Scary! How Urban Legends Helped Us Make Fun Social Posts For Halloween
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When my sister and I were kids, we watched Urban Legend huddled in a recliner. If you don’t remember this movie, it’s a (not particularly good) horror flick from the 90s. It follows all the classic, scary legends that have been passed around for decades. And even though the movie isn’t anything spectacular, it made an impact on young me. After watching it, I was hooked on urban legends and folklore… forevermore.
Last year, my sister told me she wanted to post a scary photo on social media promoting our company. She pitched a photograph of a razor-studded sucker, but I was kind of skeptical. What did that have to do with our business?
In branding, she reminded me, you want to show people you’re creative and different. You want to grab their attention in a moment. Something shocking—like a sucker with a razor blade in it, for instance—stands out among posts you often see.
As we talked, I realized we could do more than just one urban legend. We could do multiple. So, I quickly skimmed through the top 10 urban legends and found the ones I thought would be fun and recognizable.
Today, we’ll go through how we made the props for our scary tales, how we made our project branded, and how you can apply the same process to a future project of your own.
Which urban legends we used
The hook hand
Razor blades in candy
Mixing Coke and Mentos
The hook hand urban legend
This urban legend dates back decades with several variations. One of the more popular accounts goes like this: A couple parks in a remote location and turns on the radio, only to learn a terrifying, hook-handed killer is on the loose. After hearing scratching, they return home, where they discover a hook lodged in their car door.
Razor blades in candy urban legend
This myth is part of a broader legend in which strangers defile Halloween candy with drugs, razor blades, and other dangerous objects. While there’s little to no truth behind this legend, it dates back generations and continues to instill fear into parents, even now.
The mixing of Coke and Mentos urban legend
If you attended elementary science classes, you probably know Coca-Cola and Mentos create an impressive chemical reaction. So much carbon dioxide is released that the Coke “erupts” like a volcano.
You may also know the spooky story that claims ingesting these chewy mints with America’s favorite soda is lethal. While this is false, the myth continues to persist in modern lore.
Creating our urban legend props and photos
Below, we discuss how we made our props and how you can do the same.
How we recreated the hook hand
What you’ll need:
1 bandana or old shirt sleeve
Fake blood (optional)
Rubber bands
Scissors
Pins
Step 1
If your hook isn’t the desired color already, you’ll need to spray paint it. This can take a couple hours to completely dry, so we spray painted the day before we took our photos.
Step 2
We sliced through our styrofoam cone, creating a nice “severed arm” effect. We placed the hook inside and hot glued it all together, using rubber bands to further secure the arm.
Step 3
We used the bandana to create a sleeve, hot gluing and pinning it into place. You could easily use the sleeve of an old shirt instead. We also dirtied up the bandana to give it a grittier look, then shredded it a bit with scissors.
Step 4
We added fake blood (cherry juice in our case) to make our urban legend scene spookier. Since our “arm” was outside, we knew it would add to the overall effect. However, fake blood can be messy and sticky, so if you were to do this for an indoor decoration, you might omit the blood.
How we created razor blade suckers
What you’ll need:
1/4 cup light corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
A few drops of red food dye
1 pot
If you’ve never made candy before, it can be kind of intimidating. It’s not as hard as it seems though, especially with an easy recipe. I used this one from It’s Always Autumn.
Note: Unless they’re kept in an airtight container, these suckers will start to get really sticky within 24 hours. They’re perfect for a party decoration day-of, or, in our case, photos.
Step 1
Gather your ingredients and give your candy molds a quick wash and dry. You may also want to include a silicone mat or greased cookie sheet in case you have extra candy. Place the sucker sticks inside your molds if you’re making suckers.
Step 2
Mix your water, corn syrup, and sugar in a pot on the stove, gradually bringing to a boil. You’ll stir until the sugar is dissolved and stop once the mix starts to boil.
Step 3
Let your candy gradually reach 310 degrees Fahrenheit. It can be tempting to speed up the process with a high heat, but I kept the burner at medium high since I didn’t want to burn the batch. If you use a traditional glass candy thermometer, keep it in a cup of hot water so it won’t shatter. I used one with a metal base which worked just as well.
Step 4
Once your candy reaches 310 degrees, remove it from heat right away. (If you’re adding flavored oil, check out the recipe linked above!) Otherwise, you can add a few drops of food coloring. Then, go ahead and start pouring your candy.
This part is a bit difficult, because the candy will start hardening, and candy molds are tiny. But we were able to get several perfect-looking suckers out of it.
Step 5
Carefully add your razor blades. The candy should be totally hard in thirty minutes to an hour.
If you get small drops around the candy like we did, simply break them off.
How we photographed Coke and Mentos
What you’ll need:
1 bottle of Coke
1 pack of Mentos
1 fake (or real) arm
Kind of anticlimactic, but for this urban legend, we hardly had to lift a finger—or should we say, an arm. We ran outside on an overcast day and tried different camera angles. Plus, I used my high school theatre skills to play the corpse. I knew those skills would come in handy someday!
This is definitely the easiest urban legend decoration you can do, because it only requires a few things and a little creativity on your part.
How we branded urban legends for Julian//West
One thing I love about urban legends: They’re for everyone. But because they’re for everyone, it can be hard to make them both recognizable and unique. So, how did we make them our own?
We created a fun social post for them on our LinkedIn and Instagram. These posts included our colors, visuals, and voice. We also tried to tie it back to our services.
Concluding our urban legends photo series
We love how this turned out, and I think it really shows our individual personalities. This project took a lot of time and effort for what’s essentially an organic ad. We didn’t boost it or attach a promo to it, and we mainly did it for fun. It was a good learning experience, because I’m realizing not everything has to focus on sales or be a viral sensation to be good. Sometimes, a fun brand awareness activity (with a little old-school crafting) can be enough.
Happy Halloween from your ghoulfriends at Julian//West!
