes can open you up to all kinds of frights, like this one. A prankster dressed in an elaborate zombie costume hides behind the elevator doors, jumping out at unsuspecting individuals as soon as the doors open. He falls to the floor at their feet and stays limp for a few seconds before going full-on zombie, growling and writhing around. It’s actually kind of brave of him as he is trampled and hit repeatedly by his victims – but if you’re going to attack someone like that you definitely deserve it.

As a promotional event for 2017’s “Rings” movie, the latest in “The Ring” franchise, Paramount decided to inflict a terrifying prank on shoppers in a phoney appliance store. It involves an elaborate setup, where one of the usual walls of TVs found in stores is fake, and has an actress posing as Samara hiding behind it. While showing a clip of her, the audience sees the fake screen lift away, while the prank victims do not. This recreation of one of the most famous scenes in horror got the desired results, making people flee from her freakish but highly recognizable figure.

The mysterious killer clown craze has taken the 2010s by storm, with more clown cosplayers than you can shake a stick at orchestrating elaborate pranks in public. But this one in particular stands out because of the gore factor. Tricking two guys walking through an underpass into getting distracted by a creepy, toy carousel, our clown lies in wait with a fake body and a not-so-fake mallet. As the eerie, children’s music plays, the guys turn to see the clown and watch him slam his wooden hammer down onto the fake head. Blood explodes everywhere, and the clown gives chase while his victims try desperately to escape.

It’s often tricky rigging up a public space to work well with a prank, and the reason this one works so well is because it takes place in the comfort of one girl’s home. Her victims are not idle passers-by, but rather a string of unsuspecting delivery guys who are all stuck waiting for her to pay them for the food. Rocking chairs move on their own and books fly across the room, but the pièce de résistance is the digital portrait propped up against the wall. This image of a smiling, Victorian-esque lady was already spooky, but when her face contorts in a bloodcurdling scream the true horror is realized.

There’s something undeniably unsettling about things that just don’t move in the way they’re supposed to, which is why so many scary movies make use of body horror. Based on moments from “The Last Exorcism: Part II,” as well as the infamous stair-crawling scene in “The Grudge,” a talented contortionist terrorizes the streets. Beginning usually at the top of a set of steps, she goes unseen by most of the unwilling participants until it’s too late. They turn a corner to be faced with the girl and her inhuman growls as she steadily approaches them with a face covered in ghastly prosthetics.

Most people are in unanimous agreement that spiders are scary. The majority of them aren’t harmful to humans, but there’s just something about them – probably the legs – that are pure nightmare fuel. But witnessing a giant, monstrous one chasing people through the streets at night? It’s hard to believe that anybody will ever sleep again. With this in mind, one prankster decided to build an elaborate spider costume for his dog and then set the dog to run after people. The prank plays ambitiously on people’s natural arachnophobia and succeeds – though the dog itself is kind of cute.

This is another promotional stunt similar to the one for “Rings,” as the filmmakers again decide to torment the public with an iconic horror movie monster: this time, possessed doll Chucky. They construct an entire fake bus stop and dress up an actor as the character, setting up a poster for “The Curse of Chucky” on the side. People unwittingly wait for the bus and soon the lights begin to flicker, drawing attention to the poster and Chucky’s shadow behind it. But things go from 0 to 100 when he stabs his way out of the glass and chases them down the street. Hopefully... they didn’t miss their bus.

There are few methods of killing somebody as gruesome as ripping them to pieces with a chainsaw, and the heightened gore of this prank captures that masterfully. It’s made all the more convincing by the excessive animal blood and guts, as well as having someone with missing limbs join in to make it look like someone really has just had their limbs hacked off by power tools. The screams of terror from the bystanders in this parking lot as they’re chased both by the chainsaw-wielding murderer and his blood-soaked victim will chill you to your core.

Babies are cute and helpless, which is why people will automatically go to investigate when they spot a lonely stroller with a crying infant inside on the street. Much to their dismay, however, in this case they’re left the victims of a prank even more elaborate than the last one. The crying child shoots up, shrieking, eyes glowing, and even projectile vomiting on occasion. This frightening animatronic was the result of Fox’s promotion for the 2014 movie “Devil’s Due,” which is about a woman impregnated with the antichrist. It certainly started a buzz on social media, though the people in the video will think twice before the next time they try to help an upset child.